The big-ticket buys we got very wrong

0:07This episode of Stylish is brought to you by Mecca. Mecca's breaking beauty news is your daily briefing on all things beauty.

0:24Hello guys, welcome to Stylish, our fortnightly Friday episode. We're back from break. I'm feeling well-rested. How are you feeling, Naima? Very well-rested and we're in a new studio. I actually already said this on the Wednesday episode, but I'm excited about the new studio. Yeah, Yeah, everyone's excited about the new studio. I know we teased this in the Wednesday episode. Well, I didn't. You did, Nymar. But we are switching up the Friday episodes and we're so excited because they're going to have a very new, fresh look and feel. So the fortnightly Friday episode is now going to be really community focused.

0:51Nymes, you're probably best placed to speak to this because you're constantly in the DMs, but we get so many requests. Yeah, constantly. About personal style, beauty, tips, tricks, hacks. So do you want to talk a bit more about what we're changing up specifically? Yeah. The thing, like you said, Reid, that we get a lot of is asking for advice, like style advice, how to shop, what to buy. Dilemmas. Dilemmas. And we have this Fortnightly Friday episode. This is the perfect space to, you know, really answer those questions for you and actually create this show around the things that you guys are actually thinking about.

1:25Yeah, definitely. So this new iteration of the Fortnightly Friday episode is actually called How Can We Help? Love it. And I love it because it is all about helping you guys, the community. So we've got a really good segment to start with today. But before we get into that, the swap does live here now as well. New home of the swap. New home of the swaps. The swap lives on Friday now. Naima, you always have the best swap, so you can kick it off. Okay, well, I've got two. Sorry. Sorry, I also have two. You have, yeah, lots actually. But I've got a creator, a girl called Faria. She is an Australian creator.

2:00I think she's from Sydney. she just does really amazing colour combos. I think she does like basics amazingly, but quite simple silhouettes, but always in like an interesting colour combination. She wears like a lot of Australian designers, simple silhouettes, but in a like with a really good accessory. I'm really inspired by it because sometimes I feel like to have an interesting outfit, you need to have all these like textures and moments and it's serving as quite good inspiration for my day to day and also making me quite excited for spring. Love that rec. You know, I'm obsessed with people to follow so much so that I had to put a self-ban on.

2:32I have removed that ban. Yep, perfect. It's been a few weeks now. Fresh start. Number two, I've actually got on my face right now. I've got new glasses. Very exciting purchase for me. I love buying new glasses. I try not to buy too many a year. I try to align it to my private health insurance because it gets covered. But these are the Atlas sunglasses from Bailey Nelson. This is actually a tip in a rec as well. You don't always have to go for the glasses frames. you can actually get sunglasses and replace them with prescriptions. Right. I didn't know that. Yeah. Is that only at certain places like Bailey Nelson's Step Savers where it's like they're optometrists?

3:09Yeah. I think you have to just check that the sunglasses that you're buying will hold up to a prescription. But if you find the sunglasses in a Bailey Nelson, you'll know that straight away, obviously. I saw these, these were a sunglass and I was like, these will be so sick as glasses. They're like quite a heavy aviator shape. but these have been so good with every outfit. I almost feel like they make an outfit look cooler. They definitely do. They're also very versatile. I like the tortoiseshell look. I kind of want them. I don't wear glasses, but I have had one of those, you know, intrusive thoughts lately where do I just pretend that I can wear glasses?

3:43And I love sunglasses, so I would also like to take advantage of that hack. I know that might be deeply inappropriate, but that's how I feel. I think it's fine because sometimes you don't want to put on makeup and glasses sometimes do the job. Everyone, go try on some glasses. They're fun. Have a glasses wardrobe. Yeah, good little hack. Good rec and a good hack, Naima. What's yours? My first rec is to read and it's quite a quick one. It's an opinion piece called Let's Face It, Influences Aren't Really the Problem. It's by Laura Jung and it was published on August 25th. So this week, fresh. I read it straight away, saw it on Instagram, woke up this morning, was like, scroll, scroll, scroll, need to read this.

