You could read countless lists of fashion ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ and never come across the most germane: don’t bankrupt yourself to bankroll your wardrobe. It’s not worth it.
We’re inundated with products – on our Instagram feeds and in magazines (Grazia included) – and the cost of the most desirable is rising. Retail search engine Lyst’s latest report on the state of the market concluded the hottest brands of 2018 were luxury labels (Gucci, followed by Off-White, Balenciaga, Moncler and Fendi) and the hottest products were an £800 bag and a £320 belt. While the most coveted brands and pieces maybe some of the most expensive, across all spectrums of the industry the price of clothes is rising – a report from last year blamed oil for scaling up the price of synthetic fabrics like polyester and rayon, as well as bad weather affecting cotton, increased import duties and the rent on bricks and mortar stores – but salaries are stagnating. You do the maths…it doesn’t look good for our overdraft.
The first step is to set goals, advises Clare Francis, Barclay’s Director of Savings and Investments. Is there an item you want, a Vampire’s Wife dress perhaps? Or, a certain amount of cash you want to splash? Figure out what the drive is and then start the wheels turning on making a plan to find the dosh.
‘Look at your daily spending and work out some changes you can make to save up enough to get those new season buys you’re after,’ recommends Clare. She suggests considering if you could make a simple switch like a cinema visit for a home movie or bringing in packed lunches and your own coffee from home. ‘What you save, move straight to a savings account so it’s out of temptations way,’ she adds.
Saving isn’t always the salvation we want it to be, sometimes a side-hustle is the only answer. If your work-life balance is already off-kilter don’t add more heavy lifting to your days, instead, find a way to sell on what you don’t need to make room for the item you desire. Consider car boots the quickest way to make a speedy buck, while Depop, 1stdibs and eBay the more lucrative. Like the angel on our shoulder, Clare says, ‘remember a new season wardrobe doesn’t have to mean brand new clothes. Vintage, nearly-new and second-hand clothes can be picked up for a fraction of the price online.’
It’s stating the bleeding obvious, but yet often forgotten, Clare says to, ‘to avoid falling into the trap of buying something on a whim, make sure you really want it before parting with your cash. Take some time to sleep on it, and you’ll see if you really want to buy it.’ One tip that’s worked for this author is never shopping online. The ease of delivery and the hassle of returns makes less than perfect goods seem worth their expenditure even if in the long run you’d rather still have that cold hard cash in your wallet. When crowdsourcing for expertise, a friend divulged that she doesn’t buy any clothes or cosmetics until the day before payday so she knows exactly what money she has available for luxury items.
As a final thought, Clare muses, ‘Whilst it may feel like you have to have that item, it’s never worth the stress of then facing a bill you can’t pay further down the line. And, if you have to wait to get it, who knows? It might have been reduced.