Fashion: When to Spend and When to Save

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:00:02 -0500

You just moved into a new apartment. It’s completely empty and you need to purchase all new items in order to furnish it. You have a limited budget, but you want to make it look amazing (naturally). What you won’t do: Browse Craigslist for a used sofa and then head to the most expensive design shop for expensive vintage wall frames. Ok, maybe you will, but you shouldn’t. What you should do is invest in a few key pieces, like a nice sofa and coffee table, and then head to Ikea for the rest.

The same rule applies to dressing. You don’t need to spend exorbitant prices to look amazing. But at the same time, if you go budget on everything, unless you are super shopping savvy (and some people are), you run the risk of looking cheap. It turns out, creating a wardrobe that is fashion forward, smart, appropriately trendy, and doesn't break the bank is a bit of a learned skill developed through careful observation and trial and error. Here are some tips I've picked up over the years:

Things to Invest In:

1) Blazers. A blazer can transform an otherwise simple outfit into a head-turner. In my opinion, it should be the single-most important item in your wardrobe. Because you can freshen up almost anything with the right blazer, you don’t want your blazer to look cheap. Material matters here. Go for wool, not polyester. Wool is going to cost more, but its worth the money. A blazer is an investment piece. You can wear it again and again and it works just as well with black slacks at work as it does with jeans on the weekend or over a mini-skirt on a dinner date.
2) Dresses. Apologies in advance for stating the obvious. Dresses require more fabric than other items of clothing. Again, fabric is often the key to dressing smart. A cotton t-shirt is a cotton t-shirt regardless of whether you spend $95 or $12. Nobody is going to tell the difference. The same is not true for dresses. You can tell. Trust. Invest in quality. It will fit your figure better and will last longer.
3) Handbags. If you are vegan, skip to number 4. For all others, head my advice on this one. Pleather looks tacky. In most cases, so does patent. A handbag is an investment, but consider how many times you will use it. If treated well, it could last several years. I bought my Louis Vuitton five years ago and it still looks brand new. Regrets? Never.
4) Jewelry. Hear me out on this one. You don’t need all expensive jewelry. The key here is to mix inexpensive pieces with one or two expensive ones. If you have on one nice piece of jewelry, it elevates the status of your other jewelry. Invest in a nice ring, a nice necklace, and a nice watch. Mix them in with a few inexpensive rings, earrings, and bracelets. You will look like a million bucks.

Things NOT to invest in:

1) T-shirts. A t-shirt is an over/under piece. It’s usually under something like a leather jacket or cardigan. Occasionally, its over something like a bathing suit, in which case its coming off. Even if its not over or under something, its never the center of attention. And if you are going for a super laid back look, in which case it may be the center of attention, it still doesn’t need to be expensive. Laid back = low maintenance = inexpensive.
2) Shoes. Do me a favor. Go outside. Lick your finger. Touch the ground. Observe. Shoes are the only part of your wardrobe that will make daily contact with the filth that is outdoors. They get dirty. They get wet. They get stepped on. They step in/on unmentionables. They get scratched, scuffed, and stained. I know you are dying for those red-soled Louboutins, but they aren’t going to last you a lifetime. They may not even last a season. You know what will though? That Chloe handbag. Invest wisely.
3) Jeans. Everybody loves a pair of brand name jeans. But you don’t have to spend brand name prices on brand name jeans. There are tons of online sample sale sites that sell brand names jeans for a fraction of the price. Online fashion retailers have caught on, and if you get email notifications from companies like Saks, you can snag brand name jeans for upwards of 70% off during one of their many weekly flash sales.
4) Accessories. Your look is almost complete. You've got your skinny Seven jeans paired with a white v-neck tee and a black Helmut Lang blazer with a satin trim. You've mixed your DANNIJO necklace and Iosselliani ring with hoop earrings from H&M and two silver bangles from Forever 21. On your feet? Not those $800 YSL's you've been dying for, but a brilliant pair of Dolce Vita platforms that cost you $100. That means you had $700 leftover to put towards a Mulberry handbag. You feel something is missing though. A beanie maybe? Or a leopard skinny belt? These are items you can always snag on the cheap. Nobody is going to tell the difference. Besides, accessories like hats are usually trendy items that go in and out of style. They are precisely the kinds of things you don't need to invest in.

Happy Shopping Dolls!

*Written By: Gabrielle, a self-professed fashion junkie, and the blogger behind Resort Rock Sugar, leads a dual life. Quite paradoxically, she spends her days in a downtown highrise office building as a busy civil litigation attorney, but you wouldn't guess it if you peeked inside her closet. There you would find everything from fringe tank tops to short leather mini dresses, essentially nothing she can wear to her 9 to 5, err, 8 to 8 job. On the weekends, when she isn't discovering hot new designers whilst hitting up her favorite shopping haunts in LA, or taking in the brilliant fashion that is LA's scenester crowd, she is documenting it all via her blog, and probably from a prime seat at the Coffee Bean on the corner of Beverly and Robertson, because in LA all you need to do is step outside to get a little fashion inspiration.

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