Zara multi-functional! blue vest

For the record, I’m wearing a bodystocking. Best thing created ever.

Week 2 has come & gone & I’ve worn this Zara vest in several variations no less than three times. This either makes me gross or extremely economical. I’m going with economical.

In a place like NYC, where you can spend $40 on cabs in less than 45 minutes, the cash flow is low but the aching for a new wardrobe never subsides. While I’m slowly figuring out that New Yorkers will not smile back at you on the subway or the street (what’s the deal NY? Do you need a hug?), I’m also learning to make this small fraction of my wardrobe work for me while I’m here. The trick is smart shopping for smart pieces.

You’re probably sick of hearing the word invest. The point we advocates of investment (fashion not financial) are trying to drill into the minds of consumers everywhere is the theory of Fashion ROI. That is, return on investment. I’m about to get business savvy on you. Whaaaat?

Well-tailored, quality pieces almost always directly correlate with price but also to the amount of time a piece will remain relevant to your wardrobe. I could buy the super trendy $12 flats & wear them once, or I could invest in a pair of Ferragamo Varina flats, wear them 38 times & they would cost just as much. CPW, ya’ll. Cost per wear! And imagine, someday they will be vintage & worth $$$ again, so technically they are free. Can’t beat free.

1. Buy pieces you can wear several different ways.
One well-thought out purchase can turn into a week’s worth of outfits. Also great if you don’t like to do laundry.

2. Basic does not have to mean boring.
Updated silhouettes, textures and prints can make a huge difference. All it means is that you should probably pass up the Uggs in favor of a nice (read: anti-cankle) leather pair; one that will stay relevant for many years and is geographically versatile, i.e. appropriate to wear somewhere other than in an igloo.

3. DO. NOT. SHOP. ON. IMPULSE.
Make well-thought out purchases. Otherwise, you end up with a bag full of things you were completely enamored with in the presence of studio lights and the pulsing rhythm of Lady GaGa’s electronically synthesized, ever hypnotizing voice. But when all that disappears, so does your enchantment. Suddenly, it’s a bag full of crap you can’t imagine yourself wearing and you are left to a lonely hour of self-loathing with nothing but you, your bag o’crap and the ringing sound of nerve endings dying in your ears.

4. Buy what you can use immediately & often.
You should only ever purchase the things you can easily integrate into your existing wardrobe. None of this “I don’t know what I’d wear it with” nonsense. If you can’t complete a sentence like “I see myself wearing this with my _______”, put it down.

xo
Kristine