Expensive clothes

[MarcusGHedwig]

I know this isn't necessarily the most relevant question for most of you gents, but I still feel the need to sorta think out loud about this - WTF is up with some of the prices of clothes out there, and how can it possibly be justified?

I ask this because I did a fair amount of shopping over the holiday season, and was just baffled at the prices of some of the stuff I saw. I mean, I'm willing to pay extra for things when I feel the additional money is actually getting me some tangible advantage (e.g. better wood/components/build quality for a guitar, better construction/materials for furniture, more comfort/power/fuel economy/reliability for a car, etc. etc.) - but clothes are just fucking fabric and thread for chrissakes. I really wanted a nice wool coat, for example, but why the hell would I pay $400 just cuz it's Kenneth Cole when I could (and did) get a Ralph Lauren Chaps that looked identical (and I do mean identical) at Kohl's for $200? (and that was the normal price, it was on sale for $80, BAM) Same with jeans, my $40 Levis have always fit me well and lasted for years.

Some might say more expensive clothes are better tailored or fit better, but that makes no sense; all "fit" is is a combination of measurements, so I can't see how there could be any increase in cost just to change certain dimensions of a garment.

I suppose if you have a more atypical body type, then you have to pay more for a more specifically tailored outfit - luckily that's not the case for my 5'11" / 32"-waist self! Anyway, rant over

 

[Ermz]

The retail mark-up on clothing is... significant. It's one of those many industries that functions on vanity... and based off that alone can command much dearer costs than would ever seem sane otherwise.

 

[Harry Hughes]

I see people with 300 dollar sunglasses, 200 dollar jeans and 200 dollar shirts and think "WHY?!!!!!!!!".
Chicks with their fucking sunglasses that are so huge it makes their head look tiny and they pay 400 bucks for the damn ugly fucking things, or their fucking 1000 dollar handbags. Ughhh, why?

Honestly, the only stuff I tend to pay a little bit extra on is shoes, but I managed to score 4 pairs of shoes for less than price this year anyway, so I'm stoked about that.
Otherwise there is really no need to go expensive at all.

It's just all about fucking trends. A lot of people lack the sense to go and buy some pieces of clothing that will still look good in 5 (or even 10) years time, for relatively little cost.
I've got shirts from like, 4 years ago that still look almost like new and cost like 15 bucks, and IMHO, they look pretty good.
Last pair of jeans I bought were like 20 bucks, and they're fine to me. Have no plans to get rid of them for a long time yet.
Obviously more of a problem with females. A lot of the dumb fuckers just don't think, they go and buy more clothes because they're told to do so by the big corporations.
Me being sexist? No, just the fucking truth. Women will blame on it having a "shopping disorder" to take away the responsibility of just having been a complete non-thinking, materialistic, self absorbed fucktard.

Doesn't help at all that because people are just getting fatter, clothes have to be constantly thrown out to make way for new clothes that fit on their muthafucking fat asses.
It's an even worse situation when you get someone who becomes a total lardass, then loses weight, throws out the fat clothes, then gets get again, throws out the normal clothes and has to buy fat clothes again.
Just such a wasteful society really, when it doesn't need to be this bad.

 

[Trevoire520]

Obviously more of a problem with females. A lot of the dumb fuckers just don't think, they go and buy more clothes because they're told to do so by the big corporations.
Me being sexist? No, just the fucking truth. Women will blame on it having a "shopping disorder" to take away the responsibility of just having been a complete non-thinking, materialistic, self absorbed fucktard.

^THIS

There is no sense at all in spending the amount of money on clothes that some people do. They try and justify it with quality of materials and how well it's made but thats honestly nothing to do with it. It's all about buying something with a particular label on it. To be honest fashion is my single greatest hatred in the world.

Grab a chicks magazine and actually read it, inbetween all the "real life" OMGZ I was raped by a bear and now I love him and I'm having it's babiez! bullshit it's just clothes, shoes, jewelery, bags, sunglasses etc etc etc etc etc etc.
These magazines are FILLED with advertising, hence why they can normally get a magazine for about 35p.

