Greetings, nerds. I'm compiling a list of the best affordable pieces of clothing on the market for a follow-up video. Please let me know your favs so I can test them! *HAPPY SAT*
I’ve been really impressed with some Uniqlo tees. I’ll explain cos I know that Uniqlo is basically a cliche response. I think the majority of Uniqlo t-shirts are overrated. That being said, some of the collaborations they’ve done (particularly their collab with the Tate Modern gallery in London) are really great quality for the price of like £25. Really thick heavy fabric, double stitched collar short and boxy fit. It’s all great. Basically all this goes to say go to your local Uniqlo and feel everything, you might be surprised.
I'd like to recommend two Thai brands. One is a shoe called Nanyang. they cost about $10 and are made from canvas and natural rubber. They look like a basic pair of Chucks and last for years. I wear them daily and get a few years out of a pair. The second is a shirt brand called Double Goose. I rock their black tees daily. They feel great and last a long time as well. I have actually patched a few that I got rips in. I know Thai brands might be outside your wheelhouse, but if you are looking for value for money then you can't beat these two.
I would say Forty Five from Huckberry. They’re around $42 but are always on sale for around $10 less, made in the USA from supima cotton, really good quality for the price and surprisingly soft, plus a reinforced neckband
I am a seamstress and own an atelier and fabric shop in germany, and I can say that there are people who still get their stuff repaired. And it's getting more people who are willing to sustain their clothes. However, there are also people who buy a Jeans from Shein and want them shortened, when I tell them the price they scoff and say, that's what the price of the damn Jeans. The work I have to do is the same, no matter how much it costs. But when I tailor something, and there goes a lot of work and mind in it, people are willing to pay high prices for the high quality fabric, the perfect cut and a unique pattern that I go through with my customer about every detail. People who sew themselves know how much time a piece of clothing costs, and what it should cost. Everybody should try to replace a zipper on a Down jacket and then think about how real the price for that jacket is.
I think that being in Europe you might have people who have seen good quality clothes (Regardless of what they buy?) You are talking to an American , and when I lived there it was Very difficult to find people who do the type of Work you do.
@andrerenaud8785 think you're partly right. But we also have the cheap quality clothes, that don't even do as a rag. Usually, I hear older people complain and craftsmen, who need sturdy working gear like carpenters, bricklayers, or roofers. And when looking at their clothes you really can see how quality has gone down, even with the expensive brands. But they tend to get them fixed rather than replace them, because in most cases, that's still cheaper. Do you know if the US schools still teach handicrafts? At our schools, they still learn the basics of that, and you can even choose to have sewing and cooking as a class later.
Whilst I undesrand your position, I tell you, we cannot pay you the price of a jeans for some repair stuff. You with your prices push people to rather buy a new cloth than repair. I don't know what is the solution. A better price adaptation would be the first step. For a chip jean and a simple intervention you should ask less than for a more complicated work. Like, your time shouldn't always cost 50 euros/hour (for example), but to be a range from 10 to 100 euros.
@@annaheart7731 that would mean that I have to put money into my business, if I take less than I get per hour. It's a business, not a welfare organization. You have never worked in a trade, have you? The first step would be that clothes are made from people who are not exploited and earn a living wage, and the materials used are of better quality, so the prices would rise, and you wouldn't buy 20 pairs of trousers each year. Or bring back sewing class, so people learn how much work it is to produce clothes. (And repair them themselves) My service is not the problem, fashion industry is. And the standard the consumers have. I with my prices of course can not compete with a 12-year-old girl from Bangladesh. I live and work in Germany, my living wage is sadly not 5€ a week.
@@annaheart7731 That is unreasonable. You need to take an amount on which you can live. More so if you a seamstress or working such (low paying) jobs. I go to a seamstress if I think the garment is worth the effort. With cheap clothing you usually don't. And some things like making trousers short or to put a button on you learn to do it yourself.
I feel bad for plastic. We invented it and it solved SO many problems, allowed so much to be made at scale, and improved hundreds of millions of lives. We abused it, dumped it into our environment, burned it releasing toxic fumes, and then got all mad and blamed the material as opposed to our own patterns of greed and incompetence/indifference.
High quality plastics are some of the best materials there are. My blood pressure monitor and medical mouse feel solid and just nice. Sadly it's swindled into so much. I wondered why a black dress shirt my mom bought me years ago felt so bad and I found out it was 65% polyester. I feel in such a bad situation. My mom used to buy me so much stuff and clothing I didn't want or need and was of mid quality at best and now I feel it would be wasteful to buy something I actually like and will keep for a long time. Any advice? You seem to know things.
@@imnotusingmyrealname4566 But even the quality of plastics in clothing vary a lot depending on thickness of the fiber, weave, stitching, interweave with other materials, etc. I had wool blended t-shirts lasting only a few months, but my 100% nylon fleece goes on after 15 years without any sign of wear yet I wear it almost every day. Not all plastics are equal.
@@imnotusingmyrealname4566 I think I got it at sale for €50, but original price was somewhere about €150 I believe. However it doesn't feel like a €150 premium fleece jacket, and I agree it's a lot for a fleece, every part is either triple, quadruple or cross-stitched unlike anything I have. Even the arm sleeves have 2 rows of cross-stitching per sleeve, which seems like it's over-engineered for what it is (a fleece jacket) but I'm totally okay with it :) And however it doesn't feel premium, I do seem to choose it every time I need something warm.
It’s sad cause plastic was a miracle material. The problem was it was so cheap that it was abused. Carbon fibers and other plastics allowed so much technological innovations. But then we decided to make something that lasts forever be a disposable item
I hate how a lot of “cotton” t-shirts have polyester blends. Polyester just traps body heat, making them too hot to wear in the summer…a time when you want to wear a t-shirt.
I got into a talk with an old co-worker about that kind of thing. He loved the 'sports blend' work shirts that we had cause he thought they breathed better than the cotton ones. He had worked mostly inside before that job. I liked the thinner cotton ones cause they let a lot of air move through and I didn't sweat like a bugger while wearing them. Same with a good number of my co-workers. That guy was one of the few that liked the poly shirts.
@@BeeRumblin13 The 100% synthetic fibers in sports wear... Better be Adidas. Anything other than Adidas it feels like wearing a sauna plastic suit. Adidas uses Colima Cool and Aero Ready technology.
The whole “an average piece of clothing is worn seven times before being discarded” statement is super suspect. That data was base on a census of 2,000 women 16 and up in the U.K. The charity that did the survey Barnardo does not have the data available anywhere online to scrutinize. It’s cited all over the place, but the actual source is not available as far as I can tell.
I honestly shocks me how bad apparel has gotten. I wore my jeans from high school(mid-late 90s) well into my late 20s until I had kids. The jeans were still perfectly good, my waistline was the only problem. Nowadays I get 2-3 years tops out of a new pair of jeans before the "denim"(I use that term very lightly to describe the thin stretchy bullshit they make women's jeans out of now) goes threadbare. Everyone's heard the saying "Walmart fall-apart" but their clothes actually used to be decent. I have a 20 year old Walmart sweater I still wear, it only started getting a bit worn out a few years ago. Their t-shirts used to be good too, but now I can only get about 6 months of wear from them till they go in my pajama drawer(the hospice facility for shirts too ratty to wear in public anymore but that I feel bad about throwing out). I haven't been able to find a white t-shirt that isn't transparent from any brand since the early 2000s. I never had problems with older fabric pilling- now I own two fabric shavers. And even buying name brands still gets you crap, I had to toss a pair of Adidas sweats because they pilled up so badly after a couple months that they looked like a shag carpet. Even the shavers couldn't save them, I'd shave them and they'd pill up again after 2 wears. Shoes are a nightmare too. I just returned a pair of Reeboks cause the uppers literally felt like cardboard and did not flex. Wore them around the house with socks for an hour and got blisters. I admit I have unusually sized feet (US 5.5/6 EEE), but almost _nothing_ fits or feels good anymore, not even wide shoes. Brands like Toms & Clarks are so tight and narrow that I can't even get my foot into them. Whose foot are they modeling these after?! If I size up, the width is slightly better but then my heels pop out every step. Every brand seems to have their own sizing too. In Birkenstocks and Hey Dudes I'm a 5. In Skechers and Hoka I'm a 6. In Reebok I'm a 6.5. In Steve Madden I'm a 7-7.5. I didn't have this problem until brands started making everything in china. In the 90s every pair of shoes I owned was either a 5.5 or a 6 and even the average widths didn't squeeze my feet like a hungry boa. Never needed shoe stretchers before, but now I have to stretch almost every pair. I'm actually developing arthritis in my feet from all these shitty ass shoes. It's honestly infuriating. Sorry, that was a whole rant but this topic has really been pissing me off lately. We deserve better.
Try Land's End. I've had trouble with "thin" tee shirts, but the one I bought there last week is very good, very well made, all cotton. The sizing is correct too! I've gone back to sewing my own clothes, it's too depressing to shop for clothing now.
