Investment Pieces: How to Look Timeless, Be Versatile

Photo Courtesy / Hawa Patel 

Hi, fellow fashion enthusiasts – Welcome to the official Hawa Patel fashion column. I have a style blog, meandmyfurs. tumblr.com, and after writing numerous Fashion Week summaries and style guides, The Summa’s editors decided to put a title on my fashion gab. So, without further ado, let’s get into this month’s fashion piece.

This month I want to focus on investment pieces. Style is a way of maintaining a solid palette or taste in fashion or expressionism. It’s the way you define yourself and show the world who you are. Preserve your style with personality- defining pieces, and don’t run with a specific trend or season. You want your style to stay timeless, not borderline tacky, after a trend runs its course.

It is easy to get caught up in the weather limbo in the months between winter and spring, last season’s bargains and the end of fashion month. This time usually means new trends and designers. During this time of year it is not unknown to fall victim to fast fashion finds and the clearance faux fur section. I should know, I bought a white crotchet crop top sweater and then saw similar versions of the sweater at two other stores and also ended up impulse buying a fringed bucket bag from H&M.

On the same shopping trip, I bought another handbag that can be used as a crossbody on the weekend or a super chic pastel blue bag adding a pop of color to a work or presentation outfit during the week, so I win investment points there.

Investment pieces are pieces that will not go out of style for at least the next three plus years. These pieces are timeless, well made and versatile. You shouldn’t have to worry about fading color, losing shape or structure or not being be able to wear the piece more than once. This piece should also be able to make into more than two of your Instagram pictures and not be called out by anyone as “outfit repeating” because you did a banging job at re-working or re-inventing the piece.

Examples of investment pieces are easy faux or real leather crossbody bags or satchels, but make sure the color is a solid color that you know you won’t regret in a

year or two if you outgrow it. A solid black, white or even a nude color bag is a choice. If you’re looking for a pop of color, make sure you have a similar bag in a safe color before diving into the pastel blues and fuchsia variety, that way you can keep an outfit demure or spice things up with a fun bag!

When shopping for dresses or tops, don’t go for the overly ‘70s top unless you get a really good deal on the piece. If you want to follow a trend, pay homage to the ‘70s or just want to add a little touch of this season to your wardrobe,

buy the crazier piece that was probably “...filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic casual corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin,” as said by Miranda Presley in The Devil Wears Prada. So, save yourself the Andy Sachs blunder.

Your investment pieces should be cherished and kept close by and often paired with super cheap pieces to look current but still you.