Stand down: I’m not about to give financial advice. Despite obsessively watching Youtube videos about building your portfolio and how to grow your first $10,000 during my lunch breaks.
(Reader, I have no portfolio. The idea of stocks and shares terrifies me. I have no clue why I sit and watch these investing videos, it’s like the world’s weirdest form of relaxation. And the more of them I watch, the more the Youtube algorithm serves me. I feel as though I could almost become a financial advisor with the amount of (possibly inaccurate) intel I’ve absorbed via Youtube. Though I wouldn’t ever invest any of my own money, as everything they suggest has a “RISK” warning plastered all over it - “YOUR ENTIRE INVESTMENT IS AT RISK!” “YOU COULD LOSE ALL YOUR MONEY!” - and I can’t say that it fills me with oodles of confidence. Financial advisors seem to tell everyone else where to pop their hard-earned savings but never need to actually pop their own hard-earned savings into the same MONEY AT RISK things, because they make their money off the people doing the risking. Crafty!)
No, this post is all about the things I’ve bought in my adult life that have turned out to be worth every penny. It’s not an exhaustive list, obviously, there would be thousands of things, but a few bits and pieces that I think about on an almost daily basis. I could do another post about worst investments, mainly expensive cars (terrible affliction!) and cameras that have turned out to be the bane of my life (that stupid DJI stick, the Sony ZV-E10) but I’ll save that for another time.
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Toaster Tongs
Starting off small and accessible, I appreciate this very teeny investment every single day. If you haven’t got a pair of wooden toaster tongs then I urge you to correct this immediately. I know you think you manage perfectly well with plucking toast out using your acrylic nail tips because they have no nerve endings in them and so are essentially “built in finger tongs” (I have gel nails, same superpowers!) but once you stick those wooden tongs down past the electrocution zone to retrieve a crumpet and realise YOU ARE STILL ALIVE you will never look back. It’s like being invincible.
I have these ones here. Would make a good Christmas present wrapped up with Bliss on Toast by Prue Leith. You’re welcome.
Higher Education
From toaster tongs to….education! Smooth.
I bloody loved school, loved uni and then left uni midway through a law degree to be a model. As you do! (If you haven’t read my bestselling book, How Not to be a Supermodel, which is all about this life episode and the subsequent fallout, you can get it here (ooh, it’s currently just £6!) and listen to it (I read it out!) here.
Anyway, as the modelling career took off, I started to really miss studying and so signed up for an Hons Degree in Literature via the Open University. Finished that, loved every second, did some postgraduate courses in journalism and literature, and then went to Royal Holloway (University of London) to do an MA in English and Creative Writing.
Have I needed any of these academic things throughout the course of my professional life so far? No. Not once has my boss (me) asked me to show any qualifications or certificates. But have they proved to be invaluable? Yes! They demanded a huge degree of discipline, especially as I was travelling extensively for work at the same time, and sometimes I had to focus so hard to get things in on time that I thought my eyeballs were going to explode.
Being able to pull this degree (lol) of focus out of the bag when required has constantly saved my bacon. I wouldn’t have made my book deadline (six months late) had I not had all of the practice. Do you need a degree or a creative writing course to write a book? No you do not, but the confidence those courses gave me, and the specific skillset, have made all the difference when it comes to constantly battling unrealistic deadlines and having to switch between the creative and practical sides of my brain every thirty minutes throughout the working day.
I don’t regret any of it. It wasn’t cheap, but actually OU courses tend to be broken down into modules that you pick and choose from and pay individually as you go along; I highly recommend them. When I did it, it was so long ago that you couldn’t use a Mac to access the coursework, only a PC, so I had to do everything on paper. I can imagine now that it’s seamless. It was brilliant then, can only dream of how excellent the courses must be these days!
The MA? I mean, I did that because I wanted to write novels and I thought it would give me a big kick up the arse. What actually happened was that in 2010 I started a blog, A Model Recommends, as part of my prep for the course and then the blog took off, and then I had no time to write my novels. Bloody blog! No idea what happened to it…
Me + Em Trousers
From higher education to wide-leg trousers, don’t say I never give you anything. I’ve been trying to analyse my wardrobe and clothing spending habits this year and I’ve noticed a trend towards more “classic” wardrobe items, more generous tailoring (oversized jackets, for eg) and flatter shoes.
Does this mean I’m turning into a 1940s librarian? Possibly. Especially as I seem to be wearing a lot of brown and tweedy textures. The moment I touch upon elasticated slacks, you all need to stage some sort of intervention.
Anyway, I think these Me + Em “icon” trousers are a terrific investment. And I do mean investment, because they will last forever, because the quality is supreme, and the shape is so well done, so clever, that they will outlast any trend.
They are spendy, but not once have I ever regretted a Me + Em purchase. And I wear things from there to death. I know they will always make me look and feel good.
OKA Cushions
Fully expecting an eye roll from some of you, because I talk about OKA cushions a lot, but they’re so GOOD! Massive, amazing quality, great designs, out of all my fancy cushions (including Soho Home ones which are now outrageously priced) they have lasted the best.
I pounce on the ones I want when OKA do their (actually quite regular) discounting events. Mostly it’s 30% off, but it takes a spendy cushion down to just above the price of a John Lewis-level cushion.
The feather inserts for them are top tier, by the way. I think I’m on ten years for my oldest one and it still shakes up and fluffs out better than any other cushion I own. So yes, I will rave about these until the cows come home.