I never read long comments, but I read yours and all I could think was yup!!!! 👍 How about bed sheets?!! I have not found a good set of sheets in like 10 years, I have spent the money and bought the “good” brands, they all suck!!!
__ I read what you wrote slowly and attentively. I'm not a clothing person but I learned something useful in your every sentence. I've wondered about pilling, shaving, thin-ness of t-shirts, all sorts of things. And what you said about shoes confirmed what I suspected, that it's going to be unpleasant to buy them. I wish people with things worth saying would write longer comments. Thank-you.
Having wide feet is a curse in the US. Almost nothing fits right and you can be sure nothing lasts. I found one pair of red wings, which are no longer made, that fit. I used to only wear Merrell and even that's slowly just getting narrower, they sure dont last as long either.
@@voidFutureVector Facts. When I find shoes that actually fit I stock up and buy a pair in every color! I envy my daughter, she's an 8 narrow and literally any shoes she likes will fit 😣
I've noticed that as well. Bought a bog standard no-name sweatshirt in the 1980s which lasted 30 years before it fell apart. Try that with your average sweatshirt today! Jeans were also much better quality in the 1970s/80s. T-shirts nowadays are so thin and lose their shape after a couple of washes.
The "undershirt" tee shirts are the WORST. The Hanes and Fruit of the Loom ones that come 3 or whatever to a pack. They fit great...until you wash them once or twice. Then they draw way up, stretch out and thin. Cant even tuck them in anymore. I hate that everything has gotten so cheap...
I wasn’t born until the 1990s but the things I would do to get a REAL pair of new unworn 501s from the 70s or 80s….. the quality seems just terrible now, even with name brands.
The paradoxical thing is, and it’s probably very normal, that my mother, who experienced the clothes of still decent quality in the 1970s 80s and 90s, buys things and clothes from China, often from Shein now. And I’m the person who buys and wears vintage, death stock, high quality replicas clothes. And I’m the person who wants to repair the clothes if it’s needed, whereas she mostly just throws it off.
The first items from China were of extremely high quality. Their t shirt never pilled and had wonderful drape. Going shabby was a choice. It didn't matter to me. I started a personal boycott of China when I learned of their hideously cruel dog slaughter.
Interesting. I wonder if it has something to do with feeling like they grew up poor, everything had to be so carefully considered, and now they're faced with incredible abundance, and they love it. It's like fulfilling childhood fantasies.
one explanation would be that there were no cheap low quality clothes before the 90s. maybe your mother would always have bought them if they had existed. maybe she is not so much interested in the quality of clothes in general.
Thanks for covering this. I’ve become aware of the amount of plastic in everything and synthetic fibers. Try finding a gray T-shirt that isn’t 10% poly. Or 100% cotton/wool socks. Everything is being blended with plastics and paper thin. A trend of cheap cotton clothing has been on the rise though I’m often surprised by the cotton articles found at big box stores or places like old navy.
Pro-Tip, never pay full price for J. Crew clothing. The 40% - 60% off sale price reflects the true quality of what they turn out now, more often than not made cheaply in china or vietnam.
I still have a pair of polyester shorts that say "12-14 years" on the label which I wore when I was that old. I'm 28 now. I know it sounds strange but they fit me perfectly and you couldn't tell they were like 15 years old and meant for kids. They haven't even faded or anything. Durability has almost never been an issue for me with clothes and I don't even buy the most expensive stuff.
important to note that back then many people would just make their own clothes, and if they had a nice bought piece they would try their hardest to maintain it for years
Story time: I have been a follower of Theo and Harris since 2016. My viewership went way up while you were there. I didn't know what happened that one day, you weren't there any longer. One day, I saw a "recommended" video about denim, and to my surprise- it was Mikey! I have watched every new release of The Iron Snail since subbing. Your storytelling and attention to detail is captivating, and frankly why I haven't seen one of Christian's vids in months. Here's to your prosperity!
In 2009 I bought a black hoodie from h&m that have the divide tag lable and I wear it till this day it's still rich dark black and the material is heavy and doesn't need to be pressed after washing. It was like the best 35 buck I've spent.
I think your point about us not having a gauge for quality and price point is spot on. This might be something to explore further in another video. Loved the shoutout to Drew too, his channel is also great.
I worked for Ralph Lauren 89-91. The quality of everything was like their most expensive Purple Label now. My old sweaters are so much better than anything I can find now, especially cashmere. Climate change has decreased quality in all natural fibers, fabric mills have disappeared so competition is reduced, and of course highly skilled workers are more rare. Even luxury goods are not as well made in general and cost proportionately more.
Im going to need some resources on how climate change is a reason for decreased quality in natural fibers. Many businesses/corps just find ways to cut corners and pay for the cheapest labor, which usually shows in the seams. Sferra sheets are still top-notch and use extra long staple cotton (as do a few other brands). I only look for long or extra long staple when buying cotton anything. Same with cashmere and wool. There has always been different grades of natural fibers. Companies just look for the cheapest grade, and again, pair it with the cheapest labor.
Ralph Lauren is now produced so cheaply, the fabric as well as how it‘s sewn. I‘m utterly disappointed and don‘t buy it anymore. They are not worth the money. I now either sew my own clothes or buy brands that still produce high quality. But it‘s really hard to find them. Expensive often does not equal good quality. You can be pretty sure that cheap is bad, but too often even expensive is not good either. Also I don‘t want to buy clothes that were produced by skilled children‘s hands as I would prefer them to attend a school. You can‘t even rely on expensive clothes being produced without child work or in concentration camps.
As a person who worked in retail for sometime, the profit margin for a tshirt is around 400% minimum irrespective the currency. This was just for a super own label, now imagine how much fast fashion and luxury make!
it comes down to the fact that what we expect from a piece of clothing has multiple conflicting goals. We all need clothes. We say we want quality, and the idea in the abstract of buying a shirt that lasts for decades, sounds good, but then people get bored. Fashion CHANGES, and what looked good twenty years ago looks laughable now, which is why people make fun of boomers or Gen-Xers being stuck in the past, or trying to jump on trends for the youth, which kills those trends more surely than anything. A t-shirt or jeans have been "in style" for 75 years - but what kind of t-shirt? big, loose? tight? with a print on it? blank? colored or white? boxy or athletic? and jeans go from skinny to wide and back every ten or fifteen years. So any piece of clothing, no matter how "basic", goes in and out of style over the decades of life. And people, in particular the younger generation of teens and 20 somethings, care much more about something being stylistically ''current' than quality. fashion is a game they're playing. I dont think its an accident that as people who care about clothes get into their 30s and 40s, they grow tired of trend chasing, and start to seek out timeless quality basics that will last longer than a year or two. and their style starts to settle down into what looked reasonably current in 1997 or 2008 or 2019.
I still have a lot of clothes from high school that I still wear and I’m 10 years out of it. I also thrift a lot of clothes and that has saved my wallet and conscience
I decided to watch your video because I've bought several pieces of clothing, in the last few years, that have fallen apart before or immediately after I wear them once of twice. I've got a new tee shirt that fell apart when I washed it before wearing it. It's a shame your company only deals in Men's clothing. I do sew and I am thinking seriously of devoting more time to making my own shirts. I'm not a mistress of my needle but I'll make clothes that won't fall apart before I ever wear them. Good luck with your company! I hope you succeed!
I've discovered that the blue collar work wear brands like Carhartt ,Wrangler and Dickies still have very long lasting products. Earlier this year I bought 12 very high quality Dickies plain solid color T shirts and they look like they should last at least 6 or 7 years if I keep rotating them .
I havent bought at Zara, H&M, Uniqlo etc. for like 5 years. I went from 20 jeans shitty cheap pants and jeans to 5 good quality ones. And it feels so much better, I tell you decluttering makes you feel more relaxed. It's also easier to dress in the mornings.
+Gustin, Devium. I order from union-made websites for the basics like underwear and plain T-shirts Honestly, for imported stuff, I've had good luck with Duluth Trading Company and (shirts and ties only) Charles Tyrwhitt.
When I'm not working, I wear almost exclusively tattersall shirts, 100% cotton and made in the UK. They weren't cheap but I bought my oldest ones 4 years ago and they're still more than good enough for town. Harris Tweed still makes long living quality clothes as well and when I'm older I plan on replacing my cheaper tweed with their wares. I feel like t shirts and tracks deteriorate and lose their comfort so so much faster than these types of clothes. I honestly don't understand it
My go-to brands are Shaka wear, RSQ, brixton, Darcsport, civil regime, YLA, hollister, Express & soon to be uniqlo. I have other obscure brands but they sell their clothing like sneaker drops where only so many units made and then once they gone they gone. No restocks. 😅
red white & blue is a made in us brand with very affordable shirts that are great. can get solid color ones for $10-$15 each. theyre cotton/poly blend but feel great and have held up great so far for me. their sweatshirts/pants are also incredibly soft and comfy for a good price. origin also makes made in US clothes, their jeans are the best ive worn and all i wear now. forloh has some great stuff, not super cheap unless on sale though. forty five makes good tees. duckworth makes some really nice merino wool based shirts, sweatshirts, etc but it is not cheap. i have several of their vaporwear tee's and theyre really nice. their woolcloud jacket too. theres tons of good made in us stuff out there if you spend some time to look. its just not $3 and shipped to you later that day so it is ignored because so many have become lazy consoomers too focused on instant gratification consooming for as little money as possible.
