This gets repeated a lot especially for clothes (eg boots theory) but it hasn't been true for decades. We are ridiculously far from 1900 levels of material comf

This gets repeated a lot especially for clothes (eg boots theory) but it hasn't been true for decades. We are ridiculously far from 1900 levels of material comfort. Clothes are so rock bottom cheap that we are swimming in them, and charities are too. Too many clothes to know what to do with. In places like NYC anyone can get free clothes if they want them. There are hundreds of charities and gov orgs (eg [1]) for precisely this reason. Shoes are free if you are not picky. Zero dollars. That's way cheaper than "shoes that last" regardless of price. [1] this is aimed at people on probation but is open to the public, no questions asked https://www.nyc.gov/site/neon/programs/clothing-closet.page https://www.nyc.gov/site/neon/programs/clothing-closet.page