Summer Clothing To Save vs Splurge On (Worth The Money?)

Here are the things that I would save versus splurge on in my wardrobe, in my accessories, and in my beauty products. There are some items in our wardrobe and in our beauty cabinet where we probably spent a bit more hoping it would be much better, but it just wasn't. So I want to share with you the items that fall into this category for me, where we're just better off saving our money. Before we jump in, the premise behind everything is that when I say splurge, it's not because it's nice to have like a designer luxury item, but rather this type of item, we're better off buying higher quality for the longevity of the item. When I say something is worth saving on, it's not that the more premium option is the same as the more affordable, it's rather that I don't feel like that difference is worth the money. The first category of items that I would save on are cotton basics with relaxed or oversized fits. I'm talking about cotton basics in typical neutral colors and just like very popular designs you can buy anywhere. White t-shirt, striped t-shirt, grey sweatshirt, white or blue button-down shirts, these kind of pieces. My benchmark here is Uniqlo and Muji. So there are definitely a lot of affordable t-shirts, shirts, and things that will fall apart really quickly. But because Uniqlo and Muji exist, because I'm so happy with the quality of their items, I then cannot justify going more high-end to buy these pieces. I also want to tell you what I've tried in this category so you can kind of see where I'm coming from. Uh, so first thing is like Cezanne t-shirts, uh, not worth it. Cezanne sweatshirts, especially if they're basic, I can't see a difference. The only reason that I would get one of these is because I just love the print. This sometimes happens, but in basic styles, even Lululemon, their sweatshirts, they're a bit softer on the inside, I will admit that, but not different enough, I think, for the price point. Exception is when maybe they do like a style that's very flattering with different seams. That's a little bit different because that becomes more stylized. Once upon a time, probably about 10 years ago now, I had a Comme des Garcons t-shirt and shirts. 100% not worth the money. Um, yeah. A perfect example for this category would be your shirt dress. I feel like you can find shirt dresses at a lot of places. Usually the quality is pretty nice. It's a simple item of clothing. It's also voluminous enough that there's not too much that can go wrong. It's not like it's fitted and like seams rip. It's not like the shape is slightly off. So now it's not as beautiful. There's very few things that can go truly wrong in this piece of clothing. And then to splurge on, I would say a fitted dress. For example, something bias cut. It's going to be more expensive because bias cut just takes more fabric to make. But it drapes so nice that you're going to see a visible difference. You're going to be able to tell this dress is more premium because of how well it fits. I would say dresses that have lots of detailing to make it flattering, they're usually worth it because of the consideration behind the item. I love dresses with like shirt and pin tucking and these details. So a lot more craftsmanship has gone into it. And sometimes it's just priced a little bit more expensive because of that. Onto the first kind of clothing pieces I would splurge on. It would be unique daily wear pieces. So any kind of clothing that ticks two boxes, firstly, it's unique to my personal style. It's unique to something I love in fashion. And then the second part is daily wear, meaning it has to realistically work for my everyday lifestyle. A lot of my best cost per wear items and the items I wear the most fall into this category. So Cezanne Betty cardigans, I love that they are unique, kind of unique, but still simple enough for daily wear. I love different blouses, like white broidery blouses, unique because they're kind of boho feminine and aligned to my style. But versatile for my everyday lifestyle and my everyday outfits. Usually in this category, the clothing is made with a little more intention and a little bit more intricate detailing. For example, this top, I feel like the way the fabric, the pattern, the ruffles, the trim comes together is so beautiful. And sometimes these are the details that make something worth it versus the basics I could buy anywhere. The second type of item that I would save on are any cotton or linen blouses for spring and summer. So the reason I say this is because I think it's an aesthetic choice. A look that is extremely beautiful in spring and summer is when fabrics have a little bit of lightness and sheerness to them. I don't mean just go out in see-through clothes or like really flimsy fabrics, but I mean I don't want 100% opacity. I want maybe like 80%, I want some lightness in the fabric. Not just because it's lighter and cooler to wear, but because it looks delicate and I think in line with the season. So with that in mind, to be honest, you don't need the thickest linen for something to look beautiful. Sometimes these lighter delicate linens can look really really nice, especially in a top. Especially in medium to dark colors as well, when the opacity is just higher than something