3 ms·

> There's very little in between, even if I'm willing to pay a bit more for something a bit nicer. Same has happened in clothing. To get something other than c

> There's very little in between, even if I'm willing to pay a bit more for something a bit nicer. Same has happened in clothing. To get something other than cheap crap made out of synthetic fibers, you now have to go premium. Are people really less discerning than they used to be? Has the average purchasing power declined? Or is the problem that people don't want to commit to something that lasts for years, because they fear their taste may change?

LastTrain 3y ago
People used to spend a lot more, per item, on clothing. The real culprit in this case is that we have become accustomed to things being cheap.
- doctorwho42 3y ago
  Well that also goes to diminished purchasing power
- neuronerdgirl 3y ago
  We have also come to accept wildly poor standards for clothing construction because of our disconnect between expense and quality. Can you imagine brushing off those little snags you get in your tshirts after one wash as "just how these things are"if you had paid the real modern (local labor) cost for them? As a sewist I would estimate that the labor and materials cost for one well-made, good material t-shirt would be at least $45 [0] before even accounting for profit margin, yet people grumble at paying $20 for slave labor cotton blended with plastic made at the hands of an overworked, underpaid sweatshop worker. Our ability to source clothing so cheaply coupled with our lack of direct interaction with the making and maintenance of them has lowered our expectations in a race to the bottom. [0] back of napkin math - i might be able to find a decent knit cotton with some veneer of ethical sourcing at a rock-bottom price of $10-12 per yard (in practice F to doubt). Assuming a pittance for the thread (and ignoring the upstart costs for acquiring a sewing machine), I would peg my skillset at a value of $35-50 per hour given my experience based on the rates of similarly skilled artisans in the US.
  - helij 3y ago
    The issue is that even if you pay well above $50 there's no guarantee that the t-shirt will actually be any good after 10 washes. I have two t-shirts from 15 years ago that are still going strong. Whatever I buy these days becomes 'home' t-shirt fairly quickly.
ImPostingOnHN 3y ago
people pay more attention to the price than the quality or quantity, so when costs go up, manufacturers must keep the price the same and provide worse or less shrinkflation is another result of this
bubblethink 3y ago
The clothing market for the middle seems to have shrunk. Massdrop was pretty successful in offering the middle, until they pivoted. I bought of lot of good quality interesting stuff from massdrop back in the day.
RoyalHenOil 3y ago
Learning how to sew is really handy for this. You will pay more on materials than you would for the absolute cheapest clothes you can find, but the quality will be on par with much more expensive clothes. Being able to sew means you can also repair a lot of your older clothing and you can tailor newly purchased clothes to fit better.

LastTrain 3y ago

People used to spend a lot more, per item, on clothing. The real culprit in this case is that we have become accustomed to things being cheap.

doctorwho42 3y ago
Well that also goes to diminished purchasing power
neuronerdgirl 3y ago
We have also come to accept wildly poor standards for clothing construction because of our disconnect between expense and quality. Can you imagine brushing off those little snags you get in your tshirts after one wash as "just how these things are"if you had paid the real modern (local labor) cost for them? As a sewist I would estimate that the labor and materials cost for one well-made, good material t-shirt would be at least $45 [0] before even accounting for profit margin, yet people grumble at paying $20 for slave labor cotton blended with plastic made at the hands of an overworked, underpaid sweatshop worker. Our ability to source clothing so cheaply coupled with our lack of direct interaction with the making and maintenance of them has lowered our expectations in a race to the bottom. [0] back of napkin math - i might be able to find a decent knit cotton with some veneer of ethical sourcing at a rock-bottom price of $10-12 per yard (in practice F to doubt). Assuming a pittance for the thread (and ignoring the upstart costs for acquiring a sewing machine), I would peg my skillset at a value of $35-50 per hour given my experience based on the rates of similarly skilled artisans in the US.
- helij 3y ago
  The issue is that even if you pay well above $50 there's no guarantee that the t-shirt will actually be any good after 10 washes. I have two t-shirts from 15 years ago that are still going strong. Whatever I buy these days becomes 'home' t-shirt fairly quickly.

ImPostingOnHN 3y ago

people pay more attention to the price than the quality or quantity, so when costs go up, manufacturers must keep the price the same and provide worse or less shrinkflation is another result of this

bubblethink 3y ago

The clothing market for the middle seems to have shrunk. Massdrop was pretty successful in offering the middle, until they pivoted. I bought of lot of good quality interesting stuff from massdrop back in the day.

RoyalHenOil 3y ago

Learning how to sew is really handy for this. You will pay more on materials than you would for the absolute cheapest clothes you can find, but the quality will be on par with much more expensive clothes. Being able to sew means you can also repair a lot of your older clothing and you can tailor newly purchased clothes to fit better.