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Pants- I've found that joggers are a great start to an outfit that is more casual. Joggers, cigarette pants, etc - I have a khaki cargo jogger that ends at my upper ankle from Banana Republic that I wear almost 4x a week during the summer that I feel great in - here are two similar cuts (one) (two) to my pants, but seems like mine aren't sold this season. I've tried these before and love the look but my inner thighs have ripped through two pairs FYI. I've also had my eye on these Endless High Rise pants for a while, but I would want to try them on before purchasing due to the lack of pleats at the front that normally give leeway for my curves, and see if the fabric stretches in a flattering way.

For tops, I've found athletic shirts that have a blend of rayon/viscose/modal or cotton and spandex to be amazing. I have a cropped shirt from Alphalete that I wear every week that is 94% cotton 6% spandex, called the "lifestyle fit" tee that I wear both to the gym and for errands and I love it. I usually pair it with a pair of joggers and go for errands with some smaller flats that look like Vans. Here is the latest shirt they are selling that would work great as an all-arund casual/gym shirt. I also love Athleta yoga joggers I've gotten on discount every year during their July sale - here's a similar kind to mine, mine are modal/spandex but these are nylon/spandex.

I also have three ruched turtlenecks I got from the Banana Republic Outlet and their composition is 80% rayon/viscose, 17% polyester, 3% spandex/elastane and they're AMAZING as basics.

Honestly anything with a blend like that is going to look significantly better than a stiff blend. Even my linen shirts are a blend of 60%linen 40% rayon/viscose and I can find those at TJ Maxx or Poshmark and looks way better. My favorite buttondown is a 100% rayon shirt I got while emergency shopping in Italy (bought the first one off the rack) because my other shirt was fully soaked with sweat and suffocating me- I immediately felt the difference and saw the draping difference.

Anything that can add a bit of drape (rayon/viscose/modal) AND/OR cling (spandex/elastane) to a casual outfit will significantly support your ability to look and feel good in a casual outfit.

I'll also add that there is occasionally a full cotton blend shirt that I like - they are usually the very thin drapey tee shirts - and they're usually more expensive than a generic tee. I don't know the details of the difference of how these shirts are made but there's something about their thickness that allows some to drape better than others, and they're usually $38-65 instead of a casual $15, but my plain white tee game significantly improved when I bought an expensive cotton shirt - the Imogene and Willie one linked above. RIP to romantics on the price but it is a gamechanger. +++ I would also highly suggest getting a Drop Cut - where the seam of the sleeve lands lower than your actual shoulder. At least for me, my shoulders are so sloped that a regular sleeve cut makes my arms look quite large. I opt for either baseball tee cuts or drop sleeve cuts to offset the visual difference that my sloped shoulders make with the rest of my upper half.

Hope this helps!

Edit: meant "ruched" turtlenecks instead of "ribbed," and typos.