in white on cream. There are a lot of options I've seen from GAP. We don't have a GAP in Australia, like it's not a retailer, um, we have, but I'm looking at their website, lots of options here, so many colors, especially in that like medium to dark family. And these would all be so stunning for the summer. Even Uniqlo, they had these puff sleeve tops. I used to have one, I think I wore it for like six or seven years. I had it in my wardrobe for forever. It's a little bit sheer, a little bit, and it creates the most delicate, lightweight, effortless feeling for the summer season. Something I would now splurge on would be linen skirts and trousers. So the difference here between trousers and a top is that obviously I don't want this to be sheer. It's kind of essential to the function of the item. But also, linen bottoms have a tendency to crease a lot. You know, you sit down for a moment and it's really creased. This is a quality of linen, there's nothing we can do about it. But if you have a thicker linen versus a thin linen, it will make a big difference to the way it looks throughout the day. The creases won't be as obvious, it won't crease as much, and in more premium options, sometimes they'll combine linen with like another fabric that grounds the fabric and makes it more polished for everyday wear. Cotton linen, for example, I think I've seen like linen viscose, linen wool blends. It would make it a lot more wrinkle resistant. In a what's worth the money kind of video, we always need to talk about fabrication, but I think summer is a bit different. In other seasons, when you pay for higher quality fabrics, it's going to be so noticeable especially when we're working with wools in the autumn winter. However, in the summer, because clothing goes through the wash a lot more, because it's just a hot and sweaty season, I find that a lot of fabrics like viscose, like silk, just not really worth the money or the upkeep. I hate washing viscose because there's always some uncertainty as to how it will wear over time. I love silk, but I don't love wearing silk in the summer because I just need to hand wash it way too often. So take clothing care into consideration. Think about in your experience. How has the viscose items worked out for you? Do they ever shrink? It tends to shrink for me and the way I care for it. It happens every so often with a viscose item. And then for silk, if it's not machine washable, ask yourself are you willing to hand wash it every week or after every wear? Can you do the upkeep to make that item last a long time and be worthwhile in your wardrobe? So then a little bit contradictory, but the fabrication that is in my splurge category is thick GSM linen. Linen is often calculated by GSM, the grams per square meter. I spoke before how you can find so many beautiful cotton linen blouses for not too too expensive, but if you wanted to splurge on a fabric for summer, if you wanted like beautiful high quality items, then linen is the fabrication to do that, where you want to look at the GSM vote. Don't find the flimsy ones, look at the higher GSM items, and those are the items that will last you for years and years. Linen has the ability to wash and wear really well. The more you wash it, the softer the fabric gets. At the start, linen can sometimes feel a little bit structured, maybe like a little bit scratchy, but as you wash it and wear it, it will soften a lot. Very few fabrics improve with wear, but linen is one of them. If you want to know where I recommend to shop high quality, high GSM linen, it's this Etsy shop called Not Perfect Linen, and they make simple clothes. You know, it's not too like stylish, not too extravagant, but simple clothes in very high quality fabrics, and the kind of clothing style that you can wear year after year. And the good thing about them is that if you are someone who needs your pants to be longer, shorter, they can make customizations for you. Everything is handmade in their studio. They will customize things for you, for your body shape, for what you need. So 100% recommends, especially if you prefer like something very specific that you find hard to find in stores. I'm gonna move to beauty before coming back to the rest of my clothes and accessories, because I'm itching to kind of talk about this one. A category I save on is in my color powder products. So I no longer buy expensive eyeshadow palettes from Sephora. I don't really get expensive like powder blushes, stuff like that anymore. The reason I say this is because it's a reason very personal to me, but maybe it applies for you in some other way. I find my makeup is so simple these days. I don't do anything creative with my makeup. I also don't really enjoy the power of like extremely pigmented products. I'm honestly just happier when the items are lighter in the pigmentation. Gives me a bit more freedom to apply things. It's more forgiving with my lack of technique and it just ends up working so much better for me. Palette I've been using for the last few months. This is Peripera. It's an eyeshadow palette. We've also got some blushes here and this is in the shade 02. This is so much more affordable than anything you can get at Sephora. In an eyeshadow palette, I also find that I use like two colors out of the ten and it's ridiculous that