Burberry Rain Mac

Anyone who knows me will have noted that during the spring showers I always seem to wear the same grey rain coat. It is a nondescript grey rain mac, that is a little on the large side. It also happens to be the same rain coat my grandfather bought from Burberry nearly 50 years ago! 

The observant among you will have noticed that I have labelled this post as part of the Style on a Budget collection (many of you may even be scoffing at the idea as Burberry macs are very expensive), let me explain why I chose to include this post under that label. Today a Burberry mac costs approximation £1,500, a princely sum to the average student to be sure. However, if you divide that expenditure by the number of years such a coat will last, for the sake of argument lets say 40 years (although as I have said mine is nearer 50) you get an average price of £37.50 per year. Which is about half the price of a rain mac from the average high street retailer such as H&M or GAP. I doubt very much that their product would last even 20 years.

But we don't all inherit such coats I hear you cry. True I have been very fortunate, and yes there is no way I could even dream of spending that much money on a coat right now. However that is not the point of this post. The point is quality lasts, and real quality saves you money in the long run. So weather its a coat or a pair of shoes or anything in between just think before you rush into H&M. 

Always remember though that you have to circulate your wardrobe to get the best wear out of it, but that is a subject for another post.

P.S. If you see a luxury piece of clothing like a Burberry mac or a Barbour coat going cheap in a sale or a vintage shop go for it investment pieces don't have to be brand new they just have to be the best quality you can afford.

Thanks for read.

Style on a Budget - The Reversible Belt

This is a fairly self explanatory one really. You are getting two belts for the price of one....or are you?

Here is the problem with this logic if you have a reversible belt odds are you are going to wear it twice as much as two different belts. Which mean that it may not last that much longer. However if you are on a budget then you will be getting two colour options for the same price.

The reversible belt also comes in handy when you are travelling as you can wear it casually during the day and then use it again as a dressier option when going out in the evening. So if you haven't got one yet add it to your shopping list. Depending on what you want you can spend a fortune on a designer one or just pick one up at Primark.

Style on a Budget - An Interesting Discovery

Sometimes you find great style and places you'd least expect it. At the start of my first term at university I noticed that the guy in the room next to me had an amazing plaid shirt. When I asked him where he had got it I was stunned by his response. He bought it in Primark for £6. I noticed something interesting as soon as I knew the shirt was from Primark it certainly seemed less desirable. It's amazing how much influence the brand name can have on the desirability of a product.

However I went into Primark anyway, and I was soon the owner of two very nice plaid shirts. The thing to take from this is that I never would have guessed that the shirt was from Primark and that despite being from a low end store it was still a good shirt. So exercise a little bit of student economics and look around for the bargains that are to be had. Instead going into a big brand store and paying a lot of money for something that really isn't all that different to what you can get from somewhere like Primark. I'm not saying that you should always take the cheaper option and you should definitely splash out on your investment pieces but when we're talking about casual shirt it doesn't seem to make sense to spend a fortune on it when you can get something that is perfectly adequate for half the price.