It has taken me years to possess a wardrobe that I truly love and wear on rotation.
I still fall off the wagon now and again but I still think of all those expensive mistakes I have made, and, all the money I have wasted.
The reality is that there are simply NO SHORT CUTS and YOU have to do your own research and face your wardrobe and try on what’s in there. Something very few of us do, as it is easier just to buy more.
Social media has made us consume fashion rather than get actively involved. I remember when I started shopping seriously, I would spend hours traipsing around the shops to find one amazing piece (thank you Elaine for being my wing woman all those years ago in Miss Selfridge!). We tried on so many things and helped each other decide. In the past, magazines were there to give us direction, but in most cases we had to find the pieces ourselves.
When blogging first started it was so refreshing and it helped us create more interesting outfits, however, over the years it has lost its way, and now in the main, bloggers just CHURN out ‘stuff’. It’s hard work and some do a great job but the truth is that most of the stuff is ‘blah’. It might suit the blogger but the reality of it suiting you is very slim.
Bright colours, pouffy dresses, the undressing / dressing reels etc.. are click bait and are great to watch but please don’t press purchase.. as most of the items featured are not worth spending your money on.
At the moment Instagram is awash with dresses, mainly day dresses, but the truth is that I see very few women in the real world wearing them. Most women are in jeans, shorts or their gym wear. A lot of dresses are just too much to wear everyday and yet not formal enough to wear in the evening. Before you press purchase, ask yourself: Where will I wear it?
Go back to basics and invest in what you like to wear everyday, for me in summer it’s shorts and the odd flowing white robe, for you it could be a skirt or jeans?
Find the special one in your wardrobe that you have worn to death and find better versions. Also buy one amazing piece rather than settling for the ‘low hanging fruit’.
In any case, if you are going to splurge then don’t follow the crowd. In the main these items have been knocked off and no one can differentiate the real one from the Ali Express version.
Wander around the shops for sure, but spend 90% of your time researching and 10% shopping. We get asked the entire time for Gucci disco bags/Celine Nano’s and so on, but there are other lovely branded bags which are not so over subscribed that you should consider, such as Bally.
Also beware, the SALES are starting, the shops are doing their usual presale for existing clients but in couple of weeks so much of what is now full price will be 40% off. I have done my research and the items I have my eye on get put on my WISHLISTS.
Also be careful of spending too much on emerging brands. I have done exactly that in the past but unless you totally and utterly have to have it then beware, because a lot of these smaller brands tend to discount quite deeply, and the resale is not as strong as better known brands.
We all want to support our local and new brands but just be careful not to pay over the odds for something, just because it has been hyped to death on Instagram. Judge the piece for itself, the fabric, finish and whether it SUITS YOU AND YOUR LIFESTYLE. If you really want a VAMPIRES WIFE dress, do your research, know your size and the style that suits you and wait for the sales or the piece to hit the preloved market.
You won’t be satisfied with a duplicate either and you will have wasted your money. If a dress is £600 new it will end up being £300-£400 in the sales and then around £175-£200 preloved. So it really doesn’t make sense to spend £225-£250 on a lookalike dress.
Below are some of the pieces on my current WISHLIST
