Know what sucks? When you move apartments and a singular garbage bag containing pretty much every A-lister in your closet gets lost. This isn’t hypothetical—last summer, I stupidly packed all my favorite pieces into one Hefty Cinch Sack and realized a day later—when I was foraging my new bedroom for a certain pair of thrift-store shorts overalls—that it was gone forever.
MORE: The 40 Best Things at Zara Right Now
I know, I know: How hard is it to replace a measly pair of overalls? Well, let me tell you: Very. I’d bought the missing pair (super-thin faded dark denim, slightly oversized, slouchy in the crotch, never annoying to strap-adjust) at the Salvation Army the summer after college, and pretty much lived in them every season since. I’d wear them to the beach with pool slides and a bathing suit underneath, to work with a button-down and leather sandals, on the weekends with sneakers and a thrifted tee, in the winter with tights and a turtleneck. The piece itself was a no-brainer for lazy days but also managed to look cool no matter what I paired it with.
Now, since we’re coming up on a year since they fell off the back of a truck—in the most literal sense—I’ve turned my attention to finding a worthy successor. From ’90s-style replicas like Calvin Klein’s creation for Urban Outfitters to actual ’90s styles sourced from Etsy, here are 20 pairs I’m eyeing right now. If you get to them first, it’s cool—I hope you guys will be very happy together.