the other eight are just forever sitting there. Blush is kind of similar for me where I don't like to have pigmented blushes. They are a bit scary for me. Whereas something a little bit lighter in pigmentation, I can like build up. I enjoy using a lot more. This is 3CE Nude Peach. This is ideal if you have fair to light skin, I would say. It's quite a light shade, but it is so forgiving. You cannot mess up. And I also love the natural kind of glow it gives. For a lot of people with better technique than I have, this won't apply as much. But you can really question things in your beauty routine. Am I getting it because it actually suits me and the way I apply things? Or is it just because the reviews say it's the best? Sometimes I was buying it because a review said it was the best, but it didn't really suit the way I applied makeup. A part of my makeup routine that I find it worth to splurge on is my base. So my foundation, my cushion, my BB cream, whatever. So what I splurge on here is the MAC Face and Body. This is such a big bottle. I've been using this for like five years. Not this exact one, but like this product. I will be using this for the rest of my life because it is, in my opinion, the best, most natural base product. You can stand basically really, really close to me. If I'm wearing this product, you can't see that cakiness on the skin. It is light coverage though. When I want medium coverage, I'll use a cushion. So this is often what I use when I'm filming and I want my skin to be, you know, a little bit more flawless. It's medium, definitely not full coverage though. I really like Hera cushions. This is the glowy one. I prefer the black, but these cushions just make my skin very glowy, gives good coverage. It lasts a long time, doesn't feel cakey. This is a product that I find very worthy of spending more on in my routine. Something not worth the money for me are denim, sneakers, and leather goods from fashion brands. This is a category of clothing that you can save some money on by basically not purchasing it from fashion brands. A lot of fashion brands will make their own sneakers. They are often in cool designs. However, for comfort, for practicality, for getting the best value for money, I will always go to a sneaker brand. They make so many of them. They have mastered the shoe and you just can't compare it to something from a fashion brand. Denim is a little bit more nuanced and I've been seeing a lot of denim shorts and then just jeans as well from fashion brands. A lot of fashion brands I've tested in the past and they don't make denim as well as denim brands. Now that I've said it, it sounds so obvious. You can usually save a bit by not purchasing it at your favorite brand, but purchasing it at Levi's and a brand that just does denim. The only exception I can think of is something like Everlane. I feel like they have such a big denim department and they're kind of known for denim as well, even though they're not a denim brand. So I'll make an exception there because I really like their jeans. I would say this applies to most things. Brands that just make one or two things usually make those things really well. Fashion brands that make everything generally just slap their label on those items and mark it up. This is one just to keep in mind and to observe. It's case by case, but I found this generally to be true. I've got my jewelry box here. Something I find worth splurging on are vintage, secondhand or antique jewelry pieces. I'm comparing this to brand new jewelry in solid gold or in sterling silver. I'm comparing this to fashion jewelry, plated jewelry or designer jewelry. That one is very marked up. So you are going to get the best value for money when you buy jewelry if it is vintage, estate, antique and just secondhand. You can buy this at different places like cash converters. You can get it on Etsy. You can get it on eBay. So many local stores will sell it. You will always find the best deals in this category. If you're looking to buy jewelry, you will wear for forever. I think this is especially applicable for spring and summer. In the summer, if you're wearing plated jewelry, because it's on your skin, you know, with the sweats, with the elements, the plating is going to wear quickly. And then at the end of the season, you're going to see quite a bit of wear and tear on like a gold plated item. So this type of item is often not cheap. Jewelry can be very, very expensive, even plated jewelry. And this is a cost that I just cannot justify when it is possible to buy secondhand solid pieces for sometimes a somewhat comparable price. If you have feminine style, you'll find a lot of very like delicate little seed pearls heart lockets, things like this. This is a vintage French pendant style from the 60s, 70s. You'll find quite a lot of designs like this. This one is pretty crazy. This is a Victorian pendant. So over 100 years old and one of my favorites to wear recently. I got this ring three to four years ago for a birthday. It's called like a gypsy ring. It's basically like a bezel set ring. And this is one of my most worn pieces of jewelry ever. I say most of my earrings are modern, but this is one of my most worn little hoops. This was from Etsy. Little garnets on 18 karat gold. It feels very sturdy and solid. And one of