Dear Kelley,

Is it worth it to buy designer labels?

Yes, no, maybe – here’s the thing … quality shows.

I was recently talking to a friend who is a stylist to celebrities. She specializes in red carpet. And she knows her stuff.

She mentioned a designer to me that she really loved while they were “up and coming” – really great quality. But once they had “made it”, the quality she loved rapidly deteriorated. So the bottom line is, you have to know what makes “quality”.

Generally, you do get what you pay for. The French woman buys fewer pieces in better quality. The Pareto principle, named after the Italian engineer Vilfredo Pareto, states that we wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time. Ok, he didn’t really say that – c’mon, he was an engineer. But the principle still applies (what he really said was that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes – but in Italian). So why not, as the French woman does, just skip the 80% that you aren’t really going to wear anyway, and buy the 20% of great quality pieces that you’ll wear forever?

That said, if it’s a beautiful, preferably natural, fabric, well stitched, fits you great and makes you feel good, then I don’t care who made it – snatch it up like it’s the winning numbers to tomorrow’s lottery.

XOXO

Kelley