Keeping my closet favs GLOWing with Restory

One of the main reason’s I started this blog was to document the ways in which I am being more aware and conscious, to help others and also so I could be accountable for my decisions while also sharing my knowledge to save my friends, family, and readers if they too wanted to take steps in the same direction but didn’t know where to start.

As a skincare and makeup guru, I started this conscious approach with my beauty regime and I’m slowly working into other areas of my life. This journey hasn’t happened overnight and by no means close to finishing, but I believe that everything in life is a work progress and any step, no matter how small, is a step in the right direction. So, I was sitting in my room and noticed how a lot of my shoes and bags I wasn’t using wasn’t because I didn’t like the item but because of the dirt (Owning a suede bag as a mum is a recipe for a destroyed handbag)! Instead of disregarding them and giving in to the temptation to buy new items to replace them, I decided to have them restored, given a new life. I know where to get my Louboutin’s resoled and reheeled but for my other babies, I wasn’t sure where to go. A friend suggested The Restory.

I can’t rave enough about how smooth the process was. The service is incredible and a game-changer for keeping my luxury items looking their best, no matter how long I’ve had them. To start, you visit their easy to navigate website and upload information about the particular pieces you want to sort out. Within a few days, sometimes even just 24 hours, they send a courier to the house to collect everything. No need to even leave the house (but if you want to, they have an easy drop off at Harvey Nichols as well). After a few days, you receive a low down on what it’s going to take to restore your items to their natural GLOWING glory. They give you a literal menu for each item listing every single service they could do for your item along with a detailed line by line cost. It really allows you to assess what you want and also don’t want done. Their services cover a wide range too, cleaning, restoring the colour, changing the colour, restitching, what have you. Consider them the luxury item doctors that’ll fix any little flaw sorted. It’s not cheap, for example, I didn’t choose all of the services, I guess that “oh well I could get a new pair for that price” comes into mind for me at least. I mainly focused on cleaning and resole-ing my handbags and shoes.

Six weeks later I feel like I got brand new items! I was very happy with the cleaning and all but one of my items. I have to admit I had a little higher expectations for one of my heels that didn’t turn out as new as I was hoping, but I didn’t choose all the services they recommended so good to know for next time! They’re wearable so that alone makes me thrilled with every item I got back.

The luxury market has less negative press when it comes to sustainability, you pay the extra price for them to last and be worth every penny. However, I argue that is not the case for luxury high heeled stilettos…it only takes one step in-between pavement slabs and there goes another heel cap…along with the embarrassment of being stuck! A lot of the shoe brands do have their own service and do tend to come out well at the end. I am a true believer in investing in pieces that will last, as it’s not only kinder to your wallet (in the long run!), it’s also better for the environment.

I know I am fortunate to be able to occasionally indulge in luxury, for people that cannot, there are lots of very good quality premium brands with amazing taste and the right company ethics to ensure more of a positive impact on the environment. I would love to hear your favourites in the comments below!

Overall, the Restory helped me feel better when that inevitable spill happens on a luxury handbag or that embarrassing moment when you get stuck in the sidewalk in heels that I can restore that item to its former glory. It also helps me know that when I buy an item, with Restory’s services, I can literally keep that item for life by continuing to restore it instead of buying new. I am very excited about this chapter in my mission to be more sustainable in my wardrobe.

Coming Soon: Reviews of Pure Earth, Indie Beauty Expo & Irene Forte…stay tuned!

XO Steph