Nicole Eshaghpour’s May capsule refresh mixes basics, beachwear, and staples

The May capsule reset starts with real life, not fantasy dressing. Nicole Akhtarzad Eshaghpour says her days have been "home, vacation, early pregnancy, late pregnancy," and that blend is exactly what makes this shopping edit feel useful instead of aspirational. In Who What Wear’s long-running Trust Me-Buy This series, the point is not to chase novelty. It is to find the pieces that quietly carry the month.

The layering piece that earns the most wear If one item defines the edit, it is the J.Crew Rollneck. Eshaghpour names it among the four pieces in heavy rotation, and it makes sense: knitwear is the easiest way to bridge unpredictable May weather, especially in New York, where she says she is "dreading" the day it gets too hot for sweaters. A good rollneck does not just warm the body. It sharpens everything around it, giving denim, cargoes, and even beachwear a cleaner line.

J.Crew has leaned hard into the sweater’s backstory, noting that it was originally designed in 1988 and brought back in 2025 with a campaign fronted by Maggie Rogers, Lukita Maxwell, Molly Gordon, Dominic Sessa, Rome Flynn, Benito Skinner, and Taylour Paige-Angulo. The brand says it comes in 27 colors and patterns across men’s, women’s, and crewcuts fits, which helps explain why it works as a true capsule anchor rather than a one-season nostalgia play. This is the rare knit that reads classic without feeling stiff.

The outfit maker is the cargo pant The Donni cargoes are the edit’s most quietly practical choice. Cargo pants can slip into costume territory fast, but here they function as the easy middle ground between relaxed and put-together. They give a silhouette some shape, add utility without feeling fussy, and solve the forever problem of what to wear when you want comfort but still need an actual outfit.

That matters even more in a month when life may swing from errands to travel to long days that ask a lot from one wardrobe. Eshaghpour’s own rotation reflects that unpredictability, and cargoes are one of the few pieces that can follow it without complaint. They are roomy enough for movement, but structured enough to make a T-shirt or rollneck feel intentional.

The bag that does the heaviest lifting The Row’s XL Idaho Bag is the kind of accessory that turns a capsule from decent to finished. Priced at $1,690 on the brand’s site, it sits in the luxury lane, but the appeal is not just the label. The bag is an extra-large wide tote in softly textured cotton twill canvas, finished with two interior patch pockets, leather handles, and a palladium-plated center snap closure, which gives it the sort of quiet polish that works with everything from knitwear to swim layers.

This is where the edit gets especially smart for May. A bag like this can move from city day to travel day to beach day without looking like it belongs to only one setting. It is expensive, yes, but it is also one of those rare pieces that solves an actual wardrobe problem: how to carry more without looking overloaded, and how to make basics feel deliberate instead of default.

The sneaker that bridges utility and fashion Salomon’s XT-6 is the most directional item in the mix, but it earns its place because it is built on function. Salomon says the shoe was first introduced in 2013 as a technical running model made with trail athletes in mind, then re-released in 2018 as part of its Sportstyle range, where it became a fashion-forward favorite. The current XT-6 line runs at about $185 to $200 depending on version and market, which puts it far below The Row bag but firmly in the zone of a considered wardrobe purchase.

That price gap is the story in miniature. One item is a polished investment tote, the other is a performance shoe with street credibility, and together they show how a strong capsule mixes frictionless basics with one or two pieces that add edge. For days that demand a lot of walking, the XT-6 brings the practical payoff. For days that need more visual interest, it keeps even the simplest outfit from flattening out.

The warm-weather layer comes from the broader May mix Eshaghpour’s roundup is not only about the four pieces she wears most. It also includes beachwear and a handful of warm-weather finds, which is exactly where a May capsule should widen. The season is too transitional to pretend one category will do everything, and the strongest edits acknowledge that vacation pieces, summer basics, and in-between layers all need to talk to each other.

That broader approach is also visible in the surrounding May shopping content tied to Eshaghpour, which leans into beachwear and new arrivals without losing the capsule logic. The point is not to fill every gap with more product. It is to choose pieces that keep working when the weather shifts, the schedule changes, and the outfit has to move from home to travel to out the door without a second thought.

Why this refresh feels so current What makes the edit compelling is its discipline. The J.Crew Rollneck handles layering, the Donni cargoes handle the outfit problem, The Row Idaho Bag handles carryall duty, and the Salomon XT-6 handles the need for something sturdy enough to walk in but sharp enough to wear everywhere else. Each one solves a different gap, and none of them depend on trend hype alone.

That is what a May capsule should do: trim the unnecessary, make room for repetition, and leave you with pieces that actually earn the closet space. This one does exactly that, with enough polish to feel editorial and enough realism to feel lived in.