"The difference between style and fashion is quality"
- Giorgio Armani
Do you agree with this?
I absolutely do.
In my opinion it is far far better to invest in good quality clothes that are going to last, look good and feel good.
It's all very well and good to go and buy a pair of pants from Supre but after one wash when they have discoloured and fallen to pieces was it really worth it? Sure they may have been $15 but it's a completely wasted $15, you could have bought 3 coffees for that! I know what I would prefer!!
And at what point exactly do we compromise our standards for a bargain? I used to be guilty of this, I'd buy something that I didn't completely love, just because it was cheap... how dumb is that? I now have a wardrobe full of clothes that I like but don't love, therefore when I go to get dressed in the morning it's not as fun as it should be. You should LOVE your clothes, if you do then you will feel great and if you feel great you can achieve great things and if you achieve great things you will go far in life.
I'm not saying only spend your money on expensive things, this just isn't realistic for most of us, myself included. I'm saying pick wisely, some clothes you should spend an extra bit of money on to make sure they are going to last you the distance, good t-shirts, blazers and jeans need to be quality as do shoes.. DON'T BUY CHEAP SHOES!! I mean it.. how many of you whinge about how much your feet hurt because you bought shoes from rubi shoes and not only do your feet stink after wearing them you now have blisters and bunions.. look after your feet.. you need them! After working in shoe retail for over 2 years and seeing all the challenges ladies have with buying shoes because their feet are screwed up from the shoe choices they made when they were younger, is eye opening!
When your clothes are starting to look rammy it's time to let go.. white tee looking a bit grey? chuck it, seams coming apart? fix them or ditch them, shoes talking? CHUCK!! it's such a bad look and says to the world, that you don't care about your appearance.
Learn from your past purchases, if you bought something that fell apart soon after you bought it.. maybe don't buy from there again! Keep all your receipts and don't be afraid to take something back if it's faulty, law states that faulty products have to be refunded so don't be a push over!!
Also understand that keeping your clothes in good nick is your responsibility too, don't expect to wash whites with reds and everything be OK.. it won't!! Treat your clothes with respect, they won't look after themselves and need a bit of loving, hand-washing is a pain but definitely pays off in the long run.. put on some music and your washing up gloves and have a little boogie while you do it, make it fun, after all, having clothes that last you years and years is something worth dancing about!
Shops that I think are great for investment pieces but are also reasonably priced for their quality are:
CUE, Alannah Hill, Country Road, Saba, Witchery, FCUK and Sass and Bide. For shoes I can't go past Wittner and Steve Madden. Accessories for me are where it's a bit of a grey area.. I love buying from Diva when they have their sale on so I can stock up on pointless but fun jewellery for cheap, for quality pieces Mimco is always amazing and for silver lovers, the silver shop is great and the girls that work there are beautiful.
Of course there are more places than those that are safe to buy from but they are some of my favourite shops that are great at what they do and generally have great service which makes for an overall great experience, which adds that extra pop of style and quality into your shopping trip.