I regret all the older clothes I got rid of. I could still fit most of them. I do have some old things. My grandpa passed away in 2022 and he had some unisex clothes from the 80s and 90s he was 6ft and thin I'm 5'10" and medium build so his stuff fits me perfectly so I took some nice jackets and shirts. Those jackets have held up past some clothes I bought recently like the beginning of this year. I do however wear clothes to death and mend them if they mess up if I can.
I noticed this when I switched to raw denim. Modern mass-market jeans suck. The fabric is flimsy, they rip easily, all the bad things you don't want in jeans. Raw denim jeans feel like higher quality, because they are--thicker fabric, better cut, and they last longer. I've had a pair of raws for 3 years that still look new (they just refuse to fade!).
It doesn't make sense to use the apparel industry inflation figures. We need to know how the prices of clothing have changed relative to the value of money overall.
And relative to the longlivety of the piece of clothing. If something is an equal expense yet lasts 5 times as long, it might be equally as expensive, but relatively a lot more cost effective. Although, with the amount of clothing we are used to throw away as a society, this might be highly subjective and unreliable measurement.
2:48 The material plastic might last forever, but not the stuff made out of it. Plastic deteriorates with age and especially with repeated swings in temperature. It becomes brittle and literally crumbles away in your hand when it's very old. Happened to a lot of old plastic jars and toys I used to have. And since a lot of newer plastic stuff is made so cheaply, often with recycled plastic, expect them to fall apart a lot faster than plastic products from 20 or even 10 years ago.
As someone who Bought clothing in the 80' & forward , Good Quality has ALWAYS been expensive ! The Companies who are Large have since the industrial revolution All polute & exploit their workforce! You have some Niêve Concept that Made in the USA doesn't mean that, watch the film " Norma Rae" . As a person who since I left home has been Very Lucky to buy high quality clothes and Not ONLINE or from a catalog my Blue collar parents didn't even buy from a catalog , although it came from Sears .Younger people have Bought into the Bruce Webber Photos used by Polo (I haven't met someone wearing Ralph Lauren who has Ever been to a Polo match) are Nostalgic for a Time that NEVER Existed !!!
I wonder why this could be happening??? 1. Sellers increasing their margin by buying cheap product (that will require replacement often hence more sales) AND not making inspections (saving cost)? 2. Customs not being funded well enough to make sure any goods reaching the market are up to legal quality standards? 3. Regulation not strong enough (basically not punishing the importers of bad products) and fines not up to the challenge (slap on the wrist when caught)? 4. All of the above. In short, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys...
I did a deep dive into U.S. “blue collar” (i.e.domestic manufacturing) jobs and discovered that they peaked around 1980. That’s also when, I believe, the slow, seductive, slippery slide into enshittification of nearly every aspect of American life began. And there’s no foreseeable end. _Idiocracy_ is the future or, arguably, the present.
I do see the trend for people going better and higher quality for sure, it’s still very niche but I think it’s part mind set and also part income and where you are in your life. I can’t see a full time working parent for example necessarily spending a $100 on a t shirt vs I younger professional who might because they have that extra income. Personally myself I’ve taken the last two years to really cut down on overall items but to have the few be very high quality.
3:25 this isn’t a vintage 1980s t shirt, it’s a modern day T1011 which is only sold to the Japanese market. They only sell made in USA champion in Japan these days.
Oh that’s interesting - I bought it at a dead-stock vintage shop in the city and the owner said it was an 80’s piece! I’m actually going there today funny enough so I’ll bring it up to him
@bonehand87 hey I don’t know if you have any in hand, but how’s the quality of the t1011, I’m looking to stock up on some quality basics and was wondering what you thought of them if you’ve had personal experience with them. Is there any other brand that you recommend?
@@UltimitShadelord hey I’ve bought a few and the quality is really great, very rugged and heavyweight with a rough cotton feel. Not too sure about other brands sorry.
I cant wait to try out one of your t-shirts. I feel like a quality tee can be a nice entry point for most people getting into quality clothing. I commend you for doing this! Also the Mammoth jackets look sick too!
Over the past 15 years I purchased one brand of jeans because they were well made and fit well. Now the denim is lighter, the spandex seems to have higher content. The back pockets deform quickly and developed holes after a dozen wears. As a teen we “earned” our tears that were cool. We worn the jeans down over years not weeks.
I love that right as I was wondering what watch you were wearing, your promo for the watch started. Too bad UA-cam decided to interrupt your sponsored ad with… an actual ad. Great video BTW.
This is a great topic, I'm glad you did a video on it. Quality is still out there, but when you find it, are you willing to pay for it? Thanks for the video!
7 times is absolutely wild, I bought a pair of linen pants from a dropshipper and was dissapointed that they lasted about a year. Granted I probrably wore them ~250x in that year
I like comfort colors for tee's. Loop wheeled (or used to be at least) 6oz and 100% cotton. I have been wearing the same shirt 2-3 times a week since 2016 and it's only just now started to get holes.
The other major change from 100 years ago to today that drives people to buy more lower quality clothing is a need to keep up with trends. You could justify paying a high upfront premium for the the Sears catalog wool jacket because you expected to wear it for 10 years or more. Now people are expected to routinely "update" their wardrobe to avoid stigmatization, and so there is reluctantce to commit more money to any individual shirt, shoes, jeans, etc.
Engineering student here. Just letting you know this isn't an innocent consequence of lower prices. Our instructors actually teach us to make sure our products will need repairs, warranties, maintenance people, etc., because our future clients will make more money from those things than from the actual product. The textile industry is no exception. Your stuff was DESIGNED to break down faster!
Its also extremely difficult to quantify quality - usually the only data points a customer has to go off on is origin, composition, and brand. The other issue is that the average customer outside clothing enthusiast bubbles isn’t really discerning - making it difficult to get economies or scale started for solid mid-tier quality garments.
@@drsrsv8884 can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic lmao. by this the $1500 ripped made in italy balenciaga trash bag hoodie must be the peak of quality 😂
it's not that difficult to quantify quality it comes down to material first and foremost. Good cotton. Good wool. Good cashmere. The problem is the incentive to always charge more and deliver less. Then the next part of quality is labor: squeeze labor to the barest penny and charge more. Move the factory from America to China to Turkey to Vietnam to Bangladesh to....the next cheapest place on Earth.
@@martinvanburen4578 you say its not difficult - but how? what is good cotton, wool, and cashmere? “good” isn’t a quantification! say you want to talk about GSM, staple, supers, etc. those are quantifications. brands rarely include these in their product descriptions! and even if they did, they are indirect proxies to quality. back to my original point - the customer usually only has 3 data points from the average product: brand, composition, and country of origin. how do you determine quality based on that?
@@wills-te3zy good is a quantification in the textile trade with different grades for different use. brands don't because they would be beholden to it. they want to deliver the least for the most.
its interesting. when i was a child in the 80s, there were no cheap clothing chains. (i grew up in germany) there were no cheap shoes. it was in the early 90s when h&m appeared and all those cheap chains that followed and produced everything in asia. it led to the medium expensive brands, producing in europe, the ones we bought before the cheap ones arrived, to become less trendy and more conservative in their designs. another reason to buy the new trendy cheap stuff. thinking about it, h&m had much better quality back then. its like things first got cheaper because of production in asia and then there was a second step in the 2000s when everything turned into plastic. suddenly leather shoes, still costing the same as before, became a luxury and most people wore cheap plastic shoes not even noticing the difference. so strange. i am just super happy that i remember good clothes. that i grew up in clothes made of wool and linen and cotton and leather and not plastic. and funky 80s designs. that is what made me go back to wanting good clothes years ago. dressing like my inner child again. i love my duckfeet boots and corduroy pants and a thick wool sweater. :)
Bad quality everywhere. I used to be able to wear a pair of shoes every day for 2.5-3 years. Now it's come down to 9-12 months. And it's the same for famous/non-famous, branded/non-branded shoes.
I would love, if possible, for you to make a comparison, like, if a Wonder Looper t-shirt is an example of high quality, where does the price x quality relationship end, when we talk about, for example, the Loro Piana Gift Of Kings Clothing , I am genuinely intrigued by this subject, and this was very related to the theme of your video, besides, a big hug from Brazil
FWIW, I have some Patagonia Puckerwear shirts and Arc'teryx hiking pants. Two hundred wears and washes (minimum!) and they are still hard to tell from new. So, I can't say they are 100% eco-friendly, but far better than typical. They ended up being bargains in the long run. Also, Wickers underwear (sadly out of business) made "SoftSilk" synthetic underwear that is so durable, 12 pairs have lasted me since 2006. The elastic is good as new, and only the seam that gets abused by my bicycle saddle has started to fail. If I do a little re-seaming, they will be good for another 15 years at least. Again, a bargain in the long run.
