The mistake is treating a black co-ord as one piece rather than two, and buying it like a jumpsuit you can't take apart. The top and the trousers (or skirt) are cut to match each other, not to be worn as a unit forever, and the women who get the most out of them are the ones who split the set within the first week and wear the pieces separately more often than together.
A good set in a decent weight of fabric holds its shape for a long time if you treat it properly. Cotton and viscose blends soften with washing and start to drape better after a few goes, but they'll bobble under the arms of a jacket if you machine wash on anything warm, so a cold wash and a flat dry is worth the extra ten minutes. Crepe and ponte hold their structure longer and barely need ironing, which matters if you're the sort of person who decides what to wear at the last minute. Check the seams at the crotch and underarm before you buy, because that's where cheaper sets give way first, and a loose thread there now is a split there in three months.
Once you've split the set, the top goes under a blazer with jeans for something that reads more put together than it took to make, and the trousers go with a plain white t-shirt and trainers for days you can't be bothered thinking. The skirt version does the same job with boots in the colder months. None of this needs new buys, it just needs you to stop thinking of the two pieces as handcuffed to each other.
On colour, a true flat black is easier to live with than one with a slight sheen, because sheen shows up differently under shop lighting than it does outside, and you end up with a top and trousers that don't quite match once you're home. Matte black also hides the small snags and fluff that build up over a season, where anything with a satin finish shows every mark. In the shop, check the trousers and top against each other in daylight if you can, not just under the lights by the till, and look at the stitching on any pockets or zips, since that's usually the first thing to come loose.
Reach for the set whole on the days you want to look dressed without any decisions, and split it the rest of the time.
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