my favorite vintage finds. You want to pay a lot of attention to the karat and the weight of the jewelry to decide how much you should be paying for it. I think there is a big trend and move towards buying solid jewelry in vintage, antique estate styles because people know that that jewelry is slightly weightier. It holds onto its value a bit more and it's just a better purchase in general compared to new jewelry. And with the price of gold going up, people are seeing, I think, this as a better purchase than new jewelry. I'm also seeing so many charm jumbles right now. I adore this and I think this falls within this trend. And then the other side, jewelry that I would save on. Jewelry that I wouldn't spend too much money on, surprisingly. For me, it's pearls. For me, it's beaded jewelry and cord jewelry. Pearls may surprise some people because pearls are beautiful, classic, timeless. But I personally just love the look of a natural baroque or imperfect pearl. I find so much beauty and I'm so drawn to the imperfect pearl that I just can't justify spending money for something perfect. Pearl jewelry, I love to find that markets, secondhand, vintage, even like just freshwater, irregular pearls. You can often find them at good prices, especially on Etsy. When it comes to beaded jewelry, do not overspend on this one. Most people wouldn't. It's just good sense. Really regret this purchase. Not because I don't like it or I don't wear it. I actually adore this item. But it's just like, it's just not worth spending too much money on because so many places make it. There are so many gemstones out there. There's such a big range to choose from and there are so many options that I guarantee you can find something beautiful that you love for not too much money. I even have beads and string myself. So sometimes I'll just put something together when I want it. It can be a very affordable thing to do and to DIY as well. Let's discuss the handbag category. The usual advice is to splurge on a handbag because honestly, it's an accessory you'll wear for years and years. Within handbags though, there are certain styles where it's more worthwhile than others. So I'm going to break that one down. Something I wouldn't splurge on is any kind of embossed bag or any kind of Saffiano bag that feels heavily treated. So the reason for this is that by the time it's been treated and coated and whatnot, I honestly feel like it's semi-indestructible and I don't feel the leather texture anymore. It doesn't matter to me how nice the material is underneath. This is an embossed bag from Cezanne. I am so happy with it. It's holding up extremely well, but I'm also convinced that something lower quality will have done the same. I would not spend any more than Cezanne price points or this like mid-range price point because I don't think you'll see a difference. Let's talk raffia bags. Raffia bags are a classic for summer. The nature of this one is that I want to use it on those fuss-free days, you know at the park, at the beach. I don't want something too fussy. So a designer option is not a good choice in this category. It becomes like a delicate bag when I want it to be like a fuss-free fun bag for the summer. I like bags in this category in that mid-range price point because oftentimes these bags are handmade. You know, they're made by an artisan. A lot of effort I'm sure has gone into it. So that would be something worth paying for but I wouldn't pay for like a designer version of the bag. Handbags that are worth splurging on then are handbags that will have like a natural patina and a natural kind of beautiful wear and tear over time. The thing is not all leathers are going to have that aged look to them. Some leathers are just going to start peeling and fall apart. Only full grain leathers, vegetable tan leathers, they are going to give you that patina, that natural aged look over time. So if you want a bag for like the next 20 years, you want to get that bag to look really aged and like in the most beautiful way, then you need to start off with that full grain leather or that vegetable tan leather. Otherwise, you're not going to get to that result in like 10, 20 years. And then something practical to share with you is also if you have an everyday bag like a tote bag or like a medium-sized work bag that holds a lot of weight, you want to spend a bit more in this category because you want the bag to hold its structural integrity. When there is so much weight, it really gets put to the test and something high quality with good structural integrity is going to be worth it like a year down the line. As much as I love like a mini designer bag and like I love this category, obviously with a mini bag you put like your phone and like a lipstick in it, there's not much weight. So the wear and tear and the damage to like the structure of the bag is just not going to be that obvious no matter if you go more affordable or more premium. That was from my experience what I would say versus splurge on. I would love to know in your experience, in your beauty cabinet, in your wardrobe, what are the things that are the most worthwhile to spend money on versus what would you save on? Let me know. Thank you so much for watching today's video. I hope you have an amazing week. I will see you in my next one. Bye.