The biggest question for the fashion obsessed who lack the resources to obtain the Carrie Bradshaw closet of their dreams: where to spend/save when stocking your closet. I'll share my accessory hierarchy for spending but my simple answer is: what made you head over heels for fashion?
Was it a pair of sunglasses you bought for a tropical vacation? That dress you wore to your friend's engagement dinner? The handbag sitting on your night table because it's too special to hide out in the closet? Or the stilettos you wore the first time you entered a Vegas nightclub?
For me it was a handbag. My first designer handbag purchase that I made at Harrods about seventeen-ish years ago.
A gorgeous Yves Saint Laurent suede and leather fringe shoulder bag, buried deep within a 75% off discount bin. These are pictures I took today, in all its worn down glory. That night when I secured my purchase and wore it to dinner, I felt confident for the first time in ten years. I struggled with astronomically low self-esteem and harsh self-determined beauty standards I couldn't meet. Up until that point fashion was a torture device I used to prove I wasn't pretty or skinny enough for it.
Handbags come in one size, no ideal body type needed, and that softened my views of fashion. I began collecting handbags from then on. On trips, birthdays, holidays, I'd save up for a new special handbag until I had a closet full of them. Each reminding me of a trip, an event, a period of my life. A portion of my closet full of tangible memories pertaining to my journey, different paths I've traveled, my growth, and very strongly my love for fashion.
Handbags were my starter accessory. Soon, I began opening myself up fully to the transformative nature of fashion. I started daring to buy hats, shoes, sunglasses, items that drew attention to parts of my body but without judging or critiquing how I looked in them. I valued the joy of self-expression and creative freedom over needing to look like someone in the pages of my Vogue. Today I throw myself into every aspect of fashion: the clothes, shoes, handbags, jewelry, headbands, etc. The artistic nature of putting together an outfit is like connecting the pieces of a puzzle, fun and stimulating. I find style energizing. It provides a burst of excitement that makes me feel alive. Fashion is not a materialistic pursuit of acquiring "things." It's an art. An appreciation of personal freedom that woman are often unable to express due to religious or cultural restraints.
So think back and remember that moment when you truly fell in love with fashion, that is where you focus your financial resources. For me it's handbags. Shoes, jewelry, hats, and sunglasses I save money on since I'm blowing the rest of my allocation on the handbag of my dreams. Unless you have the resources to buy dresses from Gucci (if so can I follow you?), make your own individual hierarchy of what you'd like to prioritize and where to save. In the meantime I'll continue enjoying other people's Instagram accounts filled with closets fit for Architectural Digest and salivate over their fresh off the runway outfits. My closet will remain somewhat modest but 100% unique to me. I hope by sharing my fashion love story, you can further explore yours.
Stay fashionable, Linda.
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