Sandhya Garg — Buying Well
Investment Pieces: How to Tell Before You Buy
Seam Allowance · Fibre · Reference · The Actual Maths · 10 Picks · XS–3XL
Quick Answer
"Investment piece" usually means nothing more than "expensive". The honest version is checkable, and it comes down to three things. Construction: turn the garment inside out and look at the seam allowance — under a centimetre and it can never be let out, which means it has no second life. Fibre: natural fibres age and can be repaired; synthetics degrade, and pilling cannot be undone. Reference: a design that points at something older than one season outlives the season. Get all three and the cost-per-wear maths takes care of itself. Miss them and no price makes it an investment.
Every brand selling anything above a certain price calls it an investment piece, which has stripped the phrase of meaning. It is worth restoring, because the underlying idea is real — some garments genuinely do last a decade and some fall apart in a year, and the difference is visible before you buy if you know where to look.
I am a Project Runway designer who trained in pattern cutting and spent years inside other people's factories, so I can tell you what to check. I will also make the case against buying, where it applies, because a page that only argues one way is not advice.
The Three Things That Decide Whether It Lasts
| Test | What to look for | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Seam allowance | Turn it inside out. Is there fabric beyond the seam, or is it trimmed to the stitching? | Generous allowance means it can be let out or taken in. Trimmed close means one body, one decade, no alterations. |
| Seam finishing | Are raw edges enclosed, bound or overlocked — or just cut? | Unfinished edges fray from the first wash. This is the cheapest corner to cut and the most consequential. |
| Fibre content | Read the composition label, not the marketing copy. | Silk, cotton, linen and wool soften with age and can be repaired. Polyester pills, and pilling is permanent. |
| Fastenings | Metal or plastic zip? Are buttons stitched through or shanked? | A failed plastic zip usually ends a garment, because replacing one costs more than most people will pay. |
| Reference | Does the design point at anything older than this season? | A garment that references a trend dies with the trend. One drawn from architecture, craft or a historic silhouette does not. |
The last row is the one nobody mentions, and it is the reason a print drawn from a Mughal garden outlives a print drawn from a runway. More on where these come from in how our prints are made.
Turn it inside out before you decide. The outside is the argument; the inside is the evidence.
The Arithmetic, Done Honestly
Cost per wear is the standard argument and it is usually presented dishonestly, because brands only show the version where their product wins. Here is both directions.
When the expensive one wins
A $298 dress worn to four weddings a year for five years is twenty wears at about $15 each. Four $80 occasion dresses bought over the same period and worn twice each is eight wears at $40 each. The expensive dress is less than half the cost per wear and you spent less overall.
When it does not
A $298 dress worn four times is $75 a wear. A $60 dress worn thirty times is $2. If you are buying something for one specific event that you cannot picture wearing again, the cheaper option is simply the better decision, and no amount of talk about quality changes that.
Which produces one question worth asking in the fitting room, and it is not "is this good quality?" It is: can I name three occasions in the next twelve months where I would actually wear this? If you can name three, the maths works. If you have to invent the second one, put it back. That question has saved me more money than any rule about capsule wardrobes.
One Thing You Should Know About Buying From Us
We make in limited runs, which cuts both ways and you should hear both. It means nobody else at the event is in your dress, and the print does not exist anywhere else. It also means we generally cannot restock, and we cannot replace a piece you love in a different size later. If a garment is genuinely going to be a ten-year piece for you, buy it when you see it — not as a sales tactic, but because that is honestly how a small studio works. Where stock is thin, it says so on the cards below.
The Foundation · Artisanal · XS to 3XL
Five Roles, Ten Pieces
An actual five-piece foundation, with two options for each role. Every price and stock figure verified today.
Role 1 · The Occasion Dress You'll Wear Four Times a Year
Role 2 · The Adjustable One That Fits Through Change
Role 3 · The Layer That Multiplies Everything Else
Role 4 · The Everyday One That Justifies Itself Fastest
Role 5 · The One Extraordinary Piece
Every wardrobe earns one. Apply the three-occasion question honestly before you buy it — and note the stock on the Gaudi.
Most styles XS · S · M · L · XL · XXL · XXXL · Archive pieces in limited sizes as noted · Made to measure · Hassle-free returns
Frequently Asked Questions
What actually makes a garment an investment piece?
Three things you can check before buying. Construction: generous seam allowance and enclosed or bound raw edges, so it can be altered and will not fray. Fibre: natural fibres age and can be repaired, while synthetics pill permanently. Reference: a design drawn from something older than one season outlives that season. Price alone tells you nothing.
How do I calculate cost per wear?
Price divided by realistic wears, not hoped-for ones. A $298 dress worn to four weddings a year for five years is twenty wears at about $15 each. The same dress worn four times is $75 a wear. The useful test in a fitting room is whether you can name three specific occasions in the next twelve months — if you have to invent the second one, put it back.
Is an expensive dress always better value?
No, and any brand telling you otherwise is selling. If you need something for one specific event you cannot picture repeating, a cheaper dress is the better decision. Investment logic only works when the garment will actually be worn repeatedly.
Which single piece gives the best cost per wear?
A jacket, almost always — it goes over things you already own rather than replacing them, so one purchase changes many outfits. After that, separates, because they recombine. Occasion dresses have the highest cost per wear of anything in a wardrobe, which is precisely why they are worth choosing carefully.
What should I check on the label?
Fibre composition, and then turn the garment inside out. Look at the seam allowance, whether raw edges are finished, and whether the zip is metal or plastic. A failed plastic zip ends most garments, because replacing one costs more than most people are willing to spend.
Why do limited runs matter to this decision?
Because it cuts both ways and you should know both. Limited production means nobody else at the event is wearing your dress and the print does not exist elsewhere. It also means we generally cannot restock, so a piece cannot be replaced in another size later. That is simply how a small studio works.
Do these principles apply in sizes XL to 3XL?
Identically, with one addition worth knowing: adjustable silhouettes matter more at the top of the range, because extended sizes are the hardest to replace when a piece sells out. A wrap or a tie waist accommodates change without alteration. More on how sizes are graded in our guide to grading.
Keep Reading
How We Make It
Sustainable Fashion
Why limited runs, and what that costs.
Make It Last
Garment Care Guide
Ten years depends on this more than price.
Construction
What Grading Actually Means
Why some sizes fit and others don't.
Inside the Studio
How Our Prints Are Made
References older than a season.
About the Writer
Sandhya Garg is a Project Runway Season 13 designer who won two challenges on the show and presented her collection at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. She studied womenswear and pattern cutting at London College of Fashion and worked at Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Liberty London, and Alice Temperley — which is where the factory-floor knowledge above comes from. Featured in Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Vogue online, in sizes XS–3XL with made to measure available.
Project Runway · Vogue · Marie Claire · XS–3XL
Name three occasions. Then decide.
Sandhya Garg is a Los Angeles boutique creating limited-edition artisanal dresses in original hand-drawn prints, hand embroidery and heritage textiles. Sizes XS–3XL, shipped from Scottsdale within 1–3 days, with hassle-free returns.
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