When you look at the regular price, the J.Crew is more expensive. Yes, the ones you are looking at are on sale, due to end of season. However, if you look at their site during the beginning and middle/peak of the seasons, you will not see them on sale.
Was just talking about this today regarding shoes. It’s called “the race to the bottom”. But cheap shoes are more expensive than quality shoes in the long run - you just rent ‘em (in other words, what’s the price per wear).
I want to believe quality of items is getting better, but I just can't. LRG is one of the few that actually went for a slightly heavier cotton T Shirt not long ago, but sooooo many brands are still going for the thin crap that often includes polyester, and many brands are also still opting for the cheap crap. I'm dissapointed in Levi's; I thought I could reliably expect metal zippers, but my latest pair of levis cargo shorts reveals otherwise with a plastic zipper which will be a wonder if it doesn't break due to catching on the fabric. I had that experience on winter coats as a kid and it's why I usually avoid plastic zippers like the plague.
I think my main issue with the current state of fashion is how the expensive clothing isn't guaranteed to be good, tho with expensive I mean what I can buy in a store (so ranging 5 to 200 euros). Your work is gorgeous btw.
Yeah the T shirt collars suck horrible now! mine are all messed up but the rest of the shirts are fine. Nearly all of the best T-shirts I have are ones I bought at stores like Goodwill.
I think it would help if an objective metric for quality would pe popularized by influencers. Something like bhp in cars. That way the customers may be more informed when performing a purchase.
We have to consider that real salaries have been stagnant since the 80's-ish, so although prices may be equivalent when adjusted for inflation, the salary of most people hasn't rizen together with inflation - meaning things feel more expensive because prices rize but salaries don't
I try not to buy bad quality clothes. Now my job is an auto parts store. I do buy cheap jeans for work because battery acid messes up all jeans. Why would i pay 70-100$ on one pair of jeans? Im trying to find comfortable non cotton pants that will last and are thick enough that a few drops of battery acid will not touch my skin. So far i have not. Now for my every day clothes i doy best to get classic long lasting basics. Now yes i do get some fast fashion things but there more for that pop to keep the classic base not looking old.
Great video! Unfortunately it hasnt just been clothes that have suffered America's "race to the bottom". All industries have suffered a bit. Automotives, food, appliances, home build quality and the list goes on. I agree that the American consumer is starting to change and i believe products will get better, or at least have a bigger market share. Cant wait to see what you cook up for your next video! Also stoked to see you make more financially digestable pieces of clothing. The jackets on ur website looked great but unfortunately for me i live in FL! So id be happy to buy a t shirt from you! I trust it will be of excellent quality!
Thanks for the recent video and your channel. I appreciate your creative content. One way to combat the trend of declining quality is to purchase preowned / used high end lux brands versus new. I recently purchased a flawless NWOT Turnbull &Asser RTW shirt from "The RealReal" for $24.00. A similar shirt retails new from T&A for roughly $550.00. In my opinion, with very few exceptions, there's no reason to purchase new clothing at full retail prices. If you're patient and persistent, deals abound. Thanks again and cheers!
My pet peeve: flame retardant chemicals added to clothing, a requirement for night clothes for babies & toddlers. Cancer causing product when I was having babies. Don't know if the cancer aspect changed. Silk is very difficult to burn - but it would have to be treated to sell it as pajamas or sleep wear for kids. Imagine always sleeping in silk.
It's mind blowing how cheap it is to make things versus how expensive and impractical it is to repair things. I spent about $80 getting my Birkenstocks repaired at a local cobbler (I'd had them for ~8 years and really beat them up). Even for Birkenstocks, it'd only have been an extra $30 to $40 at most to replace them, even though they were totally repairable.
American eagle geans full price were 100$ back in 1999, all the kids were wearing them but my family were used to the 1$ clearance rack at Walmart so my mom almost fell out when I asked for 100$ jeans to fit in, in August they put them on sale for 50 to 60$ and my mom still said no , we can’t afford them. Yesterday I went to American eagle’s website and the jeans 60$ full price and 35$ on sale. I don’t want this cheap quality that rip in the middle of the fabric. Where can I get high quality
TBH, I haven't bought a lot of new clothes in a long time, several decades, to be exact. Heck, I grew up on hand-me-downs, garage sales and second-hand stores like Goodwill etc.
Mainstream brands have gone to shit but the market for obscure, quality oriented brands has exploded in the past decade. Adapting to this change in the market requires the consumer to completely change their attitude towards clothing by accepting that quality > quantity. A difficult task considering the cost of living crisis and the temptation of fast fashion, but one that is very much worth it in the long run imo.
Hi! I'm super interested in this 1980s collar. I made my own t-shirts and would like to try sewing my neckband on like this. Do you have any more info about the construction? How can I achieve this?
I noticed this I bought a early 2000s t-shirt that was still brand new with the tags because I like the style and it feels so much better quality than the new stuff I was barely a toddler then so what can you do I guess
I’ve been spending ~$60/year on a new pair of Vans every years for about 20 years now. The price hasn’t changed and quality has gone up and down in that time. They are solid now but it was hard to love em in the late 2010s.
Agreed the early 10 to mid 10s Vans quality was great. I had a pair of shoes last my 5 years and they were my beaters. Only recently has the quality gotten good again and i love the pro line where the used to rock the red tab but now its a checkered tab logo and the quality on those are better. Less colors nd options but comfort is better
I have been buying T-shirts from the US cause you guys have a lot better quality! I live in Sweden and I got clothes from my American relative. I would use these clothes about 10x as long. I think it was H&M who ruined the Swedish market. Maybe you guys are next :P
H&M used to have decent clothing but after awhile the sizing and fits were all over the place and pricing was not good. I switched to express for dress shirts
I also think that the return to buying better made stuff at higher prices is happening. The last big menswear boom where everyone was going nuts over heritage / made in US clothes was around 2010 as we were climbing out of a recession. With current inflation kinda lowering, and with global warming rapidly accelerating, I think people are seriously putting thought into where and how their clothes are made and that the slogan "buy once, buy better" will save you money in the long run. But it is hard to compete with larger companies that can make make whatever you want for as cheap as you want. However, it is happening in other markets. Look at coffee and beer. I don't know anyone who drinks corporate anymore when you can get much better, locally made stuff for about the same price. Maybe as more people like you get into the fashion game, similar things will start to happen?
Surely the main reason is that consumers just dont care, why on earth would you put time and effort into making good clothes when your customers dont even want it and would rather it be cheaper. Also why a lot of the good clothes today are made in Japan where (not all but more than the west) consumers seem to be a bit more demanding.
Gildan brand T-shirts are the most obvious quality drop with their products, a major difference after 2021-22 manufacturing, even the tags got smaller, hems suck, material thin weave, less stitching, etc
what just 7 times I think I go through my entire wardrobe in 2 weeks so about 24 times a year and my cloth last about 2~5 years, and I wear about 3 pants throughout those 2 weeks so they get worn much much more, I think I replace my socks/underwear every 1~2 years and they get replaced when the fabric starts to develop holes, I am from KSA
Can you suggest any brand which does quality clothing and inside Europe? Most of the luxury brands are just expensive fast fashion nowadays and nothing more when it comes to quality imho
That is interesting you chose Patagonia prices in comparison to Sears because I would say that Patagonia has the best price/quality ratio of any brand I own.
i think you did things right in the video regarding inflation. Hopefully that apparel specific inflation numbers simply reflected your observations. But anyway, I'll take your concrete observations over gov data either way.
Greetings, nerds. I'm compiling a list of the best affordable pieces of clothing on the market for a follow-up video. Please let me know your favs so I can test them! *HAPPY SAT*
I’ve been really impressed with some Uniqlo tees. I’ll explain cos I know that Uniqlo is basically a cliche response.
I think the majority of Uniqlo t-shirts are overrated.
That being said, some of the collaborations they’ve done (particularly their collab with the Tate Modern gallery in London) are really great quality for the price of like £25.
Really thick heavy fabric, double stitched collar short and boxy fit. It’s all great.
Basically all this goes to say go to your local Uniqlo and feel everything, you might be surprised.
Teamster t shirts
I'd like to recommend two Thai brands. One is a shoe called Nanyang. they cost about $10 and are made from canvas and natural rubber. They look like a basic pair of Chucks and last for years. I wear them daily and get a few years out of a pair. The second is a shirt brand called Double Goose. I rock their black tees daily. They feel great and last a long time as well. I have actually patched a few that I got rips in.
I know Thai brands might be outside your wheelhouse, but if you are looking for value for money then you can't beat these two.
I would say Forty Five from Huckberry. They’re around $42 but are always on sale for around $10 less, made in the USA from supima cotton, really good quality for the price and surprisingly soft, plus a reinforced neckband
I don’t know if you’ve covered them but buck mason and bronson mfg would be cool to talk about.
