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I've already heard comments about quality going down. I feel like once H&M started blowing up their quality declined. Not saying it was the highest quality to

I've already heard comments about quality going down. I feel like once H&M started blowing up their quality declined. Not saying it was the highest quality to begin with but my older H&M hold up better than my newer purchases. Zara is destined for the same dilemma.

eliza1wright 14y ago
Yes, but quality is going down everywhere. Walk into any clothing store in any mall and take a look at the seams. Brands that used to be known for standard, quality pieces are jumping on the fast fashion train, but their prices aren't coming down. I think the more interesting part of this article was this statement by Prof. Fraiman, "And what is the problem in America? They don’t fit in the clothes. So why do it? Having to make larger sizes makes production so much more complex.” I've heard that SO many times from high end designers, but which fast fashion brand is making money hand over fist? Forever 21. And they're also the ones offering lots of options for plus-size women. Bigger women are begging for cute, trendy clothes and whoever delivers it will hit pay dirt.
- ImprovedSilence 14y ago
  >> And what is the problem in America? They don’t fit in the clothes. This. So America gets completely different cuts of clothes. If you're not overweight, or huge, most clothes sold in America suck. I didn't realize this until I spent some time studying in Italy, where even the cheap t-shirts they give away at 5ks races fit so much better and look so much nicer on me. It wasn't until then that I realized the cut of the clothes, not just "size" or "style" make a huge HUGE difference in appearance. That, and when you would walk into a store, the employees will say "don't buy that, this here fits your body style soo much better" and they are right. In the states, I've noticed people just buying whatever is trendy, with zero understanding of what actually looks good on them, and what doesn't....
  - antr 14y ago
    I've come across this same "issue", specially with suits and shirts - for some reason in the US these are more "baggy".
    - eliza1wright 14y ago
      Yup. In my experience, designers don't want to explore proportions beyond that of the standard fit model. So if you don't have a "normal" (not necessarily average) body as determined by the designer, you're outta luck. And if you're plus size, you have to be the right kind of plus size.
  - BenSS 14y ago
    Agreed, It wasn't until recently I actually realized how badly a lot of my stuff fit! Since then I've been more picky about it, and it is hard. Some retailers are better about it (lands' end canvas) and some carry a slim/tailored fit option.
- fatjokes 14y ago
  > Bigger women are begging for cute, trendy clothes and whoever delivers it will hit pay dirt. This is how Jessica Simpson is becoming a more successful "fashion designer" than she ever was as a singer.
fatjokes 14y ago
Quality is definitely going down. I bought a blazer from them which looked amazing, but a week after wearing it, it was "frizzy"---some of the finer fibers were starting to unravel on the outside. I purchased a set of boots last year. They lasted a single season before the soles cracked.
- asgoodasany 14y ago
  I agree that quality is going down. If someone has an answer, I would like to understand why. I will give you an example. There used to be a fantastic store called "Marshall Field's" in Chicago. Their own Field's brand clothing, say simple white T-Shirts, were fantastic. Well priced and would last forever. They have since then been bought out (by Macy's???). Now, I would have never thought that it would be very difficult to bring thick-white-cotton T-shirts to market at $25. I would pay for these and so would many others. But that option is just not there any more. Why is it that when big chains come in, quality goes down? I am sure they would make plenty of profits on good quality stuff, no? And, you can't blame the outsourcing of production to China or Bangladesh -- they would be happy to produce for you whatever quality you want, shoddy or good, as you desire. So why the decline in quality on so, so many things that we buy? Has there been a general decline in people willing to pay 20% more for something that will last twice as long?
  - cschwarm 14y ago
    > So why the decline in quality on so, so many things that we buy? The common answer is information asymmetries. The seminal paper is Akerlof's "The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism". [1] Simply speaking, consumers can't determine quality before buying which makes buying low price the better decision, economically speaking. Suppliers can use branding or guarantees to counter this. Unfortunately, the first is also open to deterioration; and the second has high transaction costs for consumers. In fashion, however, there are other causes as well. Clothes are not just bought for protection and comfort, but for communication as well, ie. advertising. In my opinion, this is why clothes signaling status work well for older men, clothes signaling aggression work well for younger man, while clothes signaling youth work well for women. Especially the latter drives the fashion market, and thus the need to cheap, disposable clothes. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_for_lemons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_for_lemons

