The Power of Clothes: The Accessory Over Clothes Debate

If I've heard it once, I've heard it a hundred times, invest in jewellery, a few careful accessories and forget about clothes. Well, I don't think so, clothes can be a very good investment.

It depends on your personality, lifestyle and where you live as to what to spend your hard earned money on. Let's not kid ourselves, there is no one thing that has magic properties that will complete our lives or make us look like our favourite film star. Thinking that because we spent the equivalent of an entire average outfit on one bag or bangle that some celeb has had chucked at them by a designer's PR company will not make you look better or be happier. It's a snack, not a full meal, tempting though it is, you cannot skip the basics.

1. Unless you are going to walk around naked, you should invest in some decent clothes that will make a good impression at work and on future friends and practically speaking, make your shape work for you. Clothes can make you the centre of attention or they can bond you with a team. Either way, it's not the clothes or the jewellery you should notice first, it's the person. People start to express themselves at a young age through what they wear, how boring it would be if they all wore the pre-selected, brand-only pieces, people should know how to enhance themselves and they should know how to speak the language of clothes with their own voice, some people naturally need to shout to make themselves heard whilst others reassure with a whisper. 

2 Alas, there are plenty of places in the World where anything shiny is going to get someone into trouble and that includes storing and worrying about it at home. I had my eighteenth birthday present taken by some 'friend' of the family creep. He would have never have half-inched (pinched) my favourite coat. 

3. I don't know what some of you do to your clothes, but I have as-new clothing from ten years ago and more that I couldn't even afford now (I mean have you seen the prices of McQueen now? *Mops brow of sweat just thinking of it*). I am still the same shape and size and I still like the same things because I am still the same person. I'm so pleased I invested in clothes in my 20s. Yes, I'll buy perfect tees from Peacocks too, but I love my 'pieces', with their amazing material, attention to detail and such workmanship, the dazzling craftsmanship as much as any gem on my finger.

4. Having a good wardrobe already means you can be more choosy about which clothes you really do need, if any. Hence, you can then spend more on whatever later. Another reason why people should acquire stylish clothes that speak for them and not just fashionable wannabe 'stuff'.

5. Re-sale value and investment is overstated and overrated. People often want fashionable designer jewellery, those are always not the investment pieces that do best when it comes to resale. The real 'investment' pieces are the top-end, rare pieces that most of us couldn't afford new or pre-loved. New jewellery doesn't have a good resale return, yes it always sells, but as history has shown, if people are truly desperate you'll swap your piece of Cartier or VCA metal for a slice of bread if need be.

6. Never mind all these 'things', the most important thing is someone's health. Investing in shoes that don't deform one's feet and encourage someone to walk around are very important. Shoes and feet are very important for self-expression too, often denoting (or suggesting) the sexual politics of the wearer of the shoe. I'm 'every woman' unless one wants to live in Imperial China of course and then ouch, just shower me with diamonds and silk scarves and let me keep my big feet.

7. Fine jewellery or a eye-catching accessory dresses-up a basic outfit it's true, but crap clothes make fine jewellery look cheap and/or fake. If your clothes need to be cheap make sure they are not crap.

8. With all the discount shops, charity/goodwill stores and outlet sites you do not have to go around in a tracksuit when saving up for a decent whatever. Tracksuits, unless worn for sport, will make you fat and look fatter on the way.

9. There's no guarantee you will have daughters, your children will like your taste or love you when you're old so stop with the excuse your buying family heirlooms. If you want to stuff a VCA/Cartier bauble onto every digit and collect a rainbow of seasonal handbags stop using you future off-spring as an excuse for your class-A shopping habit.

10. Everything goes in and out of fashion. Find a style that likes you back as much as you like it, wear and enjoy forever (and don't forget to dry clean occasionally)

Gucci Gold

Silver and 18K 'Gucci Firenze 2921' bangle, made to celebrate Gucci's 90 anniversary, pic from gucci.com 

There always seem to be a few 14 karat gold pieces for sale

WARNING 

Gucci have NEVER made 14 Karat pieces.

All Gucci gold is 18 Karat

Some beautiful Gucci silver pieces are described as #silver and 18 Karat gold' This means silver and 18 Karat gold plating (as in the gold parts are covered silver and not solid gold) as the one above.

Most 18 Karat gold jewellery is fairly new (post-1990)

If you are looking at gold vintage jewellery it is much rarer. There are 18K pieces throughout Gucci's history, some even adorning bags, but usually made to order or for special projects such as the range of 18K jewellery designed by Patrizia Gucci (nee Patrizia Reggiani, married to Maurizio Gucci, grandson of Guccio Gucci) and was part of a crocodile themed collection from the 1980s.