I am a seamstress and own an atelier and fabric shop in germany, and I can say that there are people who still get their stuff repaired. And it's getting more people who are willing to sustain their clothes. However, there are also people who buy a Jeans from Shein and want them shortened, when I tell them the price they scoff and say, that's what the price of the damn Jeans. The work I have to do is the same, no matter how much it costs.
But when I tailor something, and there goes a lot of work and mind in it, people are willing to pay high prices for the high quality fabric, the perfect cut and a unique pattern that I go through with my customer about every detail.
People who sew themselves know how much time a piece of clothing costs, and what it should cost. Everybody should try to replace a zipper on a Down jacket and then think about how real the price for that jacket is.
I think that being in Europe you might have people who have seen good quality clothes (Regardless of what they buy?) You are talking to an American , and when I lived there it was Very difficult to find people who do the type of Work you do.
@andrerenaud8785 think you're partly right. But we also have the cheap quality clothes, that don't even do as a rag.
Usually, I hear older people complain and craftsmen, who need sturdy working gear like carpenters, bricklayers, or roofers. And when looking at their clothes you really can see how quality has gone down, even with the expensive brands. But they tend to get them fixed rather than replace them, because in most cases, that's still cheaper.
Do you know if the US schools still teach handicrafts? At our schools, they still learn the basics of that, and you can even choose to have sewing and cooking as a class later.
Whilst I undesrand your position, I tell you, we cannot pay you the price of a jeans for some repair stuff. You with your prices push people to rather buy a new cloth than repair.
I don't know what is the solution. A better price adaptation would be the first step. For a chip jean and a simple intervention you should ask less than for a more complicated work. Like, your time shouldn't always cost 50 euros/hour (for example), but to be a range from 10 to 100 euros.
@@annaheart7731 that would mean that I have to put money into my business, if I take less than I get per hour. It's a business, not a welfare organization. You have never worked in a trade, have you?
The first step would be that clothes are made from people who are not exploited and earn a living wage, and the materials used are of better quality, so the prices would rise, and you wouldn't buy 20 pairs of trousers each year.
Or bring back sewing class, so people learn how much work it is to produce clothes. (And repair them themselves)
My service is not the problem, fashion industry is. And the standard the consumers have.
I with my prices of course can not compete with a 12-year-old girl from Bangladesh. I live and work in Germany, my living wage is sadly not 5€ a week.
@@annaheart7731 That is unreasonable. You need to take an amount on which you can live. More so if you a seamstress or working such (low paying) jobs. I go to a seamstress if I think the garment is worth the effort. With cheap clothing you usually don't. And some things like making trousers short or to put a button on you learn to do it yourself.
I’ve been telling people for ages about how cheap clothes have hurt people’s sense of what stuff should be worth. Great video as always :)
Same. Then I tell them the Vimes Boots theory. And the ideas of buy once cry once and cost per wear
The question is how much should you spend on clothes? I can't wear the stuff my mom bought for me forever💀
@@InsAnItYschild101Could you elaborate?
It's so odd. With groceries I just buy organic but with clothing the only amount I wanna spend is zero. I would never buy poor quality stuff though.
I appreciate an honest evaluation of the value of a garment. I'm dabbling in re selling.
I feel bad for plastic. We invented it and it solved SO many problems, allowed so much to be made at scale, and improved hundreds of millions of lives. We abused it, dumped it into our environment, burned it releasing toxic fumes, and then got all mad and blamed the material as opposed to our own patterns of greed and incompetence/indifference.
High quality plastics are some of the best materials there are. My blood pressure monitor and medical mouse feel solid and just nice. Sadly it's swindled into so much. I wondered why a black dress shirt my mom bought me years ago felt so bad and I found out it was 65% polyester.
I feel in such a bad situation. My mom used to buy me so much stuff and clothing I didn't want or need and was of mid quality at best and now I feel it would be wasteful to buy something I actually like and will keep for a long time. Any advice? You seem to know things.
@@imnotusingmyrealname4566 But even the quality of plastics in clothing vary a lot depending on thickness of the fiber, weave, stitching, interweave with other materials, etc. I had wool blended t-shirts lasting only a few months, but my 100% nylon fleece goes on after 15 years without any sign of wear yet I wear it almost every day. Not all plastics are equal.
@@degrotekoningwouter Did you expect the fleece to be high quality? Were there any signs apart from price?
@@imnotusingmyrealname4566 I think I got it at sale for €50, but original price was somewhere about €150 I believe. However it doesn't feel like a €150 premium fleece jacket, and I agree it's a lot for a fleece, every part is either triple, quadruple or cross-stitched unlike anything I have. Even the arm sleeves have 2 rows of cross-stitching per sleeve, which seems like it's over-engineered for what it is (a fleece jacket) but I'm totally okay with it :) And however it doesn't feel premium, I do seem to choose it every time I need something warm.
It’s sad cause plastic was a miracle material. The problem was it was so cheap that it was abused. Carbon fibers and other plastics allowed so much technological innovations. But then we decided to make something that lasts forever be a disposable item
I hate how a lot of “cotton” t-shirts have polyester blends. Polyester just traps body heat, making them too hot to wear in the summer…a time when you want to wear a t-shirt.
Not to mention how synthetic fabrics begin to break down after a while and begin to stink.
100 %poly and poly blends are used for breathable sport/training clothes. Buy 100 % cotton then. Blends won't shrink as much if any.
I got into a talk with an old co-worker about that kind of thing. He loved the 'sports blend' work shirts that we had cause he thought they breathed better than the cotton ones. He had worked mostly inside before that job. I liked the thinner cotton ones cause they let a lot of air move through and I didn't sweat like a bugger while wearing them. Same with a good number of my co-workers. That guy was one of the few that liked the poly shirts.
@@BeeRumblin13training clothes use a different kind of polyester than the cotton/polyester blend shirts.
@@BeeRumblin13 The 100% synthetic fibers in sports wear... Better be Adidas. Anything other than Adidas it feels like wearing a sauna plastic suit.
Adidas uses Colima Cool and Aero Ready technology.
The whole “an average piece of clothing is worn seven times before being discarded” statement is super suspect.
That data was base on a census of 2,000 women 16 and up in the U.K. The charity that did the survey Barnardo does not have the data available anywhere online to scrutinize.
It’s cited all over the place, but the actual source is not available as far as I can tell.
I watched a bunch of videos to confirm the bias I have based off a spurious stat.
he is a liar
It's also based on women's clothing habits who tend to have more turnover in clothing then men do.
If you order your clothing online, I'd be surprised you'd get that many uses.
There is a nice saying in Germany: Don't trust statistic you yourself didn't manipulate.
I honestly shocks me how bad apparel has gotten. I wore my jeans from high school(mid-late 90s) well into my late 20s until I had kids. The jeans were still perfectly good, my waistline was the only problem. Nowadays I get 2-3 years tops out of a new pair of jeans before the "denim"(I use that term very lightly to describe the thin stretchy bullshit they make women's jeans out of now) goes threadbare. Everyone's heard the saying "Walmart fall-apart" but their clothes actually used to be decent. I have a 20 year old Walmart sweater I still wear, it only started getting a bit worn out a few years ago. Their t-shirts used to be good too, but now I can only get about 6 months of wear from them till they go in my pajama drawer(the hospice facility for shirts too ratty to wear in public anymore but that I feel bad about throwing out). I haven't been able to find a white t-shirt that isn't transparent from any brand since the early 2000s. I never had problems with older fabric pilling- now I own two fabric shavers. And even buying name brands still gets you crap, I had to toss a pair of Adidas sweats because they pilled up so badly after a couple months that they looked like a shag carpet. Even the shavers couldn't save them, I'd shave them and they'd pill up again after 2 wears.
Shoes are a nightmare too. I just returned a pair of Reeboks cause the uppers literally felt like cardboard and did not flex. Wore them around the house with socks for an hour and got blisters. I admit I have unusually sized feet (US 5.5/6 EEE), but almost _nothing_ fits or feels good anymore, not even wide shoes. Brands like Toms & Clarks are so tight and narrow that I can't even get my foot into them. Whose foot are they modeling these after?! If I size up, the width is slightly better but then my heels pop out every step. Every brand seems to have their own sizing too. In Birkenstocks and Hey Dudes I'm a 5. In Skechers and Hoka I'm a 6. In Reebok I'm a 6.5. In Steve Madden I'm a 7-7.5. I didn't have this problem until brands started making everything in china. In the 90s every pair of shoes I owned was either a 5.5 or a 6 and even the average widths didn't squeeze my feet like a hungry boa. Never needed shoe stretchers before, but now I have to stretch almost every pair. I'm actually developing arthritis in my feet from all these shitty ass shoes. It's honestly infuriating.
Sorry, that was a whole rant but this topic has really been pissing me off lately. We deserve better.
Try Land's End. I've had trouble with "thin" tee shirts, but the one I bought there last week is very good, very well made, all cotton. The sizing is correct too! I've gone back to sewing my own clothes, it's too depressing to shop for clothing now.
