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Fashion is versatile – and if you are not careful, you can throw money down the drain only to keep up with the fashion trends. If anyone is wondering, personally I think the key here is to know which items you should spend real money on versus which items you should buy on the cheap.

Don’t get me wrong. I am all about spending money on great fashion items – and when you have the means to do so, go ahead. But in the world where fashion brands are trying to run the fastest, our goal here is to spend as little money possible while keeping the fashion game strong.

Now, the real question would be: which fashion items are worth splurging and which ones are not? Here, I am giving away some benchmarks.

VALUE

The idea is to understand that spending a huge amount of money comes with a responsibility – which means for us with certain budget limits, it is wise to consider the value of the items we are buying. For items that are worth the splurge, it simply means the items are just as valuable, and the easiest way to define ‘value’ is by time. There is one simple question to ask: will this item be out of date 5 years from now? If yes, then it is not an investment piece.

Some items such as Chanel Classic handbags are considered an investment piece because of its value (and price, but we’ll get to that later). It is the kind of handbags that will never go out of date, be it 10 years ago or 10 years from now. The quality of its quilt is also one of the bests – that a lot of families pass it down to the next generation.

PRICE

Another way to measure an investment piece is its price. Some fashion items increase their prices every year; for example, there are some items that when you bought it 10 years ago at the price of $3,000 – you can now sell it at the price of $5,000 even for the second-hand items. This is considered an investment piece.

Personally, I invest in three types of fashion items. These are the ones that I spent most of my money on, and the basic rule that I set for myself (and will probably be useful for you too):

HANDBAGS

Like I have mentioned before, handbags like Chanel are worth the investment. There are some classic handbags that will never go out of style – and it is always recommended to have at least one investment bag. But, I have to set the ground idea here: do not buy something that is totally out of your budget just because you want an investment piece.

My rule for handbags is 1:1. It is your monthly income compared to the price of your piece; in this case, you spend one-month income for one handbag is the maximum handbag price you are suggested to get. So for example, your monthly income is $3,000 – and you want to splurge yourself with a Fendi of $2,800; I’d say go for it. But if your monthly income is $3,000 and you want to buy a Hermes of $10,000 – I’d say please think about it again. Of course, this is an extreme example – but you get my point. My point is to not starve yourself because you want to look cool. If you have been saving for a while and you want to splurge yourself after thinking carefully about it, it is your call. But basically, you can always count on 1:1 ratio.

SHOES

Shoes are much cheaper than handbags. That’s probably one of the reasons why I love shoes as well. My rule for shoes is 1:3. In this case, I set myself to spend the maximum shoe price for 1/3 of my monthly income. For example, your monthly income is $3,000. It is wise to buy shoes that go up to the maximum of $1,000. It is because shoes are more volatile than handbags and they can go out of seasons pretty fast.

JEANS

Every woman has to have jeans that hug her in all the right places. That is why investing in jeans is worth every penny. A good pair of jeans will create a perfect silhouette of your body, and my rule for jeans is 1:4 – which means I set myself to spend the maximum jeans price for 1/4 of my monthly income. Considering the price of jeans in the retail, this is quite generous. But you can always buy one or two good pairs of jeans, and probably wear it for a long, long time.

Photo by Rachel Tan