Could you make money from your clothing?
Women spend as much as £84,000 over a lifetime on clothes. However, recent research reveals that despite spending all that money on clothes two-thirds of us view our purchases as purely functional and throw away rather than something that could make us money.
Tracy Martin, TV’s fashion collectables expert for shows such as BBC Flog It & This Morning, believes that we need to move away from the culture of throw away fashion and look at clothes as investment item that could further fund our love of fashion.
She comments: “When people hear the term investment they automatically think designer items that cost thousands but the high street is a goldmine of collectable clothes that over time will significantly go up in value as long as they are stored and looked after properly.”
Tracy’s top tips for hunting out future fashion collectables are:
- Seek items that are only available for a short length of time. H&M collaborations with high end designers such as Matthew Williamson, Versace and Marni have already increased in value. A good example of this is the hitched up red dress (£49.99) from the forthcoming Maison Martin Margiela H&M collection. Early interest suggests that this could sell for three times its value on eBay following its release on Thursday 15th November
- Look at pieces from the emerging breed of new designers. Examples include Olivia Rubin, Louise Gray and Holly Fulton. They will grow into fashion icons of the future and the cost of items from these type of collections will rise rapidly
- Classic pieces always stand the test of time but won't necessarily become sought after in the future - wacky, quirky, fun and controversial pieces are more likely to command interest (especially if they have a designer name attached such as Vivienne Westwood or Alexander McQueen)
- Store your clothing in an environment with a controlled temperature to avoid damp, mould and mildew getting onto the clothes. Never store in the attic or cellar as these are prone to extreme heat in the summer & a freezing cold atmosphere in the winter which will ruin the clothes instantly. I use a wardrobe sized locker at Big Yellow Self Storage to keep my items safe and secure
- Art, colour and embellishments reign supreme with fabulous prints and/or sparkles always attracting attention with collectors
For more information on storage visit: www.bigyellow.co.uk
Femalefirst Taryn Davies