Bay Six *

* Copyright pending

A fashion gripe for you, to coincide with the end of Sydney Fashion Week:
I hate shopping for clothes. I never loved it but there was a time when I'd willingly commit a special part of my brain to analysing what would be a good fashion investment. Not that I was buying Chanel hoping that it would go up in value after 30 years, but I was thinking in terms of future wearability. Everyone knows that fashion is fickle, so I wasn't about to commit to trends that I couldn't afford, only to be discarded two weeks later. Which brings me to my latest idea...

Someone should invest in setting up a fashion brand selling basics. Called Bay Six. Because that's the kind of pun I'm prone to use. The brand should be reknown for their range of well-fitted basic clothing - unembellished pants, skirts, tops, shirts, shoes, jackets, suits etc which all come in neutral, easily matched colours (eg black, white, grey, taupe, beige). I'm talking basic clothing such as classic cut suits that will never go out of style. And a decent pair of jeans.

Sounds pretty boring, but it's the kind of range that every woman (and probably every man) needs. Have you tried looking for basic clothing lately? It took me about three months to find a pair of plain black pants that didn't have some kind of sequinned pattern or diamante belt loop on it. The best thing is that Bay Six will complement any other fashion item. Fashion nowadays seems to focus on either individual pieces which don't go together or look too embellished worn together (ie embroidered shirt and embroidered pants in the same range) or ensembles that only look good together. Bay Six solves the matching problem. So you've just bought a brand new sparkly top? Pair it with a Bay Six skirt.

From a marketing point of view you'll be aiming for repeat business. When your shirt has worn thin you can go back and buy the exact same shirt that you won't even have to try on because you already know your size. Bay Six could also pair up with other fashion brands who have campaigns around feature pieces for exposure. Or, every season they could have a 'disposable' range in a trendy colour or a special style (eg ultra low waist) that they won't keep in their ongoing range.

For every item of clothing there should be a wide range of sizing options and then maybe a couple of the most popular basic styles always in production. Just say the item is a long-sleeved shirt, the range would be black or white in a fitted or loose style with a hemline just below the waist or a long tail - that's 8 permutations for each size for one long-sleeved shirt. Then there's 3/4-sleeved shirts, short-sleeved shirts etc.

Someone in the clothing business do this, please! I want to know where I can get a decent black 3/4-sleeved shirt without frills, pleats or embroidery!