We asked girls to define what actually is the ‘nice top’ bit of ‘jeans and a nice top’

It seems like it has been since the dawn of time that the expected uniform for a girls get together has been jeans and a nice top. There is really no point in messaging the group chat asking “what’s everyone wearing?” because like mind readers, we already know the answer.

It doesn’t matter what the occasion is, it could be dinner with friends, cocktail evenings, brunch or a catch up over coffee. Without doubt, you can count on you both appearing in jeans and a nice top. However, after years of practicing this look with millions of nights out and day trips, we are still at a loss as to the definition of our staple finery.

However herein lies the struggle: what really constitutes as jeans and a nice top? The jeans part is relatively easy to understand. It’s always either black or denim and more often than not the skinny kind. This is accepted as the basic foundation of the outfit and is the simplest part by a mile. To complete the style, we must partner our jeans with a nice top. But pleASE SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT IN LIVING HELL A NICE TOP IS? It really should be as easy as it sounds! A nice top is just that, a top that would be considered nice. But what. does. it. mean.

Despite the fact that all the tops we tried on before were perfectly within the category of ‘nice’, it wasn’t in the correct section of the Venn diagram that is our wardrobe. Just to add insult to injury, when you do eventually find the correct top for tonight’s cocktail evening with the girls, you then can’t wear the same top to the next get together at risk of people on Instagram thinking that’s the only nice top you own.

To conquer this obstacle, we buy another nice top that is at the same level of niceness and thus it turns into a vicious circle of pain and sorrow. High street and online shops could make it so much easier for us if they just had a ‘nice top’ section that would solve all our problems. Yet they probably don’t know what the definition is either. Even thinking about it now is giving me a headache and making me question why we put ourselves through it.

In order to uncover the world’s best kept secret, I asked around to find out what the public defined the uniform of the gal army as.

Tally Sargent, 19

“Probably skinny black jeans with a top that’s got something funky about it, like a cool back or side details. Its usually all about the top rather than the jeans and of course the shoes. But realistically it could be anything, it really depends on the occasion. If I were going out it’d probably be a crop top.”

Jenny Arnaouti, 20

“Oh golly. This is hard. I normally go for a black top, either sparkly or mesh. But it has to be something that makes you feel fancy. The jeans are basic and then it’s a top that you normally wouldn’t wear day to day. If you have your legs covered then you can realistically get as much of the top half out as you like.”

Beth Williams, 20

“Any top that isn’t a jumper or a normal plain t-shirt, usually with black jeans and some nice shoes. It usually depends on the occasion though.”

Charlotte Westcott, 20

“Classic black jeans and anything that will get everyone’s attention.”

Katie Davies, 20

“Your jeans are the foundation of the look. They are the only thing that’s a constant. But the top is what makes you shine, whether its boobs out or boobs in, high neck or low neck. The tops that I buy work with my body shape and make me look as feminine as possible but edgy at the same time. Sometimes if I’m feeling different I’d wear culottes.”

Alex Moore, 20

“I think jeans and a nice top is denim or black jeans with a dressy kind of top and heels. Like what I’m wearing here.”

The general consensus was that there is undoubtedly a struggle to find the definition for jeans and a nice top and that it definitely is not the same for everyone. Nonetheless, I think we can come to the conclusion that a nice top, in this context, is a top that you wouldn’t wear to do your daily business like popping to the shops or attending seminars.

A nice top HAS to have something just a little bit special about it at least so that it would be odd if you wore it to do your food shopping. If a nice top is exactly how it sounds, then we should be comforted by the fact that whatever top we wear, be it mesh, sparkly, low neckline or high, it will be a nice top.

Ah, glad that’s settled.