4:17Really loved her perspective. I feel it's one of those well-rounded opinion pieces that covers a lot of thoughts and conversations that have been happening across different platforms. I've seen a lot of like, you know, piece to camera videos. I also listened to the Shameless episode, which was heavily focused on the no influencer sign in Nantucket, which is very much what spearheaded a lot of this conversation. We also touched on it briefly before we went on break, but there are a few areas that Laura covers that made me sit with it a bit more. And I sometimes find when I read things versus when I watch them, it's my preferred way to take on opinion pieces.

4:51If you're someone who's been actively engaging with this content. I definitely recommend reading this piece. I saved it this morning. You did? Yeah. I was like, that's a on the way home read. Yeah. But I'm very excited to read it. No, you definitely should, Nimes. I also have a to follow and to shop recommendation. So this account is called Selected Objects. We actually used their service to help curate a selection of coffee table books for our new office. And Rhiannon, who is not me. Her name is Rhiannon. uh she is the owner of selected objects i believe she works with her partner but what i love about the curation is that it's like the anti-pinterest selection like when you type in coffee table books on pinterest yeah you can already tell me the ones that come up these books are amazing i love them but i really wanted something that felt a bit unique and different and she did a full curation of selects you know some rare but some are just used as well so they've lived a life and when you open them, there's actually personal notes to the people that own them previously.

5:50That's so cool. So cool. And I've also used her in a personal capacity as well. I'm currently looking for a specific book that I'm trying to source. So if you're someone who's wanting to buy coffee table books, if you're wanting something that's fashion, photography focused, but you want it to be a bit different and not like this is what everyone else has, I highly recommend looking at their page. That's such a chic job as well. Like coffee table curator. All right, Nimes, tell us what is the big dilemma that's landed in our DMs? So we're talking about big ticket items. So like the purchases that make you go a little bit like when you're about to pay and how to know if it's worth it or not.

6:27But we're going to talk about that after a word from this week's sponsor. The beauty world moves fast and it's hard to keep up with all the latest news. Never fear though, Mecca's Breaking Beauty News is here to help. This is the beauty news you don't want to sleep on. So let's dive into the latest. PDRN is everywhere right now. Think of it as the newest it girl skincare ingredient. It supports collagen production, giving you firmer, fresher looking skin. On to makeup. The headline is that subtlety is over and bold eyeshadows is having a real moment. We're talking statement liners, glittery lids and long lashes.

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7:36okay so we did receive an instagram dm from our listener kate hey girlies i'm wondering if you can do an episode on buying big ticket items i feel like i keep getting it wrong and wasting so much money how do i take a big swing in my wardrobe slash personal styling and make sure it's not a huge miss i'd love to know what big pieces you guys own and genuinely think were worth it. Any tips you have would be amazing. Great DM. Great DM. Great topic. There's a bit in it. Like we've literally got three questions in one. Let's focus on the first part, which is all around getting it right. Yes. You know, they are few and far between.

8:11It's really important that you want to get them right. You don't have that buyer's remorse. Do you have a process, Nymal, for making big, big ticket item decisions? This might surprise people a little bit about me, but I don't have like huge amounts of big ticket items. In saying that, I will acknowledge the privilege in that I do get quite a bit of gifting. Now when I do big ticket item purchases, I'm even more focused on is this the right decision for my wardrobe. I've got a few rules. One that I was thinking about was has it started popping up in my favourites window when I open up my Chrome?

8:45Like that's how often I'm searching for it. Like you're being served a banner ad. No, like when you open up Chrome on your phone. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Is it one of the top tabs? Because I've looked at it so many times. Okay. I've shown so many friends about it. If I was to ask my friends, would they know that I want this? If you were to ask me, what is the one big ticket item you think I want right now? And if I could answer it straight off the bat, you're like, okay. Yeah. If I'm out with my friends and someone was like, what's something that's like on NIMA's wishlist? If they could answer what it is, I reckon.

9:15Okay. I reckon I've talked about it enough. It's time to make a purchase. So that's your rule number one. Yeah. Another one for me is probably, is this something that I have probably owned similar in the past and I've been able to work into my wardrobe often? So at the moment, I'm looking at buying a pair of Repetto ballet flats, which sit at about 600 bucks. You know, not the most expensive shoes in the world, but it's like a heavy investment. Yeah, I think for shoes, I feel like on average, when you look at like Elias May, Tony Bianco, you're sitting around that$200 mark. So let's use that as an average benchmark.

