A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style (16 page)

Many pieces at box stores fulfill both the form and function requirements. Many others do not. The more complex a function—supporting your foot while it’s balanced on a three-inch heel, for instance—the more likely that the item may compare unfavorably to its higher-priced brethren. The simpler the function—a stretchy camisole, a tote—the greater the chance for success. What too often happens with the more complex pieces is that you are getting the form with a seriously diminished function. It may be a leather jacket for
60, but if it is as stiff as an old boot—and not a nice, worn-in old boot—why would you want to wear it? Stock up on basics at these emporia, but be wary of pieces that seem too good to be true. And always, always try before you buy at the big bargain houses. Actually, always try before you buy, period. Sizing can be erratic and
20 is too much to spend if you are never going to wear it.

While most of the time we are firm believers in finding something good and sticking to it, for a moment we would like to suggest just the opposite. Forget everything you know—just for now—and strike out for the hinterlands. Now, if you are a dyed-in-the-tunic Eileen Fisher wearer, this might mean tolerating the music and throngs of teenagers for a look around Forever 21. Conversely, you Urban Outfitters fans might find a lovely pair of wide-legged, cuffed trousers on sale at Ann Taylor Loft. Since this is all about personal style, why should you be turned off—or on, but that’s another story—by the marketing of a particular brand? This is about you, not who you’re wearing. Of course you know that and are nodding sagely right now, but a reminder never hurts.

Keep the safari metaphor in mind. You are taking a trip through foreign lands—the locals may look different from you, and you might not want to trade iPods with
them, but that is no reason not to enjoy the fruits of your adventurousness. You don’t have to stay and you certainly don’t have to buy anything, but you might be inspired, say, by the way an expensive shop puts together a look. A few stores later, you might be pleased to see something extremely similar in your price range. Don’t limit yourself by gender or age, either. Smaller women have been finding fabulous jackets, sweaters, and button-downs from the boys’ department for years.

The department store no longer has the hold it once did on our shopping lives. Mergers and market changes have done away with some of the greats—Bonwit Teller, you are not forgotten!—and the abundance of other shopping options have changed the field forever. That said, as long as malls need anchors, the department store will exist. Where else can you go when you have thirty minutes to buy both a cocktail dress
and
a juicer? And some shoes!

We all know that different stores cater to different customers. The smart shopper takes that one step further by acquainting herself with the buyer of her preferred lines. We are not suggesting you Google until you find out the buyer’s name and invite her to a movie; only that you get a feel for her aesthetic at work.

Perhaps you’ve had the experience of seeing something in an ad or magazine and failed to find it at one store, though they carry the line, and then found it at another. While competing stores may share the same lines, what they don’t share are the buyers. Each store employs
buyers charged with picking the pieces of a particular line that best express the viewpoint of the particular store. That’s why the Washington, D.C., Saks has different merchandise than the Fifth Avenue store. A great way to familiarize yourself with the different sensibilities at work is to visit, as we did, the same designer at two different stores. We chose Diane von Furstenberg. Selections from the line were at Saks and Neiman’s. The Saks rounders were bursting with color and prints—the feeling was very wild weekend in Vegas. The selection at Neiman’s, on the other hand, skewed toward meeting followed by dinner. Granted, it was still sexy—Diane Von Furstenburg simply is—but solids and more classic shapes dominated. If you are a wild-weekend-in-Vegas person, you know that you should proceed directly to Saks and spend the time you saved getting one more spray tan before heading to the airport.

Knowing your buyer also provides a bit of psychic armor against those items that you must avoid on your way to something suitable. Why is it that those items, the ones you know are no good for you, manage to appear so enticing on their hangers? Take, for instance, the clown cowl. On the hanger, perhaps even in the dressing room, it murmurs “drama, risk, excitement.” Once home and paid for, it mocks you with its layers of fabric. Gone is the seductive whisper; in its place a sing-song of derision, something about “swags are for drapes.” If you have faith that somewhere, far away from the clown cowl, your buyer will have something waiting that will not make fun of you, it may give you the strength to keep walking.