Personally I have only 2 "expensive" bits of clothing, which are leather jackets that I paid £60 and £100 for. I refuse to spend more than about £20 on any other piece of clothing as I just don't think it's worth it. It's just one giant con that is pushed on people with marketing, and it drives me nuts that normal people can't see through that on a day to day basis.

 

[aberration]

I'm not normally a "bleeding heart", but every time I see a dude wearing one of those goddamned $80 Ed Hardy t-shirts I want to kick his ass and give it to somebody who can't afford a shirt at all.

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

Expensive clothing is for people who want to say "Hey... Look at how shallow I am!".

 

[egan.]

Yeah, it's style and vanity since almost all clothes are made in sweatshops. Honestly I personally find $100+ jeans and $80+ tshirts far more offensive than $1000 suits. But then, I have known people that ironed their jeans and hung up their tshirts. I don't think blowing money on clothes automatically makes you shallow though---it's a matter of priorities. After all, I'll buy Levis and saucony's instead of Walmart jeans and Payless shoes.
Buying things you can't afford is different of course.

 

[Chryst Krispies]

Dude...welcome to my nightmare. CLOTHES NEVER FIT ME.
I like nice clothes. But spending money on a shirt that's going to need to get altered anyway sucks a bag of dicks.

I know I did it to myself though.

 

[Russtopher]

Kohls FTMFW. I buy a lot of my work clothes there (I'm an office drone, so it's slacks and button downs for me) and I dig the prices, especially with all the sales and the constant coupons we get for having Kohls credit cards.

Thankfully, neither my wife nor I fall for the name on the tag BS. I bought a pair of Merrills for $80 and I felt absolutely horrible doing it. Granted, they're probably the MOST comfortable shoes I've ever worn, but there's something about paying higher prices for clothes that make me cringe.

When I was a kid, my parents didn't have much so I was always one of those kids in knockoff sneakers, no-name jeans, hand me downs, etc. Never made me want to go the complete opposite direction once I had money of my own, though.

My kids, on the other hand.... they grow so quick that we have no choice but to buy lower priced clothes because sometimes within months they've already outgrown everything!

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

I love you guys

Yeah, it's style and vanity since almost all clothes are made in sweatshops. Honestly I personally find $100+ jeans and $80+ tshirts far more offensive than $1000 suits. But then, I have known people that ironed their jeans and hung up their tshirts. I don't think blowing money on clothes automatically makes you shallow though---it's a matter of priorities. After all, I'll buy Levis and saucony's instead of Walmart jeans and Payless shoes.
Buying things you can't afford is different of course.

Yeah, I too of course don't go for the absolute dirt cheap stuff (Levis FTW as I mentioned in the OP), it's all about the middle ground. And for a finely tailored suit, I'd also be willing to pay more, though $1k is still pretty excessive (I'd probably set my limit at $500, which, thinking logistically about cost of the materials and labor to make it seems more than reasonable)

 

[drew_drummer]

You spend $40 on jeans?? What's that.. like...25 30 quid...

Fuck. I get pissed if I have to spend more than a tenner on jeans. I don't mind looking like a tramp. I've got a bitch who sucks my dick. Who do I need to impress... ??

 

[SocialNumb]

I gotta be honest, when I read the title I thought I was going to see talk about 2k jackets and things along those lines.

All my jeans are 100- 200 plus, (many being Kenneth Cole) shirts range from 10 up to 200+ for the nicer gotta go somewhere important stuff. One good pair of expensive dress shoes, normal cheap sneakers etc.

The thing is, I don't buy myself clothing, except my sneakers and rude t-shirts. My family and or girlfriend (when I have one) buy my clothing. It's always been like that. I just have no interest in style.

If it where left to me, I'd probably wear the same shit everyday and wash it when it smells. Anyways, I agree. The prices of some clothing is insane.