This is the page you want to bookmark - if you sign up to their newsletter then they give you advance warning. Although it does make you click on to window shop at least twice a week, which is unhealthy for people like me, who are what I like to call Commercially Susceptible.
De Sede Sofa
We’ve had our De Sede sofa since 2006 and it was still in pretty good nick when it was covered in its original brown leather, but then cats and dogs happened and also Rich sitting in the exact same spot every single day which wore a noticeable rough patch into the leather and we had to get it recovered.
I’m so glad we did. Reupholstering is such an underrated thing. I know people who just get rid of sofas! Like, chuck them! Obviously not on my “Christmas card list know”, more “know of”, but still. Isn’t it a very huge thing to pop into landfill?
Reupholstery sounds too intimidating for people, if you ask me. It needs a PR makeover. I think it’s the fact there’s no set price list, so you have no idea whether it’s going to cost £400 to do your armchair or £4000. Scary stuff. Nobody likes “getting a quote”. But it’s all pretty easy - when we’ve done it they’ve come over to look at the item and then quoted a price “plus fabric” with a note as to how many metres of fabric is needed. Most can supply the fabric and give you samples, etc, if you let them know how much you can afford to spend.
We’ve spent over fifteen years constantly having to get quotes for things, everything from wood refinishing to flat roofing, full electrical re-wires to refurbishing Georgian windows, so asking for estimates doesn’t really vex me. If it does you, just think of the brilliant new lease of life you’ll give your favourite sofa or chair! And you’re not obligated to do it, even if you get a hundred quotes. And you get to choose from a million fabrics, not… seven.
So yes, the sofa. Sound investment. We paid a grand for it in 2006, which was actually quite a lot seeing as though it was shoved in a dealer’s garage.
(Antiques dealer, not the other sort! “Listen, while you’re here, you don’t happen to be in the market for a three seater?”)
It’s actually increased in value since then, this sofa, which is wild when you think about it. Possibly not increased for us, because we took off brown leather and replaced it with olive green fabric, but you know what I mean. It was a solid buy.
Penelope Chilvers Footwear
They are yet to surprise me with a dud, over at Penelope Chilvers. The loafers I bought last year are ridiculously pliable and soft, their Mary-Janes are cloud-like and the cowboy boots they make, especially in suede, are just a whole new ballgame of quality and comfort. Cowboy boots are hit and miss with comfort levels. People bang on about this brand or that, and how they are like slippers, but by their very nature Cowboy boots are hardy, structured and designed to withstand things like falling into a canyon, or stepping on a rattlesnake, or being stabbed with a knife in a saloon fight.
Not so the Penelope Chilvers boots. Dear God. Someone clever over at their HQ thought, do women’s boots in general REALLY need to be able to withstand sub-zero desert temperatures and also be able to survive drop-kicking a rodeo bull in the nuts without breaking any toes inside?
The answer, obviously, is no, and so they made them in the softest suede that still manages to keep its shape. Glorious. They’re here. Great with jeans, leggings, long pleated skirts (this season’s “it” thing, seemingly) and little flippy dresses.
I must also add that I have never regretted a Fitflop order. Apart from (ironically) their actual flip flops, which have an uncomfortable toe post. But the trainers! Oh! Will I ever wear non-Fitflop trainers again? Doubt it.
I like the FF Flow, for an Air Max style but 100x comfier and bouncier. Also the RTG leather:
for a classic sort of look. They are here, £90. The Mary Janes and ballet pumps are also just meltingly soft and padded. There’s a theme emerging here with my footwear choices! I’m like Princess and the Pea except with shoe soles, not mattresses!
Peloton
Finally, the best health/fitness investment I’ve ever made, my Peloton+ bike. Bought in 2020, used every other day since then, give or take a couple of periods around moving house/illness. As someone who will make any excuse not to do exercise, this thing has been a revelation for me. Not only do I thoroughly enjoy it, as in, smile like an idiot as soon as the pedalling gets fast, the fact that it’s in my house means there’s no physical or mental blockade in between me and the exercise itself. I don’t have to travel, I don’t have to see anyone, I could ride the thing with just my socks on if I so desired!
UGH. I’m so sorry. Scrub your mind.
I’d say it’s a steep set-up, but there seem to be plenty of second hand bikes if you’re into the idea. I bought mine new, but it has paid for itself multiple times over if I compared it to the cost of going to the gym. More importantly, if I did join a gym I would never go, so this bike for me is the difference between doing loads of (enjoyable) exercise and absolutely no exercise at all.
I’ve had a bad knee (from all the cycling, but let’s ignore that) so I’ve had to park it for a few months, but I am desperate to get back on it. Wish someone had told me to “also do other exercise that uses some other muscle groups” when I was exclusively spinning like a maniac for six whole years, so that I didn’t develop mega-quads at the expense of everything else, but it’s OK, thanks to Pilates and Barre classes (accessed through the Peloton app) and a bit of physio, I am getting back on track.
I think if you don’t have the bike, Peloton membership is loads cheaper. I would recommend joining it just for the other classes, I think the whole platform is so well done - you really start to feel like you’re part of a community because the filming and staging and instructor style is all so cohesive. Very clever.
You can look at their memberships here.
Righty-ho, I’m off to package up another camera to return to seller (honestly, I have a whole tale to tell about this camera, but am worried it might bore you to tears!) and then obsessively look at pleated skirts on Me + Em whilst fully knowing I have no reason to own one and nowhere to wear one to. Do hit the heart on your way out and spread the good tidings by sharing this post with anyone you think might like posts that consider “toaster tongs” and “higher education” to be equally sound investments: