Designer Ella is hosting this week’s Carnivale of Couture and has picked a great topic: fashion confessions.

My confession is that while I’m The Bargain Queen, I have a few fashion splurges too.

Here’s my little indulgences and some tips on how to get it right when you splurge.

But first, I’d like to clarify: by splurge, I don’t mean ‘things I pay off my credit card just before they wear out’ as fashion magazines sometimes imply.

To me, splurges are those items that are worth spending more money on, so I economise on everything else to afford them. I buy things like t-shirts at thrift shops, cheap chain stores and sales so I can afford a few pricier items like these.

Splurge #1: Designer jeans

Here in Sydney, denim is the preferred apparel for going to the opera, hitting the town for a big night out, meeting friends for coffee, going shopping, even working if your boss will permit it.

Jeans have become such an important wardrobe staple that finding a pair which make your bum / saddlebags / love handles look great can turn into some sort of unholy quest. I’ve tried to love chain store jeans, but bad jeans make me look like a dumpy dwarf. I’ve looked in thrift stores too, but in the last five years I’ve found only two great pairs in my size.

So since jeans are a wardrobe staple that I find hard to buy cheaply, about once a year I splurge on a pair of designer jeans in the sales. I’d rather have two great pairs than a dozen that make my butt look bad.

Splurge #2: Well-cut work pants

My next splurge category is well-cut work pants.

Again, a long exploration of every cheap option available convinced me that I’d have to spend more to look better. It’s still a search to find flattering, attractive, professional-looking trousers that don’t need constant ironing, but with a budget of a couple of hundred dollars it becomes much more possible.

Bonus: two tips for finding nice work pants

1. Max & Co. make pants that emerge from a suitcase looking perfectly ironed - LOVE them!
2. Buy a cheaper coordinating jacket to save money. It’s a much less stuffy look than a ‘proper’ suit if your workplace allows it.

Splurge #3: One nice watch

I’m currently saving up for one really nice watch.

No Chanel chronographs will make it into the budget this time around, but if my winter fashion expenses are sensible, I’ve seen a gorgeous Michael Kors one that looks realistic…

Splurge #4: Nice dressy shoes

I own a total of three pairs of heels, none of which would meet Carrie Bradshaw’s Manolos-all-the-way standards.

Still, one pair of Marc Jacobs heels at 75% off is a big enough splurge to keep me swooning every time I don formal wear.

Longchamp bags

My only true fashion obsession is Longchamp bags.

Over a few years I’ve accumulated three (one on sale, one a gift, one a present-to-self for winning an award), which I LOVE. They’re as classic and really cute, and since they’re not big on branding, they’re cheaper than others of similar quality.

OK, spending $200 on a handbag is still excessive but it’s never going to become a regular expense, and having one expensive obsession in a wardrobe of bargain purchases feels right to me.

Splurging: how to do it right

The important points about all these things is they’re occasional purchases: no weekly shoe-shopping for me. When I do buy one of my splurges, I look for things that are:

1. Not trendy, so they don’t date quickly;
2. Good quality, so they last for years; and
3. Versatile enough that I can use them all the time.

My rule-of-thumb is to only commits to a big initial outlay if I’m sure the cost-per-wear is going to end up in the single-figure range!

Still, as I’ve mentioned previously, I d have a pretty generous wardrobe budget. Looking nice makes me far happier than owning a car would, but it’s not a trade-off everyone could make. If you put your money into a mortgage, kids, investments or anything else that’s important to you instead of fashion, you’re doing great!

Don’t let the ravings of a confessed fashion tragic like myself make you feel bad — it’s possible there are more important things in the world than handbags! (OK, maybe…)

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