The Style Critic

If there’s one thing you can bank on in retail when times get tough, it’s the high-end boutiques using the word ‘investment’ a lot. Owners and buyers will take a uniform stand against ‘fast’ fashion and maintain a party line that goes something like this: “yes our customers are affected by the credit crisis and as such they will be looking to spend selectively on investment pieces.” (ie. not stuff you can actually wear everyday guilt-free but something for a special occasion that never seems quite special enough to risk ruining it for.)

In Vogue this month, buyers from some of the top boutiques nationwide maintain that their client-base will still be spending, but gone are the impulse buys and disposable trends. Still, when the average customer spend in designer boutique Cricket in Liverpool is £1500, there can’t be much change from your Lanvin for a sprint around Topshop. And before you say it’s a drop in the ocean when Wayne’s on a squillion an hour…it’s the WAGs…it’s Colleen’s favourite shop, this is average customer, not average footballer’s wife. 

All of which has me thinking that if your average fashionista is now under pressure to triple her budget for a fraction of the fabric, might it not be wise to start seeing clothes like antiques? Clothes that are collectible, that increase in value, that have inherent desirability beyond what is merely fashionable.  

If you are that woman, the one that’s single-handedly keeping those boutiques solvent, the one that spends more than the average monthly British salary on a single shop  - a) can I have your cast-offs, and b) consider the following website. 

http://www.vintageacademe.com/

The site sells an exclusive collection of antique, vintage and haute couture, from Edwardian silk capes to the finest Courreges and Balenciaga. There’s no celebrity wearing this or magazine touting that; no one to tell you whether tassles will be out by summer or winter, although you can call or email Belinda (one of the three fashion gurus that own the site) if you want to learn more about a particular piece.

If you’re serious about investment dressing, consider it your duty to check out these precious clothes. In years to come they’ll be the equivalent of the solid gold in your jewellery box.