9:51It's looking three times. Yeah. For this, I've been going back and forth on it, but I do have a pair of black ballet flats from Wittner that I spent$180 on that I have worn into the ground. I know that I will get use out of it. If anything, it just hasn't lasted me a long time. So I know that when I buy the$600 pair, I'm going to wear it. You're going to wear it, but also you'd hope that you're going to get more longevity out of it because the value is in also the structure of the shoe, how it's made, the leather and stuff. That's not always the case, though. Like I've seen a lot of TikToks. Acquired Style did a really interesting TikTok where she was low-key shredding a wire cell bag that she purchased because the leather was cracking and she was like, I will never buy this bag again.

10:36That is my biggest fear. Spending thousands and thousands of dollars on a bag and the quality, not really, you know, stacking up to what the price point is. But that's why I think it's really important to do research. So bringing it back to a helpful tip. If you're making a big ticket item purchase, like a bag, for example, before you're investing in it, make sure you're actually looking at what the composition is, you know, the quality of the leather. There are now a few good like TikTok review pages as well that you can look at where you have leather experts actually review these items and compare different brands.

11:06Have you seen that person who like takes apart? I'm obsessed with him. I don't remember his name exactly. I spoke about him on the podcast before, but he's amazing. and does like really good reviews. But also I think the reality of it is a lot of what you're buying is marketing. Some people don't like that. I personally love a marketing purchase. I am going to sit here and be honest and say I can be convinced by marketing when I buy things. Will I be disappointed if I don't think the marketing and the value add up perfectly? Absolutely. But there are a lot of times where I've bought things that I've been marketed to and I know that the marketing's, you know, helping me drink and Kool-Aid.

11:38But then the value is still there. I still wear it all the time. I love this item. It's durable. So therefore I'm like, well. It did its thing. Exactly. It did the thing. It's fine. What about you? What's your like kind of green light when you make a big purchase? My green light of like when to buy. Or if you've got a rule. Yeah, I have a rule. I did borrow this rule off Maddie Stephanas because I think it's a really, really strong one. And as someone who, similar to you, actually I'm the opposite to you, Nimes, I feel like I do have a lot of big ticketed items, but I think I don't purchase them regularly.

12:10Yeah. And when I say big ticketed items, for me, what pops in my head are like designer shoes, designer handbags, maybe a statement coat or a dress that I'm going to wear all the time. In this scenario, Maddie Stephan has suggested that if you don't have three times the value of what the item price is, you can't afford it. And I quite like that. So like in your bank account? Yes. Sorry, I should have actually finished my sentence. If you don't have three times of the item in your bank account, you can't afford it. That is such a good rule. It is. And like, it's kind of savage. yeah like you're like oh fuck like yeah it's a little bit of shame attached to that yeah yeah but I also think shame is good when it comes to making informed decisions yeah but also interrogating why do I want this item and you know to argue with myself as someone who's like I love the marketing if I can't afford an item if I don't have three times the amount of it in my bank account that's for me to be like okay well I can't afford it especially for big items it's like let's not afterpay them yeah okay I'm sorry is that a hot take no I just no it's not a hot to I went oh yeah okay so you're a bit like I wouldn't if I have to pay it I shouldn't be buying it yeah especially for like a big purchase another when to buy for me of like okay this is my rule it's sticking to a style that I know suits me and going from there so for example the funnel jacket I know long term that's a style I'm always going to gravitate towards because it suits me so that's a really good place to start that see that as your foundation right then if you want to experiment For me, I want to experiment with colour.

13:37I'm really trying to wear more pink at the moment. So I'll opt for a colour that maybe exists outside of what I'm usually wearing. And that's where I feel I'm finding myself in a nice place where it's not a complete regret. Because there's little risk or less risk, I should say. But pink is one of those colours where it's always intimidated me. Really? Yeah, always intimidated me. I've always associated it. You look gorgeous in pink. Okay, thank you. I associate pink with you a little bit. Thank you so much. Because you've got like really key pink items. So the Scanlon and Theodore top that I purchased two weeks ago for an event, it was expensive.