I never read long comments, but I read yours and all I could think was yup!!!! 👍
How about bed sheets?!! I have not found a good set of sheets in like 10 years, I have spent the money and bought the “good” brands, they all suck!!!
__
I read what you wrote slowly and attentively. I'm not a clothing person but I learned something useful in your every sentence. I've wondered about pilling, shaving, thin-ness of t-shirts, all sorts of things. And what you said about shoes confirmed what I suspected, that it's going to be unpleasant to buy them. I wish people with things worth saying would write longer comments. Thank-you.
Having wide feet is a curse in the US. Almost nothing fits right and you can be sure nothing lasts. I found one pair of red wings, which are no longer made, that fit. I used to only wear Merrell and even that's slowly just getting narrower, they sure dont last as long either.
@@voidFutureVector Facts. When I find shoes that actually fit I stock up and buy a pair in every color! I envy my daughter, she's an 8 narrow and literally any shoes she likes will fit 😣
I've noticed that as well. Bought a bog standard no-name sweatshirt in the 1980s which lasted 30
years before it fell apart. Try that with your average sweatshirt today! Jeans were also much
better quality in the 1970s/80s.
T-shirts nowadays are so thin and lose their shape after a couple of washes.
The "undershirt" tee shirts are the WORST. The Hanes and Fruit of the Loom ones that come 3 or whatever to a pack. They fit great...until you wash them once or twice. Then they draw way up, stretch out and thin. Cant even tuck them in anymore. I hate that everything has gotten so cheap...
I wasn’t born until the 1990s but the things I would do to get a REAL pair of new unworn 501s from the 70s or 80s….. the quality seems just terrible now, even with name brands.
The paradoxical thing is, and it’s probably very normal, that my mother, who experienced the clothes of still decent quality in the 1970s 80s and 90s, buys things and clothes from China, often from Shein now. And I’m the person who buys and wears vintage, death stock, high quality replicas clothes. And I’m the person who wants to repair the clothes if it’s needed, whereas she mostly just throws it off.
The first items from China were of extremely high quality. Their t shirt never pilled and had wonderful drape. Going shabby was a choice.
It didn't matter to me. I started a personal boycott of China when I learned of their hideously cruel dog slaughter.
Interesting. I wonder if it has something to do with feeling like they grew up poor, everything had to be so carefully considered, and now they're faced with incredible abundance, and they love it. It's like fulfilling childhood fantasies.
Not the death stock 💀
one explanation would be that there were no cheap low quality clothes before the 90s. maybe your mother would always have bought them if they had existed. maybe she is not so much interested in the quality of clothes in general.
Up until a few years ago it was a given that jeans were 100% cotton. I miss those days…
Hm, you refer to the fact that nowadays they contain 1% elastane?
Most are cotton-poly mix. I can't wear them, the fabric drives me nuts
The drew reference almost made me break my neck
Fr
Lol
same😭😭😭
Bro I got so confused
Wait WHOA 😂😂😂😂 almost spit out my tooth paste
Thanks for covering this. I’ve become aware of the amount of plastic in everything and synthetic fibers. Try finding a gray T-shirt that isn’t 10% poly. Or 100% cotton/wool socks. Everything is being blended with plastics and paper thin. A trend of cheap cotton clothing has been on the rise though I’m often surprised by the cotton articles found at big box stores or places like old navy.
Want thick socks that last a while? Go and look for army socks, although not 100% wool they are thick and though.
i allow a few percent of synthetic in socks for elasticity. but shirts and sweaters should be 100%.
Pro-Tip, never pay full price for J. Crew clothing. The 40% - 60% off sale price reflects the true quality of what they turn out now, more often than not made cheaply in china or vietnam.
I know someone that works at a thrift store. They often buy J Crew clothes from them and sell in the thrift stores for just a few bucks.
J crew clothes suck. I now buy at Brooks brother fir same prize and way much better quality. J crew non iron stuff is laughable.
I still wear 20 year old shirts. 7 days? Wow.
I have a shirt donate me from an event. I used that for about 22 years and washed maybe 1000 times and still perfect..
Unbelievable..
7 wears. so about 2 months
I still have a pair of polyester shorts that say "12-14 years" on the label which I wore when I was that old. I'm 28 now. I know it sounds strange but they fit me perfectly and you couldn't tell they were like 15 years old and meant for kids. They haven't even faded or anything. Durability has almost never been an issue for me with clothes and I don't even buy the most expensive stuff.
I wear my thrift store button downs far more than seven times.
The seven days are misleading. They take into account all the clothing that is produced but never sold. Like returns etc
important to note that back then many people would just make their own clothes, and if they had a nice bought piece they would try their hardest to maintain it for years
Story time: I have been a follower of Theo and Harris since 2016. My viewership went way up while you were there. I didn't know what happened that one day, you weren't there any longer. One day, I saw a "recommended" video about denim, and to my surprise- it was Mikey! I have watched every new release of The Iron Snail since subbing. Your storytelling and attention to detail is captivating, and frankly why I haven't seen one of Christian's vids in months. Here's to your prosperity!
In 2009 I bought a black hoodie from h&m that have the divide tag lable and I wear it till this day it's still rich dark black and the material is heavy and doesn't need to be pressed after washing. It was like the best 35 buck I've spent.
I think your point about us not having a gauge for quality and price point is spot on. This might be something to explore further in another video.
Loved the shoutout to Drew too, his channel is also great.
Crazy that my little town in a random bit of England is in some B-roll in an iron snail video (4:12)
I worked for Ralph Lauren 89-91. The quality of everything was like their most expensive Purple Label now. My old sweaters are so much better than anything I can find now, especially cashmere. Climate change has decreased quality in all natural fibers, fabric mills have disappeared so competition is reduced, and of course highly skilled workers are more rare.
Even luxury goods are not as well made in general and cost proportionately more.
Im going to need some resources on how climate change is a reason for decreased quality in natural fibers. Many businesses/corps just find ways to cut corners and pay for the cheapest labor, which usually shows in the seams. Sferra sheets are still top-notch and use extra long staple cotton (as do a few other brands). I only look for long or extra long staple when buying cotton anything. Same with cashmere and wool. There has always been different grades of natural fibers. Companies just look for the cheapest grade, and again, pair it with the cheapest labor.
is climate change in the room with us right now?
@@loonapoona731climate change is parroting msm without any true understanding.
Do you mean that the measures against climate change caused a deterioration in the quality of clothes?
Ralph Lauren is now produced so cheaply, the fabric as well as how it‘s sewn. I‘m utterly disappointed and don‘t buy it anymore. They are not worth the money. I now either sew my own clothes or buy brands that still produce high quality. But it‘s really hard to find them. Expensive often does not equal good quality. You can be pretty sure that cheap is bad, but too often even expensive is not good either. Also I don‘t want to buy clothes that were produced by skilled children‘s hands as I would prefer them to attend a school. You can‘t even rely on expensive clothes being produced without child work or in concentration camps.
As a person who worked in retail for sometime, the profit margin for a tshirt is around 400% minimum irrespective the currency. This was just for a super own label, now imagine how much fast fashion and luxury make!
it comes down to the fact that what we expect from a piece of clothing has multiple conflicting goals. We all need clothes. We say we want quality, and the idea in the abstract of buying a shirt that lasts for decades, sounds good, but then people get bored. Fashion CHANGES, and what looked good twenty years ago looks laughable now, which is why people make fun of boomers or Gen-Xers being stuck in the past, or trying to jump on trends for the youth, which kills those trends more surely than anything.
A t-shirt or jeans have been "in style" for 75 years - but what kind of t-shirt? big, loose? tight? with a print on it? blank? colored or white? boxy or athletic? and jeans go from skinny to wide and back every ten or fifteen years. So any piece of clothing, no matter how "basic", goes in and out of style over the decades of life. And people, in particular the younger generation of teens and 20 somethings, care much more about something being stylistically ''current' than quality. fashion is a game they're playing.
I dont think its an accident that as people who care about clothes get into their 30s and 40s, they grow tired of trend chasing, and start to seek out timeless quality basics that will last longer than a year or two. and their style starts to settle down into what looked reasonably current in 1997 or 2008 or 2019.
I'm still wearing clothes I was wearing in the 90s. I'm so happy JNCO jeans are back again!
I still have a lot of clothes from high school that I still wear and I’m 10 years out of it. I also thrift a lot of clothes and that has saved my wallet and conscience
I decided to watch your video because I've bought several pieces of clothing, in the last few years, that have fallen apart before or immediately after I wear them once of twice. I've got a new tee shirt that fell apart when I washed it before wearing it. It's a shame your company only deals in Men's clothing. I do sew and I am thinking seriously of devoting more time to making my own shirts. I'm not a mistress of my needle but I'll make clothes that won't fall apart before I ever wear them. Good luck with your company! I hope you succeed!
I've discovered that the blue collar work wear brands like Carhartt ,Wrangler and Dickies still have very long lasting products. Earlier this year I bought 12 very high quality Dickies plain solid color T shirts and they look like they should last at least 6 or 7 years if I keep rotating them .