eliza1wright 14y ago

Yes, but quality is going down everywhere. Walk into any clothing store in any mall and take a look at the seams. Brands that used to be known for standard, quality pieces are jumping on the fast fashion train, but their prices aren't coming down. I think the more interesting part of this article was this statement by Prof. Fraiman, "And what is the problem in America? They don’t fit in the clothes. So why do it? Having to make larger sizes makes production so much more complex.” I've heard that SO many times from high end designers, but which fast fashion brand is making money hand over fist? Forever 21. And they're also the ones offering lots of options for plus-size women. Bigger women are begging for cute, trendy clothes and whoever delivers it will hit pay dirt.

ImprovedSilence 14y ago
>> And what is the problem in America? They don’t fit in the clothes. This. So America gets completely different cuts of clothes. If you're not overweight, or huge, most clothes sold in America suck. I didn't realize this until I spent some time studying in Italy, where even the cheap t-shirts they give away at 5ks races fit so much better and look so much nicer on me. It wasn't until then that I realized the cut of the clothes, not just "size" or "style" make a huge HUGE difference in appearance. That, and when you would walk into a store, the employees will say "don't buy that, this here fits your body style soo much better" and they are right. In the states, I've noticed people just buying whatever is trendy, with zero understanding of what actually looks good on them, and what doesn't....
- antr 14y ago
  I've come across this same "issue", specially with suits and shirts - for some reason in the US these are more "baggy".
  - eliza1wright 14y ago
    Yup. In my experience, designers don't want to explore proportions beyond that of the standard fit model. So if you don't have a "normal" (not necessarily average) body as determined by the designer, you're outta luck. And if you're plus size, you have to be the right kind of plus size.
- BenSS 14y ago
  Agreed, It wasn't until recently I actually realized how badly a lot of my stuff fit! Since then I've been more picky about it, and it is hard. Some retailers are better about it (lands' end canvas) and some carry a slim/tailored fit option.
fatjokes 14y ago
> Bigger women are begging for cute, trendy clothes and whoever delivers it will hit pay dirt. This is how Jessica Simpson is becoming a more successful "fashion designer" than she ever was as a singer.

fatjokes 14y ago

Quality is definitely going down. I bought a blazer from them which looked amazing, but a week after wearing it, it was "frizzy"---some of the finer fibers were starting to unravel on the outside. I purchased a set of boots last year. They lasted a single season before the soles cracked.

asgoodasany 14y ago
I agree that quality is going down. If someone has an answer, I would like to understand why. I will give you an example. There used to be a fantastic store called "Marshall Field's" in Chicago. Their own Field's brand clothing, say simple white T-Shirts, were fantastic. Well priced and would last forever. They have since then been bought out (by Macy's???). Now, I would have never thought that it would be very difficult to bring thick-white-cotton T-shirts to market at $25. I would pay for these and so would many others. But that option is just not there any more. Why is it that when big chains come in, quality goes down? I am sure they would make plenty of profits on good quality stuff, no? And, you can't blame the outsourcing of production to China or Bangladesh -- they would be happy to produce for you whatever quality you want, shoddy or good, as you desire. So why the decline in quality on so, so many things that we buy? Has there been a general decline in people willing to pay 20% more for something that will last twice as long?
- cschwarm 14y ago
  > So why the decline in quality on so, so many things that we buy? The common answer is information asymmetries. The seminal paper is Akerlof's "The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism". [1] Simply speaking, consumers can't determine quality before buying which makes buying low price the better decision, economically speaking. Suppliers can use branding or guarantees to counter this. Unfortunately, the first is also open to deterioration; and the second has high transaction costs for consumers. In fashion, however, there are other causes as well. Clothes are not just bought for protection and comfort, but for communication as well, ie. advertising. In my opinion, this is why clothes signaling status work well for older men, clothes signaling aggression work well for younger man, while clothes signaling youth work well for women. Especially the latter drives the fashion market, and thus the need to cheap, disposable clothes. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_for_lemons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_for_lemons