Gucci's vintage silver (many with enamel) jewellery (and belts) pieces are very collectible. There were many fakes on the market at the time too. Make sure they are silver, make sure they are Gucci or they are worth approx their weight in silver but no more

LuXe-factor: choosing new, vintage or antique jewellery

Gone are the rule books about dressing and all the namby-pamby 'blue and green should not be seen' and matching one's blusher and lipstick and so on, and thank goodness for that. Self-expression reigns and we are all own our stylists, and our only consideration is for personal preference, fashion and our mood. There comes a time though, usually when spending a wheelbarrow load of money on one thing, when we want more than to reflect a micro-trend, fleeting mood or daily statement of personal expression. A time perhaps when we want to buy for investment, for the longterm or even for life. Contemplating buying an expensive piece of jewellery is just such a moment. Many people know exactly what they like and what suits them, great, good for them but for the others the choosing is a mine field. Knowing what suits you can be a great place to start.

The colour of the metal and/or stone is the most important consideration when choosing jewelly. Jewellery is supposed to adorn and enhance, make the wearer feel more attractive and powerful. Knowing eye and hair colour as though written on a passport description is not enough. Eyes - green and hair - brown is not enough. What sort of green? With amber flecks or blue flecks, grey-green or emerald green? What sort of brown, mouse-brown, with red or golden undertones, cocoa brown or darkest brown? That's the key, colours are like perfumes, there is a general colour but there are also undertones and overtones.

So here are some rules to follow, completely disregard or consider.

Time to talk METAL

Conventional wisdom 

The palest pink-undertone skin tone (that look best in  ice cream colours) look best in platinum jewellery whilst dramatic pink-undertone colouring, that looks best with jewel tone or monotone colours (sapphire, emerald, black and white) should choose white-gold or silver. Yellow based skin that looks good in autumnal muted colours are the most natural match for high carat yellow gold and those who look good in bright fresh in-between colours like bright clear turquoise look good with paler yellow tones (I wont say lower carat) or rose gold.

There is even a more general rule: silver and and rose-gold look good on everyone, platinum looks best on pink or blue - undertone skin and yellow gold on 'golden' people. I think this rule goes along the lines of what ever colour someone literally glows should be the colour that compliments their skin.

Try on the same ring or bangle that comes in a choice of different gold and see which one (or two) suits you more - usually people are drawn to the one that makes them look more healthy (enhances their natural colour).

High-street Jewellers rules:

a) fashion - don't buy into the latest trend unless you know you really love it, dated resale jewellery loses monetary value no matter how much it cost at first and fashion jewellery revivals usually take at least 20 years.

b) popular - like fashion, what is popular changes, same pitfalls as above plus if and when you get tired of yours, that's everyone will be wanting to get rid of theirs so not great at resale.

c) what is classic usually follows convention and what is accepted to be 'good taste'. White diamonds don't have to be set in white gold or platinum, pink stones don't have to be surrounded with rose gold but classic doesn't usually go out of fashion and if it does it's soon back in. On the other hand, unusual designs or combinations of colours are scarcer and therefore harder to find which could push up re-sale value in the long run.

Premium Brand Jewellery 

a) look for styles that are iconic to the brand, you will be paying for the name and these will usually hold more of their value if you ever need or want to re-sell (just saying)

b) 'entry level' pieces are usually pretty reasonable (relatively of course). If you are looking for a gift for someone else these are a good option as sometimes it is just as much about the wrapping (just saying)

c) If it's for you ,consider carefully and visit the store often, the theatre of shopping at this level is half the fun and lots of the price and at  these prices mistakes are catastrophic. If  it's for someone else and doesn't have to be a surprise, share the experience, as the memory of choosing and purchasing is often as important as the piece itself. 

d) personalise with engraving or initialized the box, the service usually costs less at the time of purchase. 

e) once bought take it back to the same store/brand to have it sized, repaired or engraved not trust any-ol'   person who gives you the best quote for many obvious reasons but also because the original jeweller will not touch the item once someone else has worked on it. 

f) if you can wait (and it could be a l-o-n-g wait) for the perfect piece at a better price, don't mind losing the luxe-factor surrounding or crave a little excitement, auctions are a great place to 'shop'. Word of warning prices are not guaranteed to devalue from full retail, plus, you will pay an extra 15-30% buyer's premium and may not get the usual accompanying box/pouch/authenticity guarantee of a certificate and I doubt you will get the original receipt.  Final warning, you better know your stuff as you can't change your mind or back out of a deal. Auction houses will use terms like 'yellow metal' meaning they can't be held to account if it doesn't turn out to be gold etc so read carefully, ask for a condition report and be careful not to assume. Some auction houses also charge for the use of credit cards in payment.

Remodel or Bespoke

a) if you already have the raw materials and the imagination you can remodel or design your perfect piece. No  guarantees how perfect the jewellery will be to your 'vision' but it will probably be closer to anything anyone else could design if it's not already out there.  Ask to see work they have done already, agree on a  time-frame, the quality of the materials or extra materials to be used and be very firm about your final budget. Write everything agreed down and make a copy for the jeweller . The downside is you can't return the item for exchange or refund. Usually you will have to pay up-front for something you can only hope will turn out as expected.. 

Right then everybody, let's head off for research ;)

Next time stones, design and size