There was a time in my younger years where all I would wear was cheap dickies like everyday. That was all me in my teens to early 20's.

 

[midget donkeys]

Dude...welcome to my nightmare. CLOTHES NEVER FIT ME.
I like nice clothes. But spending money on a shirt that's going to need to get altered anyway sucks a bag of dicks.

I know I did it to myself though.

I know all about this. Nothing fits me off the rack. If you actually have a body that is the proportions that society tells are desirable (broad shoulders and neck, thin waist etc) no suit will fit you unless tailor made.

Which I actually had a two piece suit and silk shirt and tie made in Korea for $80. Nothing beats cheap labor.

As for my day to day clothing I look like about one step up from being homeless most of the time. Hanes wife beaters with stains all over them and old ratty jeans. And when I feel real classy I pull out the Megadeth concert shirt from 1995.

 

[JeffTD]

I've got to be honest - I'm not going to spend $300 on a pair of jeans or $50+ on a t-shirt, but there is something to be said for nice clothing, and it often comes with a price tag. There are ways to circumvent this, though. I have a pretty solid wardrobe of name-brand stuff, but I've never paid full price and never plan on it.

If I could find cheap jeans that fit me, I wouldn't buy the more expensive brands. Oddly enough, Diesel are the only jean company that have a few cuts that fit me perfectly (after hemming), but even then I always get them at clearance stores or on eBay and I've never spent more than $65 on a pair.

I do have a bunch of Ralph Lauren stuff that I snagged while my friend worked at an outlet - 50% off makes things quite affordable.

The rest of my stuff is mostly Gap and H&M, but finding stuff that fits me is a serious bitch. Who the fuck is 5' 9" with a 29" inseam? My legs make zero sense.

 

[HeadCrusher]

$40 for a pair of Levi's? Or 10 pounds even? Fuck, they're like at least €80 around here. Still the cheaper branded ones. Pepe or some kind of shit goes for 200 or so. Of course they are ripped already cause that seems to be the trend right now.

 

[aberration]

The only problem I have with Kohls, and it might not be all their fault, is that Levis in particular NEVER fit the same from pair to pair. Same size, same color, touching each other on the shelf and they fit totally different. Oh well, even if my clothes look wicked badass, I still look like me so the illusion is spoiled!

 

[JeffTD]

The only problem I have with Kohls, and it might not be all their fault, is that Levis in particular NEVER fit the same from pair to pair. Same size, same color, touching each other on the shelf and they fit totally different.

I get the same problem with Hanes - every fucking package of white v-necks fits differently. Some have a deeper v, some have longer sleeves, some are shorter in the body... consistency for fucks sake!

Oddly enough, the only place I can find the Hanes-brand v-necks is Kohls.

 

[crillemannen]

200$ jeans is standard in Sweden. 3-400$ nothing strange.T-shirts costs from 50-200$. People have jackets hear that costs 1000$. :S.

 

[PhilR]

I buy the cheapest clothes that the high street has to offer. Who gives a fuck? They're just clothes. Jeans are jeans, a t-shirt is a t-shirt, shorts are shorts and nobody gives a fuck what socks or boxers you wear. My shoes are cheap workwear trainers (steel toecaps! 20% work discount!). I can't believe people spend serious money on fucking jeans I mean, they became poular because of how cleap they were! Levi Strauss became rich off the back of cheapass blue trousers designed for miners and farmers!

I'm still wearing a uniform workwear fleece from a job I quit over 3 years ago! It still fits me so who gives a fuck? It's got paint on it and holes in it and okay I admit it, I am a fucking hobo!

!!! <- Yeah, that's enough.

 

[Chryst Krispies]

Yeah I don't the t shirt fit thing either. I have to wear large sometimes and cram into the shit cause the xl makes me look like the fucking Stay Puft dude.

I don't even know what my suit measurements are but I bet it's a fuckin nightmare.