Not a Trend

I have held off talking about this subject for a period of time, because it’s a subject I enjoy and believe is a smart way to shop, but it became a trend, and a trend is short lived.  Off the back of quiet luxury (a trend that inadvertently got itself cancelled for being elitist)  The trend for “looking expensive” was suddenly everywhere. The rules of this trend in their most basic form are to wear pieces that appear more expensive than they are, while this is a sage advice, it’s not a trend. Aside from the legend that is Dolly Parton who famously quoted with her tongue firmly in her cheek “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap” why would anyone buy clothes that appear cheaper than their price tag?

So let's ignore this as a trend and talk about it as an essential rule of thumb when shopping for clothes, and lets add another layer, the clothes need not just appear more expensive, life isn’t lived through a camera lense, the clothes have to work in real life and feel nice to wear but moreover they need to stay looking good as you wear them, and that’s my litmus test for “looking expensive”. 

So where do we start? Buying expensive looking clothes isn’t about finding the high street dupe of a designer item, the real gems are to be found in the pieces that are genuinely better quality, lets not forget not every penny of the price tag of luxury clothing goes into making the garment, while (most) designer clothes are undoubtedly well made, a big chunk of the RRP is marketing spend which is the intangible magic part that makes a brand desirable. Smaller, lesser known, non-luxury brands have great product, they just don’t pay to be in glossy magazines. 

When buying a luxury garment you wouldn’t expect them to use cheap synthetic fabrics, apply this rule when looking for expensive looking pieces, Check the care label, is it cotton, modal, wool, cashmere, linen, silk, bamboo, leather, suede, the higher the percentage of natural fibres the better. The only exception I would make here is if the design content is impressive, for eg. if its a beautifully cut well made viscose dress, viscose is semi-synthetic fibre that resembles silk, but silk is very expensive so viscose is a purse friendly alternative so you compromise. 

Take in the details. Have the brand gone the extra mile to finish the garment well? Is it lined? Are the pockets real? (fake pockets are a cheapo short cut) does the pattern match up at the seams? Does the drawstring function? Are the buttons well sewn on? Once you start to look these faults become hard to ignore. 

High standards don’t equal high price points, you just need to know where to look.