Can a Pink Fur Coat Be an Investment?

Unpopular opinion: I’m not against “fast fashion,” but like every girl who can’t indulge her every whim each time she sees a particularly inspiring editorial or street style shot, I also buy to keep so-called “investment pieces.” You hear that term and are probably picturing a camel coat, right? Maybe a leather jacket, a pair of heels that you’d swear to own forever or a quilted Chanel purse — somewhere on the spectrum between Audrey Hepburn and Emmanuelle Alt.

Recently, I bought an investment piece. It’s a coat, and I don’t think Emmanuelle Alt, even after 6 glasses of champagne, would be caught dead in it.

When I sent my boyfriend a photo of the coat, he assumed I was kidding. “LOLOLOL,” he responded. Ah, the bliss of the ignorant and the laugh of the person who can’t spell “hahaha.”

“It’s coming home with me,” I wrote back, as if I had purchased a puppy rather than outerwear. “It’s an investment piece,” I added, because he knows nothing.

The coat that could leave me single and homeless certainly isn’t camel. It’s bubble gum pink, faux fur and with navy stripes. When I’m wearing it I feel like a rated TV MA Jigglypuff or if you’d prefer another visual, Big Foot at the Gay Pride Parade. I also feel awesome — like this was a smart financial decision. Let me break it down.

Here’s what I won’t spend money on:

Button downs

The aforementioned camel coat

Crewneck sweaters

Jeans — actually, make that anything denim

Striped t-shirts

Sneakers

Essentially, everything Leandra will.

Investment pieces are usually billed as things that will never go out of style, such as a classic [insert business attire here]. But what if your style is more Queen of Tompkins Square Park than Duchess of Cambridge? Let me now propose an alternate definition for investment pieces: items you might not wear every day, but will be excited to have and inspired by in years. Of course, Jigglypuff the Abominable Gay Snowman is not appropriate for all occasions, but I can guarantee you that I will smile whenever I put that persona on — even if that’s 20 times per year for the next 5 years. I cannot say the same about the camel coat I do have (from Topshop), which I love wearing for now because it makes me feel like someone that should have a clipped British accent and perfect cuticles.

There are practical reasons, too: “wardrobe staples,” the things you wear every day, get ruined pretty quickly. People pee on the subway, dogs do weird things on sidewalks, sometimes you drink too much wine at dinner and your sweater ends up on the floor or in the wine, so I don’t see a need to spend money on things this city is liable to trash. High street brands spend a lot of effort making cheaper, classic items look good. It’s hard for me to see a difference so blaring between a Madewell button down and a Céline button down that I’m inclined to purchase the latter. The same cannot be said of colored fur or elaborate beading. Not for now, at least.

Where do you fall on this spectrum?