Invest in your wardrobe wisely

August Bank Holiday and the end of summer is nigh. Not that we'll be able to tell much difference between summer and autumn this year, but that's not to say that the with the advent of golden leaves crunching underfoot we won't all be clamouring to update our wardrobes. The new season's fashions are cropping up in stores already (despite the fact that it was impossible to find any opaque black tights in M&S yesterday - hello buyers, I know it's supposed to be warm in August but it's not, so please stock your stores accordingly, thank you!).

Rooting through my magazine stash the other day I unearthed a supplement from an old issue of Eve Magazine, entitled Forever Fashion, it suggested that in these credit crunch times rather than buying cheap, we should be looking to save for investment pieces which will see us through this recession, the recovery, and gee, maybe even into the next credit crunch. Their notion is if you buy something cheap (think Primarni) you're likely to only get one season out of it before it either a.) goes out of fashion or b.) falls to pieces. They muse that investing in timeless classics is the sensible option as they'll never age and, you would hope, are made of stronger stuff and therefore will last, greatly reducing your cost per wear.

Carla Bruni in Chanel? Nope, Sam & her
cankles in good ole M&S

Makes sense, but, with Eve being a (now defunct) glossy magazine they suggest that we head to Selfridges and Harvey Nics with our bulging piggy banks. In an ideal world I'm sure we all would. If I could I'd certainly stash the cash and bag myself a Burberry trench, some patent Chanel pumps (a la Carla Bruni), a sharp white shirt courtesy of Thomas Pink and a gorgeous Dior suit. However, as I do live in the land known as reality I will instead be looking for some key investment pieces courtesy of the High Street. Therefore, this Autumn I'll be checking out Marks & Spencer, Oasis and French Connection for my key items with visits to New Look and Primark to add some 'this season' frosting to my look with some affordable accessories.