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Cost-per-wear: How good is your Fashion Math

December 21, 2015

Today’s lesson in math will show you how to justify expensive items to help you build your dream capsule wardrobe. Remember the essence of this exercise is to invest in classic, high quality items that will/should last you a long time. Again, we want to lean towards becoming stylish not trendy!

The Fashion Math
cost-per-wear-formula-total-cost-of-item-_number-of-times-worn
This is quite basic math. To help you find your Cost-Per-Wear, take the total price of your favourite item, and divide it by the number of times you will wear it. The ultimate goal here is to lower the CPW. The more times you wear your item, the higher the price can be! Take a really expensive pair of jeans, for example. Jeans are worn so many times throughout the year, that you can easily rationalize spending between $200-$300 on a good quality, well fitted pair of denim jeans. If you end up wearing these jeans every day for a year, they will have paid for themselves! What a deal.

Sometimes we buy into the trends of fast fashion and get lured into purchasing lots of pieces that we don’t end up wearing, or we spend a ton of money on one not-so-key item. When you use the CPW as a common indicator, you can quickly see how you probably should not have purchased that $1000 ball gown, you will never wear again! (CPW= $1000… Consider Rent Frock Repeat, you crazy girl! What’s wrong with you?)

A few things to keep in mind when you are calculating CPW:

Durability- don’t sacrifice on the price! Invest in leather shoes and bags, they get the most wear and tear. I cringe when I see fake leather or plastic purses deteriorating.
Quality vs Quantity- buy nice things, just less of them.
Functionality- Do not compromise when it comes to functionality. Invest in warm, weatherproof boots and coats. Splurge on well-made and supportive heels that you will wear all the time.

Lastly, I want to close with the value of thrift shopping. This is an excellent way to splurge on things you don’t want to pay full price for. Maybe it’s a season too late, but who really cares! Paying less also means you can buy stuff that is outside your ideal “capsule wardrobe” collection. This is also when you can have a little fun and go outside your comfort zone.

Here are a few items that yield a low CPW… depending on your daily habits! What do you think of these price points? Sorry for all the black… it’s seems to be my go-to this season.

$fashion-math-cost-per-wear-modexlusive-chantal-sarkisian$

Paige skinny jeans • Paige • $507.02
Lord & Taylor Wrist Length Knit Cuff Leather Gloves • $40
Hudson’S Bay Company 100% Cashmere Scarf • HBC • $120
Merrell Women’s Decora Sonata Waterproof Winter Boot Brown 8.5 M US • Merrell • $169.99
La Canadienne Womens Mazy Knee-High Boot,Black,10 M US • La Canadienne • $274.63
Caley-F5 Large Black Mesenger Bag • Mackage • $595
Kay-F5 Long Black Winter Down Coat With Fur Hood • Mackage • $795
Pierre Hardy Black Suede Ultime Pumps • Pierre Hardy • $455
Ann Marino by Bettye Muller Fleetwood Booties • Bettye Muller • $130.30

The art in fashion

Fashion Talk

December 14, 2015

I stumbled upon this fantastic article, while looking for an image of Fran Lebowitz for my article on “Style vs Trends“.

I just might have died and gone to heaven. I found a series of illustrations of these beautiful fashion icons done by Ryan McAmis. And there is a whole lot more on his site!

I used to draw caricatures of people all the time, much like this. I tried to dig up the ones I did of my roommates and I a while back, but no such luck. I miss being really artistic. I think that’s why I absolutely love these images. They make me reminisce on a talent I used to possess. Also, they are bang on! Maybe it will inspire me to do more.

Enjoy!

Festive Fashion: Black and Red Holiday Looks

Mode Xlusive

December 8, 2015

screen-shot-2015-12-08-at-10-14-54-pm In my post last week, I mentioned that I was featured in Ottawa Family Living magazine. As you know, print is always limited to space, unlike a blog, so my fashion outfits didn’t quite make the cut. I guess they wanted to keep the smart answers over the pretty pictures. That’s a win for any blonde girl! haha.

Just as I said in my article, my go-to this season, is Leather! Here are three easy looks that offer comfort, style and versatility!

Each look offers a different way to play up on leather:

Leggings (similar in size L/XL)
Moto Jacket (similar in size L/XL)
Skirt (similar in size L/XL)

Pleather leggings, oversized red sweater (H&M), black ankle booties (Nine West), black tassel purse (Aritzia). Easy, comfortable and very accessible.

Red dress (H&M), black leather moto jacket (Danier), black bag (Danier) and closed pumps (Calvin Klein). You can add black tights to this look to warm it up a bit. This is good for any casual Holiday party or night out.

Pretty in plaid! I love mixing odd combinations together! Plaid shirt (Old Navy), Skirt (Bailey 44), blue suede pumps (Nine West), clutch (Rudsak)

These are, once again, brought to you by the ever-talented Kristy Chapman Photography.

Dressing up for the Holidays with Addition Elle

Mode Xlusive

November 6, 2015

Well, I did it again! Today, I presented 4 Holiday looks from Addition Elle. We did a double header on CTV Morning Live as well as Daytime Ottawa on Rogers Channel 22.

I did my first segment on TV a month ago on Fall Fashion Trends for 2015 with Addition Elle. It’s always so much fun, but it goes by so fast. So much prep work, but it’s all worth it!

Now back to what is really important… the clothes! I know… there is a lot of black. But what I can I say, I love black! It’s so flattering, timeless and versatile. I tried to add a lot of metallic notes to lift the outfits. From the metallic dress, to rhinestones, sequin and jewelry, it all adds to the sparkle and glam that is Holiday dressing. As you can see, I also love layering with a cardigan or jacket. It adds a layer of warmth and helps to hide the problem areas, like your arms or your backside. If dresses aren’t your thing, you can opt to wear long and loose trouser. The flowy material gives off the illusion of a long dress and lifts the entire look.