It’s no secret that I’ve always loved fashion. I’ve shared so many stories about how I discovered fashion as a kid and how thankful I am that my passion has blossomed into my career. A precocious child, I remember helping to plan my class’ assembly once. As part of our segment, we were planning a little fashion show and of course, I piped up saying “we all need to wear lime green and orange, citrus shades are in”. I must have been about 10 and I ended up raiding New Look, pulling together an affordable take on the trend with my pocket money.
Over the years, as my disposable income has grown my tastes have also broadened and matured. As a university student, I remember counting down to Student Loan Day and spending a hefty proportion of my new riches on Oxford Street or Covent Garden in exchange for a new wardrobe for the semester. It always felt like a sound investment. A few years after I graduated I started my blog and this was during the golden era of vintage shopping. Blogs were littered with pre-loved treasures and customised pieces, I would spend hours rummaging around the best vintage stores in Paris to find the most incredible pieces for just €5.
Fast forward to today; the vintage era is well and truly in the past (ba dum tish) and we are now in the designer era. A quick skim over your favourite blogs or Instagram feeds will showcase countless pieces which cost a pretty penny. A Gucci bag here, Balenciaga sneakers there and maybe a little flash of a Fendi print too. This is often discussed by the blogging community, many bloggers feel like they need to own designer pieces to be a blogger or be successful – I do not subscribe to this mindset at all and touched on it in my previous post about what it takes to be a blogger in 2018. Style is way more important than the brand you’re wearing. Always.
I absolutely adore the high street, my university dissertation explored how high street stores use branding as a form of competitive advantage! Nowadays, I wear high street pieces with a sprinkle of high-end brands. This is more out of an appreciation of certain brands or designers rather than slavishly following trends. I invest in pieces which I’ll cherish forever rather than buying the season’s must-have item. I’ve always been a savvy shopper and will pick up something I’ve adored for a while either on sale or at a sample sale. There’s an unwritten rule: no one who works in fashion pays full price.
While I see shoes and handbags as a worthy investment, I’d much rather shop on the high street for clothing. High street retailers like Zara are so, so quick to translate runway trends into more affordable pieces. This is part of the fashion ecosystem; trends are meant to trickle down to the likes of Topshop et al, it’s just happening a lot quicker now than it used to partly due to social media and the instantaneous nature of reporting for the shows.
For AW17, the likes of Burberry, Acne and Gucci sent aviator jackets down the runway so it was a surefire sign that it would be one of the jacket shapes of the season. While these brands had all but finalised their collections by the time they were showing them to press and buyers in February, high street brands were watching and waiting to see which trends would hit. Just six short months later, aviators were seen everywhere from &OtherStories to Monki and H&M. The Zara iteration became ubiquitous in its own right so instead, I opted for a moody grey version from Missguided, for the princely sum of £28!
I usually itemise each piece I’ve worn at the end of every post but I also wanted to share the cost of this entire outfit to show that you don’t necessarily need to purchase designer pieces to look great OR be a blogger. Full disclosure: I am wearing a Miu Miu bag with the outfit, which I bought on sale and with a discount on top for £200. The rest of my outfit is from the high street and comes to a total of £279 including the bag.
Jacket – Missguided
Dress – Tobi
Boots – LOTD
Bag – Miu Miu
Shot by Adorngirl.
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