In defence of your designer purchases
In defence of your designer purchases
Hands up who’s spent way more money than they ‘should’ have on a dress, pair of shoes or handbag? And who then felt unnecessarily guilty?
Why then, are we tempted into dropping serious money on clothes? We buy luxury items for a variety of reasons, many of which are related to the emotions we attach to our purchases. We show off, we look for acceptance and we reward ourselves. And why shouldn’t we?
Beyond being an art to be discovered, admired, copied and treasured, designer items have plenty of virtues to justify their purchase.
Designer labels offer superior quality to their cheaper alternatives; spending hundreds of pounds on a single item is worth it when you know it’ll last more than 10 washes or even 10 years. The high quality fabrics and materials command a high price—cashmere will always be a better choice than scratchy polyester and will hold its shape better; mother-of-pearl buttons don’t come cheap; tailoring and quality stitching take time and money. The cut, construction, fabric (and logo) denote quality and justify the price tags attached. It’s absolutely okay to purchase a Louis Vuitton bag because you want the logo emblazoned across every inch of it as well as the buttery-soft leather and structured shape. It’s also perfectly fine to drop an absurd amount of cash on a block colour Valentino t-shirt with no logos at all if that’s how you roll.
Dress for yourself. Buy the clothes you like because you like them: if you covet the knowing look from the people you pass on the street, then buy branded items; if it turns you on that people know how expensive your clothing is from a logo signifier, then buy heavily branded items. You do you. Logos can be extremely persuasive and can influence how people see you. Branding can be a display of a person’s status and in one study, logos denoting expensive brands made a person seem more approachable and helped them succeed in job interviews. The researchers concluded people naturally equate designer labels with quality. ‘Dress to impress’ didn’t come from thin air.
That quality can marry with frugality. Buy high-quality designer clothing and it’ll last you. Fast fashion items will fade and wear, while designer will hold strong with all stitching intact. If your weight and size fluctuate, fear not! Designer will hold its value and you can get a decent return on investment on resale sites. There’s nothing stopping you from selling your second-hand clothes from the likes of Primark, but it’s not going to sell quickly or for much. Your would-be buyer can simply go direct to that shop and get it brand new for very little. Your designer items on the other hand can attract between 50 and 75 percent of their original value, provided they’re clean and damage free.
You are worth investing in. You spend around 80 percent of your time clothed (unless you’re a frequenter of nudist beaches) and deserve to wear well-designed, well-constructed, quality fabrics. While some designer goods are far beyond the reach of most of us, there are plenty of options for high-quality items at premium and mid-range brands. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a £30 skirt or blouse rip, tear, fray or otherwise fall apart after its second wear—designer won’t do that to you.
While all these arguments can defend your designer purchases, they pale in comparison to the real defence: it’s your money—do what you want with it.
Impostor syndrome is ‘the psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their accomplishments and has a persistent internalised fear that they are going to be exposed as a fraud.’