Like most of us, whenever a new fashion season arrives, I have neither the inclination, nor the spare cash, to completely overhaul my wardrobe.

What is required is just some small style updates, one or two additions to make everything look fresh and current. 

Sounds easy right? Well it isn’t.

Fashion is designed to confuse and confound even those of us who work in the industry.

The current mantra may be sustainability but that has not stopped the myriad of marketing gurus telling us that this shoe or that bag is so last season and that we now need something completely different.

How sustainable is endless change? My game is to have far fewer pieces, and mostly classics like the trench coat, the blazer, the denim jacket, the white shirt.

They don’t have to change from year to year.

I recently needed to replace a 12-year-old Burberry trench and the only update it needed was that I bought it in a dark olive green instead of beige.

But jeans. Now they are tricky.

Jean shapes do come in and out of fashion. I have always ignored skinny stretch, or super low rise, but I have flirted with boyfriend style, classic boot cut, flared and high-waisted.

Meghan Markle in Stella McCartney coat and skinny black jeans in Wales on January 18. Photo: Getty

I have even been wearing the current look of high-waisted, cut offs with ragged hems which I deep down think are ridiculous but hell, I’m giving it a red hot go before I descend into Mom jeans.

I decided a black pair would be a useful addition to my winter wardrobe, on the off chance that the temperature in Sydney ever drops below 26 degrees.

I’ve just started working as an editor in the Harper’s Bazaar offices and I noticed all the young girls are in black jeans so I thought I should join the club.

There’s a fashion addition that won’t break the bank and will keep me on trend.

But what style? Handily, the fashion director sits across the desk from me, so I can pester her with these all-important questions.

“What jeans are in?” I asked with a straight face.

“Will the high-waisted cut-off trend last for a while longer if I buy some now?”

The answer was yes, but then I remembered that fashion runs on it’s own calendar, none of which relates to real time.

Editors are always looking at what’s coming, what’s going, what’s coming back, what it looks this time around, what’s new, what’s vintage, what’s retro, what’s fresh, what’s modern.

They are never, ever, ever looking at what’s practical. That’s the bit we need to sort out for ourselves.

And so my real time, risk-averse short-list this winter is – a trench coat, a beige cashmere roll neck sweater, classic blue jeans, a navy silk blouse, a grey ankle boot, a knee-length black dress with long sleeves, a white denim jacket, some sneakers and a pair of gold hoop earrings.

And maybe some black jeans. But not the high-waisted cut-offs.