I love being a spendthrift with clothes, but I’m not a monogamous thrifter — I splurge now and again. Not sure what luxe price tags are worth your time? Let me help you decide which expensive apparel choices are right for you and your wardrobe.
How to Find Luxury Worth Spending Your Money On
You work hard for your money! Don’t throw it away on wildly impractical haute couture because that’s what the influencers on your feed are doing.
The key to investing in “good” expensive pieces starts with investigating your lifestyle and existing wardrobe. A little bit of detective work is all it takes to find accessories and apparel that are worth spending your money on.
Make a List of Your Most Frequently Replaced Items
My father goes through shoes so quickly that we’ve joked about him needing a personal cobbler. Think through your most recent apparel purchases. Were any of them to replace something you already own?
There are so many things you can wear straight through on a regular basis, from shoes to white t-shirts and so much in between. These are the perfect things to consider splurging on since part of the “replacement” problem might be that the ones you’re buying aren’t built for your specific lifestyle or wear pattern.
Higher quality and construction typically come with a higher price tag. But, high-use items like shoes or outerwear can be a keen area to spend your money.
Consider Your Lifestyle Needs
Everyone’s lifestyle is different. Professional ballet companies spend thousands of dollars on pointe shoes for their company of dancers because their craft requires the precision of well-fit and well-made shoes.
Think about your day-to-day life. What needs stand out to you? Are you always fighting off a chill? Do you spend a lot of time on your feet?
Buying luxury for luxury’s sake is one thing, but if you want to get the most for your money, identify the areas where your investment is best served.
For example, a lineman or a construction worker may want to splurge on high-quality work boots, while a lawyer may want to invest in a few well-tailored suits to wear to court.
Hunt the Socials for Style Inspiration
Part of the trouble with investing a lot of money in a single piece of clothing is that it’s a gamble. Who knows if you’ll like what you bought five years from now (with the idea being it holds up that long)?
Whether big or small, our personalities change over time. But how do you make sure that you don’t get caught in a high-cost cycle of investing in luxury pieces and replacing them when they fall out of favor? You buy items that align 100% with your personal style.
Haven’t figured out what your personal style is yet? Magazines, socials like Pinterest, and editorials are all awesome places to find fashion examples. The idea is to look at a bunch of outfits and see which items you’re continually drawn to.
Let your personal style guide your luxury apparel purchases. It’ll help your one-time purchases turn into the investment they’re meant to be.
Pick Luxury Price Tags You Can Reasonably Save For
Falling in love with a limited edition Birkin or Kelly bag is a fool’s errand for 99% of us. Save yourself the heartbreak on prohibitively expensive items by only favoriting or aspiring for things you can reasonably save for.
Everyone has a budget — even a billionaire. If you can only spare the gift money you get on your birthday and winter holidays for a luxury item, only look for stuff that falls within that budget.
Luxury brand lust is a problem for so many people, and it keeps them from discovering accessible splurge items they’ll love.
Keep Looking Until You Find the Right Piece
Thoughtless consumerism is at an all-time high, and it bleeds heavily into luxury spending. Smart splurging relies on you prioritizing quality over quantity. A major part of that? Waiting for the right pieces to become available.
Patience is a virtue for a reason. Just because you’ve decided you’re going to spend a lot of money on something doesn’t mean you have to buy it tomorrow. But don’t worry — if you haven’t found that must-have piece yet, it probably just hasn’t been made yet.
Periodically browse secondhand sites and luxury resellers to see what vintage stock comes available. Just because something looks unavailable doesn’t mean it will be forever.
Smart Splurging Doesn’t Start in the Store
If you really want to find the right luxury pieces for you, you can’t start your search by adding a bunch of things to your cart to compare later. Smart splurging doesn’t start in the store, it starts in your closet. Deconstruct your lifestyle, your habits, your budget, and your style before stepping foot inside a dressing room, and you’ll make investments that’ll last a long time, if not a lifetime.
