I have gotten a lot of emails, comments, & tweets saying that you ladies have been investing in your wardrobes, so I wanted to give some pointers on protecting your investments. As you have heard me say, I have owned some pieces for 5+ years. When I invest in a piece, I take to the following steps to make sure the garment is maintained over the years. These 6 tips can help you keep investment pieces for as long as you want to have them.
1. I do not wash/dry clean an item after every time I wear it. Now I don't want you to think I'm dirty. I may wear something 4 - 5 times before having it cleaned. Let me explain. I wear a shapewear everyday, so generally my bare skin doesn't even tough the garment. If I don't get any food on my clothes then in my book that dress can be worn again without cleaning.
2. I'm careful when I eat. In the case that I do get food on the garment I spot clean immediately. Sometimes you can get the food/drink completely out. Regardless, you don't want that stain to set in.
3. Save yourself and get your investment clothes dry cleaned. I have accidentally washed investment pieces and been devastated when I found them in the dryer. It's happened 3 times. Two were wool and the other was silk jersey. Needless to say, all pieces were ruined. When you wash pieces lose their luster. With dry cleaning you can keep your items like new. If if the item was cheap (or made out of a cheap fabric), but I really love the garment I get it dry cleaned. I know once I wash the item cheaper items you might as well throw it in the trash.
3. When I do wash, I wash with Woolite. I wash things like cardigans and I want to keep the colors vibrant, so I always have a little contain of Woolite around for color guard.
4. Take garments to the tailor as needed. If something needs to be fixed, such as a fallen hem or an open seam then take it to get it fixed before the problem gets worse and more expensive to repair.
5. As my mom would say, pick up your clothes off the floor! Having your nice clothes crumpled on the floor is no way to treat an item you love. Hang them up. This will cut down on your ironing time.
6. Rotate! I keep garments in constant rotation. I try not to wear once particular item over and over. I mix and match different pieces all the time, so that one piece isn't getting too much wear and tear. This also will allow you to wear a old piece in a new way.
I hope this was helpful.
Sidenote: These are my new babies....LOL. The shoe gods bestowed upon me a fabulous pair of shoes at the right height, width, and size. Ask Kiah from the Rez to the City, I did the hammer in the store when I found them. I like to break out a dance when I get really excited. Again I say, I love Nordstrom Rack for fab size 11 shoes!
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