If you had a £1,000 to spend on updating your wardrobe, what would you buy?

[NewShoesForSpring]

Please don't say 'pay bills', 'put it into the mortgage / pension pot / kids savings / rainy day etc -assume they're all ok)

Would you buy one or two expensive things or loads of cheaper stuff?

I'm saving at the moment after a couple of years of low spend on myself & I aim to have around that amount by the end of the summer so I can invest in some nice new clothes for autumn/ winter

I need non work stuff (I keep a separate wardrobe for work)

I'm early 50s, 5ft 9" & size 12.

I'm torn as I'm considering looking for a killer jacket, / coat & some v nice jeans but not really sure yet

Would love to hear what's on your (fantasy or real) shopping lists

Really with £1000?

@middleagedandinarage
Coat - £400 upwards
Boots - £200 upwards
Bag - £400 upwards
Easily.

I’d probably invest in three ‘good’ dressed eg Cefinn or similar

I guess a lot of it depends on what state your current wardrobe is in. If I were having to start all over again then yes, I'd be looking at buying basics in multiple numbers. But I have a wardrobe that's been built up over years and years and that I'm pretty happy with - I've already got jeans jeans in every style and plenty of knitwear etc. (Of course there are gaps, e.g. shoes, but that's because I'm fussy and, even when I grit my teeth and vow to spend more, I can't see much that I like.) So spending it all on one or two fabulous things would make sense for me now. In fact, if I were to find that unicorn of a good looking, warm and waterproof coat with a hood and it cost more than £1000, then I might top it up with my own money.

It's like, if you offered me a choice between my own, unlimited library or a first edition of Pride and Prejudice, I'd think seriously about the first edition now, because I've already got enough books to last the rest of my life. But twenty years ago, I'd have said that was bonkers.

I would buy

1. A winter coat / jacket.
2. A cashmere jumper
3. Wool dress from Sezane ( perfect for casual or dressy)
4. Pair of jeans- probably Levi.
5. Blouse from Sezane

If there was any money left over I would then look on vinted. Enjoy spending your money

For me it’s not so much the state of my current wardrobe as my past experience of shopping that would influence how I spent any particular amount.

30 odd years ago £1k would have been a normal amount for me to spend on a suit. (Early in my previous profession.) £500 on a dress, generally a fair bit more than £100 on a shirt. I don’t need that kind of bolstering now, and don’t have (many) male colleagues dressed head to toe in handmade Savile Row togs. But it set the bar …

Now I have the time, and the Internet, I’m much more conscious of all the possible sources for fabulous clothes - and perfectly happy scrimmaging in TK Maxx, or spending an hour on the Vestiaire or Zara sites. But I’m not much interested in compromising on quality, and I like flawless contemporary design - so I’m perfectly prepared to seek it out (preferably at the sale price!), in the knowledge that I’ll enjoy wearing something for years and years to come. I don’t need a huge number of clothes so never question the advisability of buying one perfect thing rather than six that would ‘do’.

Things I have liked recently: really nice scent - I love santal 33, lovely watch (I bought a thin wooden one from Holzkern) and earrings (but I mean more non tarnish classic than heavy gold) , Uniqlo t shirts which are excellent basic and not very £££, Paul Costello coatigan which is a good blazer alternative if you wear trousers (looks a bit mumsy with long skirt I realise) and some onitsuya tiger trainers. I think Levi’s or nice wide leg trousers would be a very good shout. I would look for a kew jumper on Vinted but maybe also buy a tight fitting lambswool or merino v neck from Uniqlo as machine washable. I hope that you have fun shopping.

oh Wintersgold, I’ve always wanted one too - ever since I saw adverts for them on the front page of the Telegraph in the 1980’s! Bottom right corner, usually, though sometimes they took a bigger ad out on p3. Line-drawn in those days, not photos, but they just looked so stylish.