14:11I paid$500 for this top. But I felt really confident purchasing this item and pulling the trigger because the shape and the look is something that I know works on my body type. So my advice to you, Kate, would be if you're going to make a big ticket item purchase, let's say it's a dress, make sure you're not deviating from the look that works for you. and instead try and play around with maybe a texture or a colour that expands outside of like your normal. If you buy the more, maybe the limited edition or the more fun colour, this could be the thing that you feel motivated more to wear it. Alison Bornstein, who is a celebrity stylist and has become quite prominent because she coined the three words.

14:49Yeah. She wrote in her book, Wear It Well, chapter 14, save or splurge, which could not be more relevant to this episode. She said, items that maximise your look are worth spending more on. I agree. And she calls out items that are distinctively different, bags, jackets. And the reason why, Nima, exactly to what you said, is you're going to be more inclined to wear it. You want to wear it. You'll want to wear it more. It's special. It feels special. Yeah. And gone are the days where we have this, like, this is my big ticket item that I save for special occasions. Yeah. Fuck that. Yeah. You should be wearing it.

15:17If you're spending money on it and you're not wearing it, that is where you will have buyer's regret. Wear the shit out of it. Like, wear it. I love it. Wear it. Yeah. I think it also shows more of your personality. Yeah. So bringing it back to Kate's point around also wanting to, what did she say specifically? She said, how do I take a big swing of my wardrobe, personal styling and make sure it's not a huge mess? Exploring with colour, exploring with texture, exploring with pattern is daunting. But if I'm working with something that I know, like a style, it feels less risky for me to be exploring pattern and colour if I'm relying on something that I know works.

15:49And you've gone towards that for a reason because you've gone, I love that. And then you've gone, oh, it's a bit expensive. So maybe I'll get something that I'll get more wear out of. And often that's not the case. I want to bring it back though to the basics piece because we've touched on, you know, have fun, the maximalism, lean into and buy the thing that you feel like is different, but you're going to wear all the time. A lot of conversation does center around like how do you invest in good quality basics? What are the brands that you gravitate to for quality basics? So when it comes to basics, I base all my decisions on like material and the composition, I will splurge if I know it's 100 % cotton or materials that I've previously used and stands the test of time.

16:26But if it's something that I'm like, oh, I don't need this like for a long time, it's like a white T-shirt, I don't think I'll get as many washes out of it. I will go to more of the high street brands. But for things that are like a long sleep striped top, like a good jumper, for me it's kowtow. Like I always go to kowtow. I just think that what they make is really beautiful, but I have found that it washes well because I can be a bit of a just pop it all into the washing machine. Yeah, it's not good. I've got a few basics from there as well. They're very good. Also the brand Friends with Frank.

16:58Yeah, so good. Again, like big ticket items in terms of those winter statement pieces like coats, jackets, but the fabrications are really good. I actually have a blanket rule that I won't buy basics now or wardrobe essentials that aren't made from natural fibers. Okay. It's also, I understand that sometimes that comes with like a higher price tag, but there are high street brands like H &M do 100 % cotton. Yeah, they do. Uniqlo do 100 % merino wool. So cause there are more accessible options. And for me, that's just like a personal value right now that I won't pick the henny top that everyone is wearing because the fabrication composition is not what my value is right now.

17:34I want 100 % cotton. I want 100 % merino wool. And it's not to say they don't have those items, but a lot of the really popular ones aren't. And, you know, two, three years ago, I would have bought them and now I'm like a bit more considered, a bit more thoughtful of what that fabrication is, but also what other brands can I be shopping? So some I wanted to call out as well were Iseturnal, which is a Melbourne brand. Really lovely. Full transparency, I have been gifted stuff from them before, but I've also just purchased this gorgeous pink set, which is in this fabric, which is Rami, R-A-M-I-E.

