Diving into Designer.

My favorite thing about today’s post is that it shows you how differently two people can approach the items they choose to splurge on. Neither strategy is wrong, truly. It’s just interesting and depends on personal style. What is timeless to one person may not be timeless to another.

diving into designer.

I (Grace) love color and texture and look at my wardrobe almost like an art collection. The pieces I splurge on tend to be those bolder, over the top pieces. The key lime terry cloth Bottega Veneta heels I splurged on two years ago. A really beautiful caftan. My dress and caftan collection is really special to me. Meanwhile, Carly takes what is probably the more practical approach. Quality made basics; wardrobe foundations. Again, neither approach is wrong!

GRACE’S PICKS

Grace: I am definitely a collector when it comes to fashion. Jewelry. Caftans. Olympia Le-Tan book clutches. Honestly, any luxury item with a cat on it like the Judith Lieber minaudière pictured above (still my most favorite!). If forced to choose, I would so much rather splurge on special pieces that feel like art and save on more run of the mill basics (that are going to get worn out anyway!).

That being said, there are some basics in here too. The Row Gala Pant and High Sport’s kick flare pant are both wardrobe staples. I have always had such a hard time with pants and really need something with an elastic waist. I also really love Blaze Milano’s blazers. And of course you can’t go wrong with a classic pair of tortoise sunglasses. But: generally speaking, I get the bulk of my basics from J.Crew, Madewell, Amazon, etc… and splurge on the statement pieces. This may be totally impractical but it works for me!

CARLY’S PICKS

Carly: My style, unfortunately for me (le sigh), does not quite understand my financial boundaries all the time! While I feel so lucky to be surrounded by women who work extremely hard for the investment pieces that they build their closets around, I’ve developed a “watch and learn” approach to kick-started my interest in finding the right essentials to invest in.

Spending so much time online for work can be a blessing and a curse, but I choose to utilize my window shopping as an opportunity to find inspiration! Rather than feeling the pressure to invest in new pieces, I’ve gone the more sustainable (and affordable) route by seeing a great pair of slingbacks let’s say—like these Jil Sander ones—and hunting high and low on platforms like The Real Real, Poshmark, and Vestaire until I’ve found a pair that call to me (and my wallet)! I’ve acquired quite a few pieces from Prada, Proenza, and Miu Miu, but I refuse to spend more than $150 and have come to find that it’s totally doable challenge.

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