Jennifer Lopez Reminds Us of the Beauty of Wardrobe Basics

Her off-duty look was a lesson in low-effort, high-impact styling.

Jennifer Lopez in a tan trench coat and white tee
(Image credit: Backgrid)

Jennifer Lopez has an astoundingly versatile wardrobe. You'll see her rocking low-plunging necklines and thigh-high slits when accepting awards that cement her icon status. But you'll also find that she's very much still Jenny from the Block, with her touting the chunky sneaker trend or sporting a pair of beige Timberlands. Speaking of JLo's off-duty street style, over the weekend she wore yet another outfit we can't stop thinking about. While out and about in Beverly Hills—perhaps getting in some last-minute holiday shopping for her husband, Ben Affleck?—Lopez wore a trench coat and white T-shirt.

Her ensemble was, yes, simplistic, but that was the point. Lopez's outfit included staple wardrobe basics that everyone should have in their closet in case of a style emergency. She wore her plain V-neck T-shirt tucked into a pair of neutral flair trousers. The pièce de résistance of her look was, undoubtedly, her trench coat in khaki. The classic outerwear was the polishing final touch that took her outfit from nondescript and just-thrown-together to put-together and intentional.

Lopez also wore a pair of dark chocolate suede booties with a stiletto heel, which hit perfectly where her taupe high-waisted trousers flare at the hem. It wouldn’t be a sophisticated JLo street-style moment without her accessorizing with her go-to crocodile Hermès Birkin Bag (in all neutral tones, of course).

Jennifer Lopez in a khaki trench coat, white tee shirt, and trousers

(Image credit: Backgrid)

As for her beauty stylings, the multihyphenate went for a "natural, but not natural" makeup look with a nude lip. Lopez put her long, brunette hair in a slicked-back bun, the ultimate low-maintenance and easy hairdo that still looks polished and refined. Lastly, she wore a pair of oversized sunglasses to leave a little mystery.

It seems Lopez continues to go for more minimalist and elevated looks during her personal downtime. Particularly, she's been drawn to the quiet luxury look, seen in how she went for Parisian elegance in ballet flats and channeled her inner chic dweeb-ette. All of her recent low-key outings require a solid background education in the power of wardrobe basics—which Lopez clearly has.

We're particularly interested in Lopez calling on a timeless trench coat and rounded up a few of our favorite styles, below.

Maria Santa Poggi

Maria Santa Poggi is a freelance journalist who covers fashion, beauty, and culture. Her work has appeared in Vogue, Teen Vogue, Vogue Business, Paper, i-d, Rolling Stones, Elle, Allure, Dazed, and Highsnobiety amongst other publications. She recently received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.