Some of us live for the thrill of newness, some of us thrive on a solid purchase and endless rewearing—I personally reside in the latter camp, and can spot that kind of fashion sensibility in someone else from a mile off (or during a blurry late-night Instagram scroll). With the New Year comes both a desire for trends and updates, but also an awareness of rebooting in other ways too. How can I be more mindful of what I buy? How can I make sensible purchases instead of endless ones? How can I really invest in items that stand the test of time for my wardrobe? The last question is a particularly pertinent one for now, because one woman’s failsafe blazer is another woman’s never-even-took-the-tag-off wasted purchased.
I’m not sure at which point in my fashion industry career it became so radical to not buy something new—my mum’s generation had to make every piece last—but the idea didn’t take long to completely shift our habits. With hashtags such a #nonewclothes and #thisoldthing now racking up 32.5k and 17.8k posts respectively on Instagram, and a slew of influencers, designers and brands extolling the virtues of buying better and buying less, some corners of our world are breaking free of the fast-fashion chains and celebrating the concept of perusing one’s own wardrobe. The resale market is on the up (Vestiaire Collective reported to us that last year sales increased by 144%) and where once it was considered inferior to buy secondhand, pre-loved, or whatever else you’d like to call it, now kudos is an almost instant by-product.
Below are seven very cool women with totally different aesthetics, yet each of them have managed to find that one holy grail item—the piece that travels with them through seasons, trends and moods. There are a few common threads, such as investing in quality handbags or tailoring, but stylistically each piece stands up as unique and personal to their individual looks. Keep scrolling to see the best-ever fashion items these arbiters of taste told me all about…
