When Lar and I first posted our inventories earlier this year, I got a text from a friend that said, “One pair of sunglasses only?!” That was when I realized I had gone from a hoarder of sunglasses (lots of cheapies) to a single sunglasses owner without even realizing it. I remember giving away a bunch at some point, but my goal wasn’t to just own one pair. It just turns out the only sunglasses that “sparked joy” were my Marc by Marc Jacobs cat eyes (see photo above). I wear them all the time and have for years – evidence here, here, here, and here. Lar even got the same pair because she liked them so much (that’s Lar above left and me above right).
This is all to say that owning one nice thing versus lots of not-as-nice things really is all it’s cracked up to be. I never miss not having more sunglasses options and after three years, this one pair has held up really well.
Since I’m on the subject of nicer things, I do want to point out that I’m not talking about luxury items. I’m not going to run out and buy a beautifully-made Mansur Gavriel bag and give away my current bag collection. For one thing, learning to live with less isn’t about getting new stuff (even if it’s better made), it’s about appreciating what I already have. And I also don’t have anywhere close to $425 to spend on a bag (which by luxury standards is cheap). Those Marc by Marc sunglasses I keep going on about? One reason I could splurge on a pair of $120 sunglasses is because we receive gift cards from our long-time blog sponsor (see widget to the right) Shopbop.
Without Shopbop sponsorship money, Lar and I would not have a lot of the luxury pieces that we do in our closets like Lar’s Ferragamos and our matching gold Jennifer Zeuner bracelets. We try to be conscious of buying items that are made ethically and that we’ll wear again and again and again.
Even so, Lar and I have been discussing how we would like to approach sponsors now that we are learning to live with less stuff. This might mean that in the future our sponsorship changes or we go without consumer-driven sponsors.
We’d love to hear your feedback too.
If you guys are saving up for some “luxury” items, Shopbop is currently having a sale (see details below). Also, we are interested to know what our readers define as luxury because we know, for us, it doesn’t just mean designer or expensive.
Something I learned from What Not to Wear (miss that show!!) is the cost per wear…. if you buy a cheap shirt for $12 and only wear it once ($12/wear), that’s way more expensive than buying a $365 bag and using it every day for example ($1/wear). Or to compare apples to apples, a $52 tee shirt, and wearing it once every two weeks ($2/wear). Of course, that’s how they justified a $5000 shopping spree that resulted in like 13 things, which I still don’t think I could do 🙂
Buahaha! I love this, CurryLove! Cath and I totally do the cost per wear thing too, but like you said, quality stuff also adds up. Cath and I are always talking about how it’s hard to save for the perfect tee if you know you are never going to be able to justify a $400 Row tee even if you wear it everyday for two years ;D
xoxo,
Lar
Okay, gotta say how GREAT these shades look on both of you. They really are the perfect shape and style—there’s no reason to stray.
Re. “For one thing, learning to live with less isn’t about getting new stuff (even if it’s better made), it’s about appreciating what I already have.” I have some thoughts on that…but they’ll have to wait for my Friday blog post. 🙂
Lisa, we totallly agree with also buying new things if it gives you joy (and not just for that fleeting moment when the new thing officially becomes yours). So your sneaks are totally a genius buy. Cath and I still do buy new stuff and this minimalist approach to shopping/not shopping is totally a journey for us — we’ll go forwards and back.
xoxo,
Lar