A friend said this to me at my kitchen table with a six-week-old on her: “I just want to feel like me again, but I can’t wear anything cute because I need easy access.” The white shirt is my answer to that sentence. It was the first thing from before that I put back on after my second, with a black clip tank under it, and I remember standing in the kitchen realising I could feed in it without taking anything off. Three buttons from the top. That was the whole trick, and it has been the spine of my wardrobe through three babies since.

Here are ten outfits built on one white button-down, every one of them pictured below, every one of them opening the same way. The shirt is the same in all ten. What changes is the layer over it and the bottom under it, which is how one piece becomes a fortnight of getting dressed.

1. With the denim jacket and ivory wide-leg trousers

The white shirt tucked loosely into ivory wide-leg trousers, a denim jacket over it, brown loafers, a brown tote. This is the Saturday outfit: the jacket comes off with one hand on the bench, the shirt opens three buttons, and the pale trousers are higher-waisted than they look, so nothing sits on a scar.

2. Open over a black tank with black shorts

The shirt worn open over a black clip-down nursing tank, black cotton shorts, white sneakers. The shirt is the cover, the tank is the feed. This is the hot-day version and the fastest outfit on the list, for the park and the pram.

3. Under a sage half-zip with soft joggers

A sage knitted half-zip over the shirt, with the collar showing, sage joggers, white sneakers, a canvas tote and a wireless bra. The half-zip pulls down and the shirt opens under it, so the knit never comes off. The cold-morning school-run outfit, and the one that looks like a decision rather than loungewear.

4. With a black blazer and black shorts

A black blazer worn open over the shirt, a black tank under it, black shorts, black ankle boots. The blazer opens by definition, the shirt opens under it, and black below the waist hides whatever the day does. The dinner-out outfit that still works at the christening.

5. Tied over a tank with powder-blue trousers

The shirt tied at the waist over a black tank, soft powder-blue trousers, ivory ballet flats, an ivory striped scarf. Tied, the shirt is a top; untied, it is a cover. The scarf is the feeding cover on the bench and the colour that lifts a tired face.

From the capsules

The Year Round Capsule

Two hundred nursing-friendly outfits from fifty-six pieces, fifty for every season, laid out and then worn. $29 once, yours to keep.

See the capsule →

6. With the black blazer and grey trousers, for the office floor

The shirt under a black blazer with grey tailored trousers and ivory sneakers. This is the outfit the mamas I interviewed for the Back to Work capsule described as their first-day-back uniform: three buttons for the eleven o’clock pump, the blazer closed again for the meeting. Breastfeeding-friendly fashion for work and meetings has the rest of the week.

7. Half-tucked into camel cargos

The shirt half-tucked into camel cargo trousers with a soft waist, a black tank under it, ivory sneakers. The cargo pockets carry the muslin and the phone so the bag stays home. The untucked side covers the waistband. The errand outfit.

8. Under a cream collarless jacket with grey trousers

An ivory collarless jacket over the shirt, a black tank, grey trousers, ivory sneakers. Softer than the blazer, warmer than the shirt alone, and all three layers open down the front. The lunch-with-the-in-laws outfit.

9. With black shorts, pearl earrings and a scarf

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The shirt open over a black tank, black shorts, a cream scarf, pearl-drop earrings, a black watch, ivory sneakers, a canvas tote. The earrings are the whole dressing-up. Pick ones that do not dangle where a small hand can reach.

10. Under a camel trench with black trousers

A belted camel trench over the shirt, a black tank and a black wireless bra under it, black trousers, the cream scarf, the pearl earrings, ivory sneakers. A trench opens to the hem, which makes it the only coat for a cold car-park feed. The autumn version of outfit one, and the one I would wear to anything.

Ten outfits, one shirt, three buttons. The shirt is the piece I would hand every new mama in the hospital bag if I could, because it does not look like what it is and it works from week one to the first birthday. Size it for the chest you have now, not the one you remember, and buy a second when the first one goes grey.

Every outfit here is in the same ordinary shapes as the Year Round Capsule, where the white shirt appears in forty of the two hundred outfits, laid out and then worn, with three pictures of you in them on the house. If you want someone to tell you each morning which of the ten to wear from your own closet, that is Anah inside the Atelier. And the Colour Season Quiz will tell you, free, whether your white is a cool white or a warm ivory.

Three buttons. That is all it takes. The focus is on you, mama.