We are a well-dressed department. Both my supervisors defy the dodgy academic bad fashion rule & are really great dressers .I have had female students of mine hang back, not to ask me a thoughtful question on the seminar topic, nooo, to ask me where I bought my dress. I can't afford to buy designer clothes but I have a few bits that were either gifts or I inherited and I expect this isn't going to win me any favours but I have to say the difference and superiority to high street is obvious. Better fabrics and cuts and the clothes tend to last and last.
I was given a beautiful leather Mulberry bag a few years ago for a big birthday & it is so well made that I think it is more like a 'bag for life' than anything I would buy or use from the high street. More economical & environmently friendly. I can get all my books, papers, teaching work in it, or use it as an over night bag. Its a style classic and will never go out of fashion - the bag equivalent of a lbd