Wardrobe Staples – Designer Diva or High Street Happy?
So what are your preferences when it comes to buying wardrobe staples – designer diva or high street happy?
I tend to start with a fashion magazine but can you even call it a fashion magazine if your favourite monthly publication doesn’t include a ‘save or splurge’ feature on the latest Designer and High Street labels?
It’s usually four or five pages showing a designer label coat, jacket, or dress, with accompanying accessories, also usually at an eye-watering price.
Each page is a different primary colour, and alongside the designer label images, is a very similar ‘high street brand’ copy. The question is, will you splurge on the more costly one, or save your money, and buy the almost the same, (but not quite), cheaper one?
Very often, in the pictures, there really is very little noticeable difference in the design and fabric, but it is possibly more obvious once you are wearing them.
Perhaps the quality IS reflected in the price. But does the price always determine which one you choose? Do you ever give high-street brands a chance?
It’s true there can be a considerable difference when it comes to things like stitching, lining, zips, buttons, and embellishments, which justifies the often vast difference in price, between two very similar items.
And of course, it’s understandable that, to the discerning eye, some items can easily be identified as genuine designer quality, whilst the copycats stand out like poor relations, in the style stakes.
Are you a slave to designer labels, or, a high street happy shopper, who is also no stranger to a charity shop? Is it always just a question of cost, or are there some other more personal factors involved in the choices you make when clothes shopping?
How about those good old wardrobe staples, that we rely on, to pull together an outfit? The unsung clothing heroes, such as a plain white T-shirt, or a pair of simple black trousers.
Will anyone actually know that you are rocking a £2.50 Primark white T, under your £500 Prada jacket, or that those are H & M £19.99 ankle grazers, hovering over your prized, cost-a-fortune, Louboutins? You might know, but will anyone else? It’s unlikely, so you can mix and match your brand names with your designer labels, and save money into the bargain.
And when you are wearing your plain white T-shirt, which perhaps costs upwards of £100, will you look any different wearing the plain white T-shirt costing £2.50? Probably not. Will you feel any different? Maybe.
The clothes we wear reflect more about us than just our financial ability to pay for them. Clothes silently say how we are feeling.
You’ll rarely see a happy, confident girl dressed in a baggy black tracksuit that has seen better days, no matter what her status, especially if the hood is up.
Likewise, anyone who is feeling depressed or unconfident won’t feel like wearing a statement ‘loud’ dress, no matter what the label says inside or how much it costs.
There is an adage that says, if you look good on the outside, you’ll feel good on the inside, and there’s a lot to be said for feeling High Street Happy!
GUEST POST was kindly written by Jane from youthntrends.com