Nordstrom Stylist Sandy Koszarek Shares 7 Elevated Spring Basics Worth Wearing

Sandy Koszarek has spent years inside one of retail's most demanding style environments, working as a stylist in the VIP department at Nordstrom, where her job was to help clients build wardrobes that actually functioned. Not trend-chasing wardrobes, not aspirational ones that hang unworn, but closets anchored by quality basics that could be dressed up, dressed down, and trusted season after season. That philosophy follows her to her own site, Stylish Sandy, where the throughline is clear: elevated basics with a forward twist are the engine of any outfit worth wearing.

For spring 2026, Koszarek identified seven elevated basics she's most excited to wear, pairing each one with styling rationale and shoppable inspiration. The full seven-item list covers everything she's reaching for as the season shifts. Of those seven, four categories come with her most detailed commentary and product picks, and they're the ones that make the strongest case for a deliberate spring refresh.

The Blazer

Koszarek's enthusiasm for blazers is unambiguous. "Blazers are always a favorite of mine, and I'm excited to wear them again," she said. "They instantly pull an outfit together, making it feel polished and chic." Her go-to styling, visible in photos from Stylish Sandy, is exactly as unfussy as that quote suggests: a tan blazer over a white tee with straight-leg jeans, a combination that photographs well because it actually works in real life.

The shoppable options she points to span the full blazer spectrum. The Linen Blend Boyfriend Blazer reads as the most seasonally appropriate, linen being the fabric that makes blazers viable in actual spring temperatures rather than just spring fashion calendars. The Icon Asymmetric Fitted Blazer introduces the structural edge that gives a basic piece its "forward twist." The Juliette Relaxed Fit Blazer and the Double Breasted Suit Jacket round out the range, covering everything from weekend-casual to a situation that demands a little more formality. Four distinct silhouettes, one category: that's exactly the kind of range that justifies calling a blazer a spring staple rather than just a layer you threw on.

Flats

The shoe transition is one of the clearest signals that a seasonal wardrobe edit is working, and Koszarek makes the case for it directly. "I'm ready to trade my boots for ballet flats, loafers, and mules," she said. "They're comfortable and so chic styled with jeans or relaxed trousers, perfect for spring." The styling reference here, a gray quilted jacket with jeans, keeps the rest of the look relaxed enough that the flat does the work of signaling the seasonal shift without any effort required from the outfit above.

Her picks cover the three flat silhouettes she named. The Steve Madden Leni Flat handles the ballet flat category at an accessible price point. The Sam Edelman Nola Woven Mules bring texture into the equation, woven construction being one of the small material details that makes a basic shoe feel intentional rather than just absent of heels. The Brash Flat and the Benson Loafer fill out the range on the more structured end, with the loafer in particular being the kind of shoe that slides between office-adjacent and off-duty without requiring a second thought.

Straight-Leg Jeans

The straight-leg jean is the quiet anchor of Koszarek's spring outfits, the piece that shows up in nearly every styling reference she provides. The tan blazer with a white tee outfit that anchors her blazer recommendations is built on straight-leg jeans. So is the gray quilted jacket look from the flats section. The category functions less as a trend pick and more as the baseline the rest of the wardrobe works around.

Koszarek doesn't offer a separate monologue about jeans the way she does about blazers or flats, but the visual evidence makes the argument for her. A straight-leg cut photographs cleanly, works with both flat shoes and low heels, and scales up or down depending on what's above the waist. The styling logic embedded in her outfit photos is: get the jeans right and the rest of the look has something solid to stand on.

Drawstring Pants

The most interesting category in Koszarek's spring list is also the one with the most specific stylist reasoning behind it. "Relaxed-fit trousers, especially with a drawstring, feel fresh, modern, and easy," she said. "You can dress them up or down, and they're one of my favorite pairs of pants for travel." The cropped trench coat paired with wide-leg pants that she photographs in is the visual embodiment of that logic: a slightly elevated top layer over a relaxed, fluid trouser, neither piece fighting the other.

The product picks here lean into the wide-leg, relaxed silhouette that's been dominant long enough to stop feeling trend-dependent. The Easy Wide Leg Linen Pants carry the same seasonal logic as the linen blazer, fabric doing a lot of the work to make the outfit feel appropriate for the temperature. The Olina Tie Waist Pants and the Perdoni Side Stripe Cotton Blend Drawstring Pants both incorporate waist-tie or drawstring detailing that Koszarek specifically calls out as part of what makes the silhouette feel current. The Elena Wide Leg Pants round out the category with a cleaner, unadorned option for anyone who wants the volume without the hardware.

What's consistent across all four of these categories is Koszarek's underlying editorial instinct: she's not recommending anything that requires a new outfit logic to understand. A blazer still works the way blazers have always worked. Flats are still flats. But the specific cuts, details, and fabric choices she's gravitating toward, the linen blends, the asymmetric tailoring, the drawstring waistbands, are the small upgrades that separate a functional basic from one that actually looks considered. That's the "forward twist" she's built her platform on, and it's a framework that holds up whether you're building a closet from scratch or editing an existing one for spring.