Fashion is overwhelming.
With its eruption across digital platforms, every social media post is seemingly an invitation to buy. Even the most trend conscious of us risk temptation everyday. One moment it’s your indie-sleaze era and the next you find yourself searching “Blokette” on Depop. Two chronically online words for your day.
With all of this consumer temptation, we are often left with an instant buy itch that just cannot be scratched. So how can we decipher what’s worth investing in and what’s just a fad?
The answer- investing in accessories.
Investing in luxury, or more importantly high quality accessories allows us to serve looks while consuming consciously. You can elevate almost any outfit with a timeless accessory.
Not convinced? Take Carrie Bradshaw as an example. Here the fictional fashion mogul pairs her $300 shoes with a $7 dress. The cheaper, and more than likely second-hand dress will never devalue its designer counterpart, providing it is styled well. The accessory should always seek to elevate the outfit.
This shopping enlightenment is not restricted to Carrie Bradshaw’s $300 shoes. The same theory can be applied to jewelry, scarves and most importantly, handbags. The handheld accessory has proven its worth over the years both in fashion and investment quality. Take the Saint Laurent Mombasa Bag as an exquisite example. Tom Ford designed and released this bag in 2002 to a select 50 editors, as all the best it-bags are and following, the horn-enhanced leather accessory was a noughties hit.
Since its early 2000s debut, it has made a style resurgence with Vogue noting it to be the ‘best time to invest’, almost 21 years later. If you were an avid fashion follower of the time and you invested in the Mombasa, you can dig at the back of your wardrobe and rewear it. Despite the age gap, you will be in current style. Or better yet, head to the resale market and bestow it to someone who knows what the word 'Blokette' means.
If we're going to pay homage to the investment power of handbags, it would be a serious faux pas to stop at just the Mombasa. Fashion houses with leading investment bags are noted as; The leader of the handbag world, who needs no introduction, Hermes with the Birkin, followed by Chanel with the classic flap and Louis Vuitton with monogram. The investment power of these cult classics? Illustrious. Their accessibility? Limited.
Fear not, as to invest in good quality accessories you do not have to sacrifice your first born in order to obtain. In a recent report by Rebag, the latest it-bag to have, Telfar, proved to place higher in investment value than its esteemed counterpart, The Birkin. This true despite its winsome price point, which starts at just under €200. The now dubbed 'unicorn' carries an average value retention of 195 percent on the resale market. This challenges traditional luxury houses Hermes (102%), Chanel (87%) and Louis Vuitton (82%).
Now considering your self an accessories girl? Ok it's time to shop or rather, invest. To add an extra layer of moral indulgence, shop preloved accessories. You can browse the full range of preloved bags and accessories from Designer Exchange here.