18:04So it's actually a style of linen. So it's really light, really breathable. I've got a few weddings coming up that have like recoveries and it's in this gorgeous blush pink. Beautiful. Sorry, I'm leaning into the pink, but I'm going into the set. So it's like the formula that works for me. Summer sets, comfortable, casual, light. Love. But I'm going with the pink. So I've just also just lived out my own rule. Yeah. Love that. I know we're bouncing around a bit, but I do want to bring it back to Kate's multiple questions. Yes. Thank you, Kate. Sorry, Kate. She asked us, I'd love to know what big pieces you guys own and genuinely think were worth it.

18:36So I bought a big ticket item last week. Yes, you did. And I have been talking about these stupid shoes for, I wanted to buy them for my 30th birthday. I turned 31 last week and I finally bought them and I bought some Margiela Tabby Mary Jane shoes. They are actually not what I went in to buy. I went in to buy the ballerinas, but then I tried on these. I think I have one of them every single day. I don't know if it's recency bias, but they fit in perfectly with my wardrobe. They kind of fit into that thing I was saying where it's like I have brown tea bars and I wear them all the time and these are just the black version and I love them they're a little bit different because I've obviously got the little freaky toe separation yeah um how much were your tabbies$1 ,800 okay Australian dollars Australian dollars they are the biggest purchase I've made and I don't really feel a regret about them well you've worn them every day since and I think you'll continue to wear them I've never seen a shoe look so NIMA coated.

19:37Thank you. So much so that when you were wearing them the other day, I also just thought you had them for ages. I think shoes are worth it. If it's in the right materials and things that are going to last for me, shoes are worth it. Bree, what about you? What's been a success story in terms of like a big purchase? Ooh. This is Bernadette Twerp, which is a gorgeous, gorgeous mother-daughter duo. They specialize in creating gowns and I had my eye on this beautiful gown last year. I bought it from stable in Melbourne, which is this gorgeous boutique in Albert Park. It was$1 ,400. So it was expensive.

20:09I cannot tell you guys how much I am so glad I pulled the trigger on this dress. I have been attending weddings out of the wooza. I've been going to like six weddings a year minimum for the last three years. Yeah, I do associate going to weddings with you. And this gown has served me so well because in the last two years, I've worn it to four weddings. I never get sick of it. I never feel bad that I'm outfit repeating. It is a classic gown. Always, always gets compliments. And not that I'm doing it for the compliments, but it's also equally validating when people are like, oh my God, I love that on you.

20:40And I'm just so glad I bought it. It is a classic gown, but I also think there's like something different about it. Yeah. I think the type of fabric is, it's hard to explain, but it's got like this crunchy sort of cape feel. It's got a really nice exaggerated bow at the front. It's got thin spaghetti straps that I can tuck in so I can wear it strapless or I can wear it with the straps. It's a workhorse. It's a workhorse in my wardrobe. And who has wedding guest dresses that are workhorses? Those are few and far between. I've got a unicorn. It's not even a workhorse, it's a unicorn. And I do not regret it.

21:08I feel like both of those things that we've just talked about, we really thought about like where is it that I'm wearing it? Like we thought about what the occasion was and like how it serves us in our day-to-day lives. So actually analysing your wardrobe to do that is like important. And that's a really good point, Naomi, because I think you can sit here and be like here are all the rules. But at the end of the day, you have to apply them to yourself and look at your wardrobe, look at the scenarios that you're wearing things. It's not like a blanket rule. Take what we're saying and apply it to your own life.

21:35Yeah. Okay. So we're pretty good, but I wouldn't say we're perfect nimes. I'm really keen to get into when we've made some seriously expensive mistakes, price tags and all. And I want to give some tips on how we avoid making those same mistakes, but we'll get into that right after a word from today's sponsor.

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22:46okay let's dive into when we've gotten it wrong it happens to all of us and we're bringing receipts like I quite literally have a receipt yeah in 2024 I purchased a pair of Prada heels they're a low square toe yeah very trendy in 2024 Prada was very trendy in 2024 too Prada was very very trendy in 2024 let's set the scene here logo mania square toes were everywhere I bought these shoes after seeing another creator that I absolutely love wearing them and they looked so fucking good. Yeah. I was like, I'm going to get a lot of wear out of this. So I paid$1 ,287.54 for my Prada heels. I wore them twice.