I havent bought at Zara, H&M, Uniqlo etc. for like 5 years. I went from 20 jeans shitty cheap pants and jeans to 5 good quality ones. And it feels so much better, I tell you decluttering makes you feel more relaxed. It's also easier to dress in the mornings.
where do you buy good quality clothes
From where?
@@PanarchyTheater Huckberry, Iron Heart, Naked and Famous, Patagonia, Barbour, Denham G-Star, Cast Iron etc.
Tbf the bottoms of Uniqlo are actually quite nice. They lasted for years.
+Gustin, Devium.
I order from union-made websites for the basics like underwear and plain T-shirts
Honestly, for imported stuff, I've had good luck with Duluth Trading Company and (shirts and ties only) Charles Tyrwhitt.
When I'm not working, I wear almost exclusively tattersall shirts, 100% cotton and made in the UK. They weren't cheap but I bought my oldest ones 4 years ago and they're still more than good enough for town. Harris Tweed still makes long living quality clothes as well and when I'm older I plan on replacing my cheaper tweed with their wares. I feel like t shirts and tracks deteriorate and lose their comfort so so much faster than these types of clothes. I honestly don't understand it
My go-to brands are Shaka wear, RSQ, brixton, Darcsport, civil regime, YLA, hollister, Express & soon to be uniqlo. I have other obscure brands but they sell their clothing like sneaker drops where only so many units made and then once they gone they gone. No restocks. 😅
red white & blue is a made in us brand with very affordable shirts that are great. can get solid color ones for $10-$15 each. theyre cotton/poly blend but feel great and have held up great so far for me. their sweatshirts/pants are also incredibly soft and comfy for a good price. origin also makes made in US clothes, their jeans are the best ive worn and all i wear now. forloh has some great stuff, not super cheap unless on sale though. forty five makes good tees. duckworth makes some really nice merino wool based shirts, sweatshirts, etc but it is not cheap. i have several of their vaporwear tee's and theyre really nice. their woolcloud jacket too. theres tons of good made in us stuff out there if you spend some time to look. its just not $3 and shipped to you later that day so it is ignored because so many have become lazy consoomers too focused on instant gratification consooming for as little money as possible.
I regret all the older clothes I got rid of. I could still fit most of them. I do have some old things. My grandpa passed away in 2022 and he had some unisex clothes from the 80s and 90s he was 6ft and thin I'm 5'10" and medium build so his stuff fits me perfectly so I took some nice jackets and shirts. Those jackets have held up past some clothes I bought recently like the beginning of this year. I do however wear clothes to death and mend them if they mess up if I can.
I noticed this when I switched to raw denim. Modern mass-market jeans suck. The fabric is flimsy, they rip easily, all the bad things you don't want in jeans. Raw denim jeans feel like higher quality, because they are--thicker fabric, better cut, and they last longer. I've had a pair of raws for 3 years that still look new (they just refuse to fade!).
It doesn't make sense to use the apparel industry inflation figures. We need to know how the prices of clothing have changed relative to the value of money overall.
And relative to the longlivety of the piece of clothing. If something is an equal expense yet lasts 5 times as long, it might be equally as expensive, but relatively a lot more cost effective. Although, with the amount of clothing we are used to throw away as a society, this might be highly subjective and unreliable measurement.
In that case, most clothing, particularly under garments now cost about a quarter as much as it used to
2:48 The material plastic might last forever, but not the stuff made out of it. Plastic deteriorates with age and especially with repeated swings in temperature. It becomes brittle and literally crumbles away in your hand when it's very old. Happened to a lot of old plastic jars and toys I used to have. And since a lot of newer plastic stuff is made so cheaply, often with recycled plastic, expect them to fall apart a lot faster than plastic products from 20 or even 10 years ago.
As someone who Bought clothing in the 80' & forward , Good Quality has ALWAYS been expensive ! The Companies who are Large have since the industrial revolution All polute & exploit their workforce! You have some Niêve Concept that Made in the USA doesn't mean that, watch the film " Norma Rae" . As a person who since I left home has been Very Lucky to buy high quality clothes and Not ONLINE or from a catalog my Blue collar parents didn't even buy from a catalog , although it came from Sears .Younger people have Bought into the Bruce Webber Photos used by Polo (I haven't met someone wearing Ralph Lauren who has Ever been to a Polo match) are Nostalgic for a Time that NEVER Existed !!!
I wonder why this could be happening???
1. Sellers increasing their margin by buying cheap product (that will require replacement often hence more sales) AND not making inspections (saving cost)?
2. Customs not being funded well enough to make sure any goods reaching the market are up to legal quality standards?
3. Regulation not strong enough (basically not punishing the importers of bad products) and fines not up to the challenge (slap on the wrist when caught)?
4. All of the above.
In short, you pay peanuts, you get monkeys...
I did a deep dive into U.S. “blue collar” (i.e.domestic manufacturing) jobs and discovered that they peaked around 1980. That’s also when, I believe, the slow, seductive, slippery slide into enshittification of nearly every aspect of American life began. And there’s no foreseeable end. _Idiocracy_ is the future or, arguably, the present.
I do see the trend for people going better and higher quality for sure, it’s still very niche but I think it’s part mind set and also part income and where you are in your life. I can’t see a full time working parent for example necessarily spending a $100 on a t shirt vs I younger professional who might because they have that extra income.
Personally myself I’ve taken the last two years to really cut down on overall items but to have the few be very high quality.
The American way - or the modern American way: buy crap so long as it’s cheap and convenient.
It's now global, not just American way.
Great video. Thank you for this breakdown. We’ve been feeling the same way about what we’re releasing and desiring to go stateside for everything.
3:25 this isn’t a vintage 1980s t shirt, it’s a modern day T1011 which is only sold to the Japanese market. They only sell made in USA champion in Japan these days.
Oh that’s interesting - I bought it at a dead-stock vintage shop in the city and the owner said it was an 80’s piece! I’m actually going there today funny enough so I’ll bring it up to him
@@TheIronSnail easy mistake given the great quality! They can be bought brand new from the Japanese Champion Hanes brand website.
@bonehand87 hey I don’t know if you have any in hand, but how’s the quality of the t1011, I’m looking to stock up on some quality basics and was wondering what you thought of them if you’ve had personal experience with them. Is there any other brand that you recommend?
@@UltimitShadelord hey I’ve bought a few and the quality is really great, very rugged and heavyweight with a rough cotton feel. Not too sure about other brands sorry.
( 6:40 )That “adjusted for inflation” but was so confusing to listen to my guy…. You said that in reverse man
For real. Mildly jarring.
I cant wait to try out one of your t-shirts. I feel like a quality tee can be a nice entry point for most people getting into quality clothing. I commend you for doing this! Also the Mammoth jackets look sick too!
What's the pricing on his shirts cause the jackets i saw on his site were like way too much imo.
"Some brands are going up in price while quality goes down."
*cough* FILSON *cough*
Yes. Buy used for sure.
Why not talk normal?
Regret not buying their stuff in the past.
Over the past 15 years I purchased one brand of jeans because they were well made and fit well. Now the denim is lighter, the spandex seems to have higher content. The back pockets deform quickly and developed holes after a dozen wears. As a teen we “earned” our tears that were cool. We worn the jeans down over years not weeks.
I love that right as I was wondering what watch you were wearing, your promo for the watch started. Too bad UA-cam decided to interrupt your sponsored ad with… an actual ad. Great video BTW.
This is a great topic, I'm glad you did a video on it. Quality is still out there, but when you find it, are you willing to pay for it? Thanks for the video!
Is it just me or does the woman @0:28 have a small head for the size of her body?
head proportions are quite weird, almost on everyone
tend to notice more the more i try to draw people
or its just my perspective being weird
Not just you.
I’m going back to making my own clothes again. There are a lot of garments that I won’t be able to sew. But, blouses, tops, skirts & dresses I can do
0:27 WHY IS HER HEAD SO SMALL??????
7 times is absolutely wild, I bought a pair of linen pants from a dropshipper and was dissapointed that they lasted about a year. Granted I probrably wore them ~250x in that year
I like comfort colors for tee's. Loop wheeled (or used to be at least) 6oz and 100% cotton. I have been wearing the same shirt 2-3 times a week since 2016 and it's only just now started to get holes.
the great thing about quality clothing is that it never goes out of style
The other major change from 100 years ago to today that drives people to buy more lower quality clothing is a need to keep up with trends. You could justify paying a high upfront premium for the the Sears catalog wool jacket because you expected to wear it for 10 years or more. Now people are expected to routinely "update" their wardrobe to avoid stigmatization, and so there is reluctantce to commit more money to any individual shirt, shoes, jeans, etc.
Engineering student here. Just letting you know this isn't an innocent consequence of lower prices. Our instructors actually teach us to make sure our products will need repairs, warranties, maintenance people, etc., because our future clients will make more money from those things than from the actual product. The textile industry is no exception. Your stuff was DESIGNED to break down faster!
