Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in Volume 7 of B.H. Magazine, order your copy now.
Even among those who don’t consider themselves fashion people, the concept of clothing as an “investment” is one that has been championed vigorously for decades.
In the ’90s, magazine editors wrote with prophetic certainty about the $4,000 overcoat “you only need to purchase once”. Over time, that dictatorial authority has dissolved into the ecosystem of social media, where thousands of algorithmically anointed content creators dissect the value proposition of their favourite $2,500 tote bag – often with frothy enthusiasm and zero irony.
Read between the lines, though, and the takeaway remains the same: buy less and buy better, to prove your credentialed taste. Cashmere cardigans in every shade of damp peat, or a navy blazer costlier than the median family holiday are indicative of the “investment pieces” mainstream culture seems most obsessed with.
In her book Dress Code (2022), journalist and author Véronique Hyland was critical of such sentiment, observing that the kinds of goods which fit the “buy less, buy better” mould are “invariably expensive”, “unadorned” aesthetically, and crafted with a “moratorium on embellishment”. You can probably guess how she felt about the whole quiet luxury trend.
That we, as consumers, have traditionally favoured such a narrow framework – in order to decipher what’s worth splurging on – is a function of having invoked so much financial jargon.
The reality is that fashion, as a concept, is much more load-bearing – something we recently discovered firsthand.
Here, three insiders share the pieces in their wardrobes that have stood the test of time. Each one reveals how the act of “investing” in personal style is about more than paying top dollar and outsourcing your taste.
The hope is that their shared wisdom will broaden the conversation – around how we buy, wear, and ultimately, enjoy clothes. Because nailing what works for you takes more than deep pockets and paint-by-numbers design.
Nico Lazaro
Home Base: New York City
Occupation: Stylist, Consultant, Copywriter
The Investment: Vintage Swedish Army jacket, circa 1960s
Of everybody we interviewed for this story, none offered a more dramatic rebuttal to the popular characterisation of investment fashion than Nico Lazaro. Best known as the writer behind menswear newsletter The Bengal Stripe, Lazaro has no qualms routinely recommending $900 loafers or fully canvassed suits – the sort you buy for a wedding, he opines, and wear for the rest of your life.
Imagine our surprise then, upon learning that the most valuable addition to Lazaro’s winter rotation is a piece of old Swedish militarywear, costing all of US$160 – a far cry from the “invariably expensive” fodder Hyland was critiquing.
Originally made for army despatch riders in the 1960s, it is a cropped number in heavy-duty canvas, incorporating a detachable fleece liner and cinching belt for superior insulation.
“As both a military jacket and a moto, it’s not the most practical representation of either,” Lazaro tells B.H. Mag. “But it is unique. A reminder that the best personal style comes from simple, intentional deviations from the norm.”
Military surplus like this has long been popular with discerning shoppers for its tendency to encapsulate so many ideas that simultaneously carry cultural weight. A strong dollar-to-value ratio is never a bad thing. But if it’s a gateway to more responsible forms of consumption – that centre preexisting goods because they don’t worsen the impact of industrial clothing production – then all the better.
Niklas Oppermann, Co-Founder of Carl Friedrik
Home Base: London
Occupation: Entrepreneur, Premium Travel Goods
The Investment: UBR ‘Thunder’ Chelsea boots
When Niklas and Mattis Oppermann founded Carl Friedrik in 2013, leather accessories were an integral part of the company’s early success. The siblings would expand into premium travel goods six years later, which has since become the bedrock of the brand’s offering.
Niklas’s choice in daily footwear – a pair of leather boots he’s worn for close to half a decade – is an echo of that trajectory – made in a rather traditional luxury material, plus the kind of performance element you’d expect to see advertised in one of Carl Friedrik’s suitcases.
Niklas says that he was drawn to the romance of Chelsea boots as a “leather aficionado” – even if the original impetus was simply for “hard-wearing shoes that could deal with Scandinavian winters”. UBR, a Swedish label known for expedition-grade officewear, made just such an article outfitted with ‘Arctic Grip’ soles – engineered by Vibram for traction across wet, frost-slicked ice.
It’s tricky to argue, at face value, that these ‘Thunder’ boots aren’t a textbook example of “investment piece” theory in action. At €400, they slide neatly into the tier of footwear dominated by R.M. Williams, while Niklas drops words like “versatile” and “clean design” when asked to articulate their appeal. He could almost be describing a pair of kangaroo leather ‘Craftsman’.
Of course, the real revelation here isn’t that you must run out and buy the nearest pair of $700 leather boots. Before jumping aboard any bandwagon, just remember: true personal style is what happens when you’re not afraid of a little self-reflection.
For Niklas, a brand builder who splits his time between metropolitan London and the Swedish outdoors, they’re an invaluable addition to the cold-weather wardrobe – your mileage may vary.
Mark Cho, Founder & Principal of The Armoury
Home Base: Hong Kong
Occupation: Retailer, Classic Menswear
The Investment: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak ‘Championship’, Ref. 56175
More than any other category of fashion product, the mechanical watch most exemplifies the traditional, finance-coded notion of an investment. Like exotic leather bags or jewellery, they’re increasingly portrayed as an alternative asset class and – under the right circumstances – a means of taking profit. Fortunately for Mark Cho, one of the more unusual Royal Oaks purchased by The Armoury founder turned out to be just that.
“Collectors today, especially the ones who got into watches in the last five years, forget that the Royal Oak design used to be quite unpopular,” says Cho. “I’ve had this quartz 33mm variant for so long I don’t recall how I got it. Probably eBay. What I do remember is that it cost me less than US$5,000.”
Today, that same ’90s-era Royal Oak (nicknamed the ‘Championship’) can fetch upwards of US$20,000, thanks to a combination of characteristics now deemed collectible. The case and bracelet incorporate large quantities of tantalum – the bluish-grey metal prized for its density and lustre, but notoriously difficult to work with. Additionally, within wider Audemars Piguet lore, this is the first watch the brand created in tribute to a professional athlete: British golfer Nick Faldo.
Cho also draws our attention to its size and overall proportions, which he considers a “truly scaled-down take” on the first Royal Oak that debuted in 1972. “By trading the automatic mechanical movement for quartz,” explains Cho, “the luxurious sleekness of the original can actually be recreated in a smaller, 33mm size”.
Were Cho to sell this watch today, he’d almost certainly do so at a tidy profit. But the greater lesson worth gleaning, behind the promise of a windfall, is that many of the smartest investments you’ll make – in all things style – reward thinking that is critical, demonstrates specificity, and occasionally, even a bit contrarian.
Cho lays it out bluntly. “What the Royal Oak ‘Championship’ taught me was to follow your instinct. If a watch feels ‘right’ in looks and physicality – not just to you, but to those observing you – it’s probably going to stay in your collection for years to come.
