Anyone brave enough to answer this: where do you get the money for expensive clothes?

[Childoftheseventies]

I work part time and earn a good wage. My husband runs his own (so far, succesful) business. For this I am thankful. However, I still can't afford anything other than basic high street clothes. Zara is pushing it; Gap sale only, Monsoon for special occasions. When I browse in what I consider to be expensive but desirable shops, or look at websites (LK Bennett, Reiss, Great Plains, Hobbs, White Company etc) I always wonder what gives people the income to buy from there. Now I know there are sales and outlets and eBay, but for those of you who buy non-sale stuff in these lovely places as a matter of course, I am fascinated to know where you get the money. Are you a lawyer or doctor or top sales person, or are you a SAHM with a high earning other half, or do you have no mortgage or what!? I promise this is not a snidey post, just a genuine, if very rude and nosey, question.

I would pay more for a coat. Although if I could find a good quality one second hand then I would do that too. I have 3 winter coats that I have bought over the past 12 years that have stood the test of time and I still love. Probably would spend up to £400 on something like that if it was right - and expect to be wearing it a decade hence.

I had a £30 wool coat from primark that did 3 winters...

I dunno, I like clothes but I like choice. I can't afford for everything to come from selfridges so I don't shop there. I buy cheap and yes, sometimes I buy twice but more often than not, i find that cheap stuff lasts and looks good for a fair while. I budget around £35 for a dress and then less for everything else. People usually say I look nice so I'm not complaining!

Until I go part time I earned a fair bit as does dh and he get most of his stuff from the supermarket.

Does the cost per wear system work for special occasion outfits? Would you wear a £250 dress 50 times? with my social life that is wearing the same thing on every night out, wedding etc for, erm, nine years. And, if it is £5 per item, and an average outfit includes a top, a bottom, shoes, jacket and bag, that is £25 per day, £750 per month. Is that what people really spend?

I must emphasise that do not begrudge people good salaries and nice clothes. I just find it hard to believe that enough people in the UK earn enough to keep the nice clothes shops going!

Reading the colour supplements at the weekend I'm often staggered that people will pay £300+ for a jumper, £200 for a pair of jeans, etc. Even if I won the lottery I'd think those prices are daft. Are they hand knitted by Elves using unicorn hair or something ?

My winter coat - which will be on its 5th winter - is from Jaeger. It was £400, is black wool, long, with a belt, no buttons, nothing fussy, just nice narrow lapels that are very classic. It is still immaculate (and I wear it to from work on the tube so it's not like it sits in the back of the car for most of my journeys. It's perfect for work and for dressy evenings out. I am also PG and I reckon it will still work fine until about November (because of the belted wrap around style).

I do have a "Friday night" coat as well - normally less than £100 but a bit more fun (current one is red) and which I take on messy nights out/to the pub etc. But I try to make sure it is still fairly sensible - last one was bought in the sales in Feb and is about to do its 3rd winter.

DH has a winter coat from Gieves which was £600, had it for 6 years, still absolutely perfect. Not even a button has fallen off. Lining perfect.

Cost per wear isinteresting somewhere in the back of my wardrobe I have a beautiful Chanel coat in a light caramel colour. I have had my wear out of it (although I did only pay £50 for it in the Nics sale I have worn it about 50 times max) On the other hand my louboutin boots were a complete waste of money I paid 1.5k and haveworn them 5 times max????

The problem with cost-per-wear, surely, is that you have to factor in too many variables.

My everyday winter coat is from Whistles and cost about £300 - still looks great on its third year and no need to change. CPW probably pennies once it's life is over.

But I have a tailored silk-blend coat from MaxMara that's a decade old and cost about £400, which I wear to smart events. CPW probably about £20 - rubbish, as someone said - but absolutely flawless, perfect for the occasions - work-related, some of them - and I presume will go on for years.

So CPW is surely pointless, because variables such as how smart and rare certain events are come into play.

Or at least only works if you compare everyday coat with everyday coat; evening shoes with evening shoes, etc.

But KandyBarr if someone had offered to 'hire' it to you, for £20 on each of those occassions would you have said 'yes please, it's perfect' in which case it's worth it. Childoftheseventies, for special occassion outfits my CPW number is much higher, but, I do try to buy classic items so for example the last black tie do I went to I wore a dress which I first bought 8 years ago for about £300, I was only 1 at the time so it was quite an investment. I'm actually considering wearing it again to one next week but I'm concerned that too many people there have seen it before. i reckon its at about £30pw and i'd have gladly handed £30 over each time I've worn it.

Yy, ver interesting thread.

My last good coat was not very high end - Hobbs - from 8 years ago, has served me very well, and I still love it but in truth it is a bit dated, can't rem how much it cost. Am on the look out for a new one.

And that's the other thing, I find I have to think more (than when younger/wealthier) about what I'll buy. I do alot of looking.

*18 not 1! ! would be very you to be making investment choices...

*young

Personally i think cost per wear is just a way to justify an expensive item. Not that it is a bad thing to do, quite the opposite. There are always key items in your wardrobe that you will go to. Making them super nice pays off, you alwAys feel great in them and they last.

It doesn't reLly work with special occasion dresses ( cost per wear) which may cost hundreds but be worn once a year. If you keep your size though they are well worth investing in. I have three wedding outfits i love wearing them as they were very expensive and look really good. They will still be shocking expensive on cost per wear compared to a black wool coat or lovely blazer.