One of the few nice things about having less money than one would like is the discipline it fosters. Of course, it can also foster bitterness and rage—but let’s look at the bright side! High-end boutiques offer wonderful inspiration, whether they carry a single designer’s work or a beautifully edited collection of many. If you are attracted to the big names—Chanel, Burberry—they all have outlets these days. Before plunking down a huge sum, why not visit the boutique, note what you like, and then call the outlet? Nothing ventured, nothing gained—and you might save yourself a significant amount of money. If the outlet doesn’t have it and you can’t live another moment without snapping up whatever it is, go back to the boutique and buy with a clear conscience.

The individually owned boutique is often the most exciting and inspiring place to shop. They abound in New York City, and there is something beguiling about entering one person’s vision, a complete sartorial world. If the owner is on target, each piece should fit, aesthetically
speaking, with the others, creating a jewelry box of a universe. Add to the mix the person working in the boutique—often the owner—who perfectly epitomizes the look, and the magic is complete. You want it all! Never mind that you are an investment banker whose most daring piece is a slightly deeper than usual V-neck sweater and the store looks like Stevie Nicks’s closet. You need those purple platform boots and the diaphanous maxi-dress and the beaded cape and the Mongolian lamb jacket . . . Wait! Step out of the store and take a deep breath. Perhaps this really is the first day of the rest of your wardrobe’s life. Or perhaps it is just a momentary infatuation that will lead to a sorrowful head shaking in a few days’ time. Why not hedge your bets and opt for one piece that both incorporates the elements you’ve become bewitched by and still works in your current wardrobe? Say no to the diaphanous maxi-dress and yes to a diaphanous blouse that will work under a jacket for the office.

Once outlets sold exactly what you would expect: items from past seasons that didn’t sell. Then came the great outlet explosion and the creation of the outlet mall. Suddenly it seemed every store had an outlet. Seeing a new opportunity, companies started manufacturing clothing specifically for their outlet stores. This could just be us, but knowing that dampens the thrill a bit. Isn’t part of the appeal imagining the jacket you’ve just snapped up at Woodbury Commons—the premier, if there is such a thing, outlet mall an hour from New York City—once
hung on a rack on Fifth Avenue? One can’t howl over the kill with the same kind of lust knowing the item was born to be a bargain. Then again, if the jacket fits beautifully and the fabric is of an appropriate quality, howl away.

Often items created exclusively for an outlet are sized differently. Not a huge difference, but if you are a committed lover of the—entirely imaginary—Medea pant at a particular store, try on the outlet Medeas before buying an armload. Usually the outlet-specific items are made from different textiles, which can affect the way they fit.

We are of two minds on outlet shopping. It is possible to find great deals on pieces that a line makes year after year. This is surgical-strike outlet shopping. You know what you want, you call ahead, receive confirmation, and swoop in. The second, more dangerous form of outlet shopping is the open-minded browsing approach. This involves, as you might imagine, going from store to store and seeing if anything catches your fancy. Why is this dangerous? Well, the idea of a sale seems to short-circuit the brain’s discernment apparatus. “These andirons are seventy-five percent off! I’ve got to get them.” That’s fine, until you get them home and remember you don’t have a fireplace. The old adage is that you should never buy something on sale that you wouldn’t buy at full price. A truer adage has never been uttered, but the outlet shopping experience seems to be predicated on the fact that people love to ignore an old adage. Remain strong and the outlet experience can work for you. Give in and you’ll simply have more to give away on the next closet cleaning.

Other than real estate, few things illicit such a fervent desire to go back in time and buy like vintage clothing. There seem to always be smug people who can say, “Oh, this? Yes, it’s Dior, but I got it for
6.35 in a thrift store in Canton, Ohio. Of course that was fifteen years ago . . .”