COSTING IT OUT...
SO, this week I found the most sustainable item I could buy this season. It’s a vintage-inspired white cotton Miu Miu shirt with the prettiest collar and puff sleeves I have ever seen.
It’s not recycled cotton but it is £915, which means I wouldn’t be able to afford any other clothes for at least six months and would need to wear said blouse 90 times to bring the cost per wear down to a respectable £10.16.
Needless to say, the maths doesn’t add up.
Cue me scouring online vintage sellers to find something similar.
Luckily, I like the thrill of the chase. It is kicked off every season by the catwalk images featured in magazines. I know that the garment featured from Celine/Erdem/ Chanel (delete as appropriate) will not be in my price bracket, so I make a mental note of the features I like and keep them in mind when I am shopping.
Trendspotters everywhere will already have their eye out for squashy pouch clutches, square-toed shoes and anything in woven leather, in homage to the suddenly so hot-ithurts brand Bottega Veneta.
The fashion house’s signature intrecciato leather has always been a mainstay of luxury fashion but is suddenly coveted by fashion editors everywhere thanks to its new British creative director Daniel Lee.
Being inspired by designer clothes isn’t the same thing as plagiarising them. The item will never be the same quality or have the same design content.
The aim is to imitate not replicate. Look for shapes and interesting details similar to more expensive items.
I have my eye on a Zara satin midi skirt in ivory which reminds me of a £900 skirt by The Row I lusted after, it’s £29 and if I wear it 30 times (which is double the number of times the average person wears each item they own) the cost per wear is less than £1.
Sustainably stylish? I’m doing my best.