It’s easy to fall in love with the world of designer fashion and luxury goods. The attention to detail, craftsmanship, and design put into some of these items are what make them wearable works of art and although my collection is small, my goal is to add more. If you’re also looking to add to or start your luxury designer collection, read on for my best tips for getting started.
Start With Contemporary Designer
When I first started getting into designer goods, I was in high school and couldn’t afford most items. I would flip through Teen Vogue, bookmarking my favorite pieces, adding to my birthday or Christmas wishlist. Later on in college, I worked part-time and began to save up for some of the less expensive bags from more contemporary designers.
Brands like Marc Jabobs and Rebecca Minkoff taught me the difference between designer pieces vs. fast fashion. Everything from the authenticity card, to the dust bags screamed luxury. The presentation and design (structure, textures, fabrics, and details) all told me that this was an item of value and it was to be cared for.
Even if you’re able to afford Chanel, if you’re just starting out, I would suggest shopping more contemporary designers like Marc Jacobs, Rebecca Minkoff, and Tory Burch, to name a few, just to figure out what you like/dislike in term of fabrics/textures, shapes/sizes etc. It will also help you learn what good quality should feel, look, and even smell like in order to help you shop smart when you’re ready to spend more on more expensive designers.
Shop Contemporary Designer Favorites
Invest in Accessories to Get More Cost-Per-Wear
When you’re ready to graduate to higher priced fashion houses, I would suggest starting with accessories. In this day and age of social media, your outfits can only go so far before you’re not able to post in them again. (But if you’re a luxe minimalist, we don’t subscribe to that. Our followers will get this capsule wardrobe as many times as we feel like wearing it!)
However, shoes, bags, belts, and other accessories tend to have a longer life, making them the perfect items to start with while building your luxury collection. Not including bags, these pieces tend to also be priced more affordably than clothing pieces, especially when you consider the cost-per-wear (i.e. dividing the price by the number of times you will likely wear the item).
Shop Luxury Designer Accessories
Add in SLGs
SLGs, or small leather goods, are another more affordable way to add more premium designers into your collection when first starting out. Although $500 won’t get you far in Chanel’s handbag or Ready-to-Wear section, it can afford you a really nice card case that will hold its value and will be easy to resale as long as you keep it in good condition. I also love shopping for SLGs from Louis Vuitton because they also are very popular on the resale market.
Shop SLGs
Those are my top 3 tips for how to start your luxury designer collection. If you have any additional tips or any questions, leave them in the comments section below.
For more tips on shopping for luxury, check out my shopping guides here. And if you want to find out how to save and shop luxury for less, check out more posts here.