I (now) spend very little as we have no spare cash. But pre-children I did: wool coats/boots/cashmere cardigans & jumpers/wool trousers/silk dresses. All of these (nearly) I still have and (7 yrs on) wear and I am grateful for having them! I cannot imagine when I will ever have the money to spend on anything at that level again. It's a good incentive to not eat more cake and increase my waistband . I do browse second hand and ebay and have found some beautiful coats - so I do have more than my fair share of quality outerwear.

Yes- the cost per wear thing depends on your lifestyle. I go to at least 6 black tie events a year. They are military and they do require a full length/ballerina length dress. So I have about 10 dresses that fit that description that I have bought over the 13 years that I have been going to these events. None of them came in at less than £100, and they are probably still not great on a cost per wear basis, but I refuse to rotate the same 2! (Particularly because a number of the events involve the same people...)

Household income c.£50k, 2 DC, tiny mortgage but (I think) crucially we have never in 20 years bought anything (other than the house) that we couldn't pay cash for. Therefore our outgoings have always been smaller than most of our peers because we had no car loan, TV finance etc to pay. That's how we have managed to reduce the mortgage so much.

Also, we don't smoke, drink rarely, make a car last 10 years and haven't been abroad for 12 years (ethical choice actually, but it all helps)

I also rarely buy new anything, mostly because I don't enjoy shopping that much. e.g. we still have the dining furniture that went in our first house 20 years ago and my good winter coat is 15 years old (although cost nearly £200 even then) so has been great value for money.

This summer the sum total of my clothing purchases has been 3 t-shirts, but when I do buy I like to get something good.

Well, my friend who started the 'cost per wear' thing was arguing against spending a large chunk of my yearly clothes budget on special occasion clothes, but not on daily ones - £20 per wear should be a maximum cost, so if you will wear a dress to a maximum 3 events, your maximum budget for it is £60, whereas a dress you will wear to the office at least once a month for 2 years, will have a budget closer to £480. If you can get things down to £5 a wear, it's easy to justify them. (So a £100 dress to the office is definately better than a 'bargin' £50 dress to wear to a couple of weddings).

I think it did change the way I thought, as I was spending £300 on a dress that would make me look good at 2 weddings, but then buying £30 jeans that made me look bad a lot of the time...

I am going to try (from next year when I have money again!) to try to buy a small number of expensive but lasting items. I guess there are some areas where it's worth it, coats for 'every day', jeans, handbags, boots, work shoes and clothes, 'special occasion' clothes that are plain, so ones you can wear to 10 or so events without it being too obvious...

then I have to just stay this shape forever. (that might be the tricker bit)

Loving all this. I get the investment piece thing, but what do people who buy only a few pieces each season wear for everyday non-work stuff? School run, housework, supermarket? Is it really all classic cashmere and DvF wrap dresses? Even though I may aspire to nice clothes, I am just not ready for that.(And you stand out a mile in head to toe Boden round here, not in a good way, so that is not an option)

I earn a good wage. (60+) and have children, mortgage etc. I tend to buy only in the sales. Buying from Zara or gap does not necessarily mean quality. It is high fashion. I tend to buy things when needed but in sales. I think if you have the eye for quality, even primark will work. I have some cotton shirts from premark that I team with Zara which looks very stylish and people think I shop in expensive places. I also love buying things when abroad. So a skirt from Italy, a pair of unusual shoes from Brasil. Jewellery (again, right quality) also helps lift an outfit. My budget is low or clothes. I tend to buy say Gbp. 300 every few months as needed. I am learning to buy only a few pieces but still have that teenage tendency of more is more! I don't wear labels. Why pay other people to advertise on your body. Even m&s if worn correctly will look designer.

This is interesting, I have clothing from zara, mango and topshop that have lasted me many years and wears and still look great and I get compliments for!. I wouldnt say that any of those brands are on the same par as primark or hm. They are also signficantly better than next. I do find that next kids clothing is far better quality than the adults.

Mama - that's a good forumula! I'll try the hiring question.

Back in the 80s, my immaculate but impoverished mum had a book called 'Vogue More Dash than Cash', which she rated highly. There were loads of rules, but the three that stood out were:

• Stay slim - cheap clothes in colours such as black and navy in small sizes can pass for expensive.
• If you can't afford fine jewellery, don't try to pass of fakes - stick to natural materials such as wood, shells etc (presumably this is what Toast were thinking of last year with their twig necklace..) Ditto bags - soft baskets with leather trim, for example, rather than fake leather.

• Don't be afraid of second-hand clothes.

I'd love to find a copy to see what else it advised...

I have a decent salary and find that I tend to invest in good basics like trousers/ jeans and shoes. I then quite often primark the top half to quite good effect ! Well I think so !
I also follow the CPW and bought a pair of chanel ankle boots in the sale for about 500 dollars but my CPW is < $10 as I have worn them to death !
As I have got older I am less a follower of fashion but try to adapt fashion to me, and perhaps spen more on the bottom halves and less on the top !

Is this the book www.amazon.co.uk/Vogue-More-Dash-Than-Cash/dp/0091774187 KandyBarr if so I need it. Also another idea is to go on a sewing course and then buy classic patterns (vogue have a great selection) they are then made to measure and become one off pieces. Vogue also do patterns for handbags.

You like it, you buy it.

How its paid for is an entirely personal descion.

All I'm saying is, there is no ATM at the gates of wherever we all end up.