What to bin, store, sell and wear
SELL IT: Isabel Marant Beckett sneakers, bright floral suits, 1920s embellished dresses, anything designer (that you no longer love)
There are poor souls on this planet who may not be quite as up to date as you are, and so they will not realise that baroque is passé and wedge trainers are no more, and may be dying to buy into the trend, even now. For those people, your willingness to part with your past loves is excellent news.
For high-value items, eBay is your best friend. Isabel Marant trainers, for example, still fetch close to their RRP on eBay, and designer items by big names such as Diane von Furstenberg, YSL and Miu Miu will always sell well. Be sure to put a reserve price on your items and do give due consideration to how long it will take you to post them, and how much it will cost.
For high-end high-street pieces, consigning is a relatively new trend from the US that is taking hold in Ireland as a great way to rid yourself of your lightly worn items while recouping (some of) your losses. In Dublin, Siopaella ( siopaella.com) in Temple Bar will resell lightly worn, high-end high-street gear (think French Connection, Reiss, Topshop and Cos) and give you 40 per cent of the price. If you have a decent number of items to sell, this is a great way to cut down on the grunt work involved in eBaying.
WEAR IT: Breton stripes, leather trousers, leather jackets, denim shirts, parkas, macs, anything military, heirloom items (Chanel, Prada and Mulberry), skinny jeans
There are certain things that children will forgive of their parents – zero knowledge of popular culture, for example, or confusing Rihanna with Beyoncé – and there are certain things that they most certainly will not. In the latter category, you can put the disappearance, for charity or otherwise, of any and all amazing designer items that they will spy in photographs, 40 years from now.
To err on the safe side, keep any high-end designer duds. If the worst comes to the worst, you can sell them when times get tough; otherwise, they are worth holding on to. Similarly, there are certain items that will never be truly out of fashion, and in this (and in so much else) I recommend thinking of the French. Breton stripe tees, sweatshirts and polo necks; camel macs; and leather jackets all benefit from their association with the most fashionable nation and are considered classics.
