So, we’ve all heard of the dangers of fast-food. It’s lo-quality, high in fat, genetically modified, non-organic and mass-produced to the point of absurdity. It’s bad for us.
The same is true of fashion. Often, having a few, well-made luxury/boutique items is better than a closet full of cheap stuff that never makes you feel good wearing it.
“Every person who buys luxury goods has a story about a gateway purchase: the item that made him or her comfortable — sometimes too comfortable — with splurging on expensive things. “Mine was a D&G military-style maxi coat at Saks, for $900 in 2002!” says Libby Callaway, a former newspaper fashion editor who now heads up marketing for a major brand. “It definitely made it easier – but not before scaring the shit out of me. I am a sale shopper and passionate second-hander, so this was a very big deal. It was definitely a financial lubricant of sorts. Four months after that purchase, I bought my first full-price designer handbag. A Marc Jacobs number, black with one of those chunky silver metal snap clasps.”
April Uchitel, chief brand officer at Spring, went for footwear. “It was a pair of Bottega Veneta motorcycle boots, about nine years ago. They were $1,000, which was really high back then!” she says. “But they were the best purchase I ever made. I resole them annually and they have yet to go out of style.”
For social media exec Elizabeth Monson, the culprit was a Mayle “Billie” bag. “It was $600, and it’s crazy how long I debated buying it,” she says. “I didn’t do anything like that again for a while, but it made spending less scary. I also never use the bag now. Alas.”
It’s fun to make that first big purchase. And it can be even more fun to make the second. Which is why “breaking the seal” makes becoming a luxury shopper so much easier. “An under-reported and undervalued characteristic of human beings is that they are highly adaptable. And it’s not hard to adapt to luxury,” says consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow, PhD. “I don’t know anybody who can say that buying one pair of designer shoes has done the trick for the rest of her life.”
The good news? Yarrow doesn’t see any harm in the splurge. “I do find a lot of really powerful and successful women using shopping as an emotional outlet, and it’s actually really functional,” she says. “If it makes you feel good and you can afford it, who cares?”…” ~L.S.
That IS good news! Bottom line… when it comes to luxury items, you’re getting quality over quantity. So avoid fast-fashion. Find your own balance, and treat yourself with some luxury once and a while!
~LAUREN SHERMAN, editorial writer for Fashionista
image – from designer Moschino
(Read more here: http://fashionista.com/2014/11/gateway-purchase)
JM COUTURE STYLE 