Vintage Investing

How's your investment portfolio doing? You are probably like most other people these days...you don't even want to look at the bottom line.

But how about a little creative investing in vintage clothing? Yes, you heard that right. You can invest in other things besides stocks and bonds.

Pick the right handbag, invest in artwork or buy a piece of swampland and you could be on to a nice little earner

High-end vintage fashion is certainly ripe for investment potential. If you're going to do that, however, a discerning eye and some research is required to ensure maximum returns. Buy a good designer at their peak. If the label says Dior, you want it to be by Christian himself rather than by Marc Bohan, who took over in 1962. If the piece of clothing is by Yves Saint Laurent, it's haute couture that will accrue the most value in years to come, not Rive Gauche (from the 70s & 80s), or Variations (from the 90s) – both are still too recent to hold the same cache. And even if those criteria are fulfilled, avoid anything that has serious staining or alterations, which seriously decreases the value. Store the pieces out of sunlight (fading is a no-no), and start to get paranoid about moths, damp and mildew.

Now, it seems, is the time to invest: museums and private collectors are trying to buy as much as they can for their archives.

Ebay picks:

1950s Chanel Suit

Pucci Velvet Dress