Building a designer wardrobe on a budget

8:10:00 AM

Over time and you begin to create your own personal style. And when that happens, you can
take time and effort to slow the curation of your wardrobe too.

It isn’t uncommon for people to have a huge range of styles and designs, in cupboards and drawers and wardrobes. And all of the accessories to match to of course. However, there is a lot to be said for a capsule wardrobe that just consists of classics in your style and some high-end designer labels.

When you invest money in high-end designer labels, you are investing in the fit, the quality,
and to some extent yhe fact you own an expensive designer piece, of course.

Photo grabbed from James Ree's Unsplash account
Photo grabbed from James Ree's Unsplash Account

Where do you start? How do you begin to build this fabulous budget wardrobe when you don’t really have a budget to spend yet?

Budget
Everything will hinge on this point of your plan. There is no easy way to say this, you’re going to have to save. And it should be saving after you have paid for everything else that you need in your life. No borrowing cash becoming a Carrie Bradshaw, and spending money on shoes before you’ve paid any of your bills off.

And remember that not right now doesn’t mean that you’re never going to own something. Just try to be smart with your finances and put some money aside. And don’t be tempted to take out small loans, or put it on your credit card. If you’re going to be paying it off for the next few years, it takes the shine off it somewhat. Consider saving for designer items, as important as your Netflix subscription.

Create The List
Everybody has a list of things that they want when it comes to designer items. There is something in a magazine, on the runway that caught their eye. It should be remembered thatsome basics are just better from the High Street Store. Plain white T-shirts, basic black tunics, tights, and maybe even slippers too. They’re all just as easy to buy from High Street as they are to buy from the designer.
When it comes to bigger items like dresses, jackets, and shoes, those pieces will take you far - and should lean into designer.

Most designers, at the high-end, have a range of classic items. Everybody knows the specific items like the Louis Vuitton bags, Louboutin shoes with those beautiful red bottoms, Emilio Pucci scarf, Gucci bags. But each of those high and designers also have a range of more reasonably priced classics. As well as a large range of accessories.
Think of items that you use every day, like a good pair of brogues, a shoulder bag or a tote bag, and find peice that matches what you’re looking for.
There are many options for you to go through, and Pinterest and fashion blogs can be a huge source of inspiration when you are building your list.

Alternatives
This might be an interesting question because almost all of the high and designers will have
designers underneath them in terms of price that produce something of high quality, but without the huge price tag. Which means you don’t have to buy it from that designer unless it’s the label that matters more. Something else that is also important is, with each new season a range of last season will hit the outlets and online stores. They tend to have perpetual sales which mean that people can purchase high-end designer at snippet of the price.

And considering do you really need the item to be new? Or can it just be new to you? There is some incredibly reputable site that sells pre-loved high-end designer goods like The Vestaire and The Real Real.

Don’t skip out on Depop or eBay either, It can be a veritable hive of amazing design and pieces. But sometimes the mislabelled, and other times people just haven’t found it.

Reduce Spend
We live in a fast-fashion world, and this means that people can buy a whole wardrobe worth
of clothing for only 100 or so dollars. And while the clothes will last that season, they won’t last much longer than that. But the other issue is the ethical issue. Many of these fast fashion stores have been outted for how they treat the people that actually make the clothing from poor working conditions to incredibly low pay. And you have to ask yourself if you wantto contribute to that ecosystem.

And most of the time that will be a no. So if you reduce your fast fashion spending, or spending shopping sprees when you don’t really need something you notice you are able to purchase the single items that you wanted much faster.

Accessories
Each high-end designer will have a range of affordable accessories. Not only will they have
more affordable accessories, but there is a wide range too. Which means that if you are looking for a new silk scarf, or you are in need of some sunglasses you can almost always get these items at a reasonable price. And the best thing about accessories is quite often they have the designer name on them in an obvious area. It is important that when you are buying designer goods online read a review, check that the prices are correct, and ensure that you’re buying from a legitimate source.

Beauty
Dior, Marc Jacobs, Yves Saint Laurent are all designers that have beauty items too. And you
shouldn't blow all of your budgets on buying smaller beauty items, that is quite something
quite luxurious about the packaging for most of these items. So if you are well known for wearing red lipstick, perhaps it is time to upgrade your Revlon to Tom Ford Scarlett Rouge, or a Chanel Pirate.

Time
Don’t try to have a $100,000 wardrobe in the space of a few months. Instead, build it up slowly over the years. This should be a d⁴edication to the high quality that you want to purchase. It takes time when you are going for quality over quantity and always remember it is much easier to address something up then is the dress something down. 
So if you are incredibly tempted by a very expensive evening gown, no matter how beautiful it is, that could be quite hard to dress down. However, a functional black suit, from a high-end
designer is much easier to dress up or down. Which means that these items will get worn more often.

Classics
When high-end designers aren’t in your everyday budget, or perhaps not even in your every week budget, then there has to be a compromise. And a compromise might be that you should opt for classic items. The classic designer item is never going to go out of style, it might end up being the easiest peace in your whole wardrobe to style too.

Designer Collaborations
There are many High Street stores and budget beauty brands that collaborate with high-end
designers. Which means you will be purchasing something that the designer has themselves
designed, but completely within your typical budget. There is almost no easy way to get design and quality for less. Then choosing to go for collaborations. But this does mean that you will need to be up at all fashion and beauty news, which probably isn’t such a hardshipreally.

When it comes to building a designer wardrobe try to never spend more money than you can afford, always look for a bargain from second hand online stores, and if you believe the legitimacy of something is in question always check before purchase.

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