That's capitalism for you, the more an item break down the more it needs to be repaired and it costs a lot too
Its also extremely difficult to quantify quality - usually the only data points a customer has to go off on is origin, composition, and brand.
The other issue is that the average customer outside clothing enthusiast bubbles isn’t really discerning - making it difficult to get economies or scale started for solid mid-tier quality garments.
@@drsrsv8884 can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic lmao. by this the $1500 ripped made in italy balenciaga trash bag hoodie must be the peak of quality 😂
@@drsrsv8884 nah i sleep in my $10,000 boxer briefs woven from cristobal’s preserved hairs. made in italy of course! 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹
it's not that difficult to quantify quality it comes down to material first and foremost. Good cotton. Good wool. Good cashmere. The problem is the incentive to always charge more and deliver less. Then the next part of quality is labor: squeeze labor to the barest penny and charge more. Move the factory from America to China to Turkey to Vietnam to Bangladesh to....the next cheapest place on Earth.
@@martinvanburen4578 you say its not difficult - but how? what is good cotton, wool, and cashmere? “good” isn’t a quantification!
say you want to talk about GSM, staple, supers, etc. those are quantifications. brands rarely include these in their product descriptions! and even if they did, they are indirect proxies to quality.
back to my original point - the customer usually only has 3 data points from the average product: brand, composition, and country of origin. how do you determine quality based on that?
@@wills-te3zy good is a quantification in the textile trade with different grades for different use. brands don't because they would be beholden to it. they want to deliver the least for the most.
its interesting. when i was a child in the 80s, there were no cheap clothing chains. (i grew up in germany) there were no cheap shoes. it was in the early 90s when h&m appeared and all those cheap chains that followed and produced everything in asia. it led to the medium expensive brands, producing in europe, the ones we bought before the cheap ones arrived, to become less trendy and more conservative in their designs. another reason to buy the new trendy cheap stuff. thinking about it, h&m had much better quality back then. its like things first got cheaper because of production in asia and then there was a second step in the 2000s when everything turned into plastic. suddenly leather shoes, still costing the same as before, became a luxury and most people wore cheap plastic shoes not even noticing the difference. so strange.
i am just super happy that i remember good clothes. that i grew up in clothes made of wool and linen and cotton and leather and not plastic. and funky 80s designs. that is what made me go back to wanting good clothes years ago. dressing like my inner child again. i love my duckfeet boots and corduroy pants and a thick wool sweater. :)
What??? People throw away clothes after wearing them 7 times? I have clothes that are 20 years old or more.
Bad quality everywhere.
I used to be able to wear a pair of shoes every day for 2.5-3 years. Now it's come down to 9-12 months. And it's the same for famous/non-famous, branded/non-branded shoes.
I would love, if possible, for you to make a comparison, like, if a Wonder Looper t-shirt is an example of high quality, where does the price x quality relationship end, when we talk about, for example, the Loro Piana Gift Of Kings Clothing , I am genuinely intrigued by this subject, and this was very related to the theme of your video, besides, a big hug from Brazil
You editing skills‘re on point! 👍👍👍
Honestly youre an moviemaker!
This man is hilarious and informative. Love his videos.
Offshoring JOBS from the U.S. to Asia was one of the reasons the prices were lower. However, the quality also got lower.
FWIW, I have some Patagonia Puckerwear shirts and Arc'teryx hiking pants. Two hundred wears and washes (minimum!) and they are still hard to tell from new. So, I can't say they are 100% eco-friendly, but far better than typical. They ended up being bargains in the long run. Also, Wickers underwear (sadly out of business) made "SoftSilk" synthetic underwear that is so durable, 12 pairs have lasted me since 2006. The elastic is good as new, and only the seam that gets abused by my bicycle saddle has started to fail. If I do a little re-seaming, they will be good for another 15 years at least. Again, a bargain in the long run.
When you look at the regular price, the J.Crew is more expensive. Yes, the ones you are looking at are on sale, due to end of season. However, if you look at their site during the beginning and middle/peak of the seasons, you will not see them on sale.
Was just talking about this today regarding shoes. It’s called “the race to the bottom”. But cheap shoes are more expensive than quality shoes in the long run - you just rent ‘em (in other words, what’s the price per wear).
I want to believe quality of items is getting better, but I just can't. LRG is one of the few that actually went for a slightly heavier cotton T Shirt not long ago, but sooooo many brands are still going for the thin crap that often includes polyester, and many brands are also still opting for the cheap crap.
I'm dissapointed in Levi's; I thought I could reliably expect metal zippers, but my latest pair of levis cargo shorts reveals otherwise with a plastic zipper which will be a wonder if it doesn't break due to catching on the fabric. I had that experience on winter coats as a kid and it's why I usually avoid plastic zippers like the plague.
I think my main issue with the current state of fashion is how the expensive clothing isn't guaranteed to be good, tho with expensive I mean what I can buy in a store (so ranging 5 to 200 euros).
Your work is gorgeous btw.
The fact that an ad of Shein came before this video is insane.
would be cool to see the profit margin difference between old / new, too...wonder if that would shift the results
Yeah the T shirt collars suck horrible now! mine are all messed up but the rest of the shirts are fine. Nearly all of the best T-shirts I have are ones I bought at stores like Goodwill.
Hanes Beefy T and Comfort Colors from
Golden are both great.
I think it would help if an objective metric for quality would pe popularized by influencers. Something like bhp in cars. That way the customers may be more informed when performing a purchase.
I bought Levis in the 70s when you still had to "unstiffen" them. Miss those days.
We have to consider that real salaries have been stagnant since the 80's-ish, so although prices may be equivalent when adjusted for inflation, the salary of most people hasn't rizen together with inflation - meaning things feel more expensive because prices rize but salaries don't
I try not to buy bad quality clothes. Now my job is an auto parts store. I do buy cheap jeans for work because battery acid messes up all jeans. Why would i pay 70-100$ on one pair of jeans? Im trying to find comfortable non cotton pants that will last and are thick enough that a few drops of battery acid will not touch my skin. So far i have not.
Now for my every day clothes i doy best to get classic long lasting basics. Now yes i do get some fast fashion things but there more for that pop to keep the classic base not looking old.
Great video! Unfortunately it hasnt just been clothes that have suffered America's "race to the bottom". All industries have suffered a bit. Automotives, food, appliances, home build quality and the list goes on. I agree that the American consumer is starting to change and i believe products will get better, or at least have a bigger market share. Cant wait to see what you cook up for your next video! Also stoked to see you make more financially digestable pieces of clothing. The jackets on ur website looked great but unfortunately for me i live in FL! So id be happy to buy a t shirt from you! I trust it will be of excellent quality!
Great mug! I love Lou's from Hanover!
Thanks for the recent video and your channel.
I appreciate your creative content.
One way to combat the trend of declining quality is to purchase preowned / used high end lux brands versus new.
I recently purchased a flawless NWOT Turnbull &Asser RTW shirt from "The RealReal" for $24.00. A similar shirt retails new from T&A for roughly $550.00.
In my opinion, with very few exceptions, there's no reason to purchase new clothing at full retail prices. If you're patient and persistent, deals abound.
Thanks again and cheers!
Hi! Where’d you get your pocket tee? Looks great!
My pet peeve: flame retardant chemicals added to clothing, a requirement for night clothes for babies & toddlers.
Cancer causing product when I was having babies. Don't know if the cancer aspect changed.
Silk is very difficult to burn - but it would have to be treated to sell it as pajamas or sleep wear for kids.
Imagine always sleeping in silk.
It's mind blowing how cheap it is to make things versus how expensive and impractical it is to repair things. I spent about $80 getting my Birkenstocks repaired at a local cobbler (I'd had them for ~8 years and really beat them up). Even for Birkenstocks, it'd only have been an extra $30 to $40 at most to replace them, even though they were totally repairable.
Quality has ALWAYS been expensive!
American eagle geans full price were 100$ back in 1999, all the kids were wearing them but my family were used to the 1$ clearance rack at Walmart so my mom almost fell out when I asked for 100$ jeans to fit in, in August they put them on sale for 50 to 60$ and my mom still said no , we can’t afford them. Yesterday I went to American eagle’s website and the jeans 60$ full price and 35$ on sale. I don’t want this cheap quality that rip in the middle of the fabric. Where can I get high quality
Your story sounds fake. If you were American, you'd know to put the currency symbol before the numeral ($1, not 1$). Good try, though.
Miss you on Theo and Harris. Are you going to pop in for a visit soon?
TBH, I haven't bought a lot of new clothes in a long time, several decades, to be exact. Heck, I grew up on hand-me-downs, garage sales and second-hand stores like Goodwill etc.
Love that people all around starter talking about it 4 years after I noticed it
Mainstream brands have gone to shit but the market for obscure, quality oriented brands has exploded in the past decade.
Adapting to this change in the market requires the consumer to completely change their attitude towards clothing by accepting that quality > quantity.
A difficult task considering the cost of living crisis and the temptation of fast fashion, but one that is very much worth it in the long run imo.
Hi! I'm super interested in this 1980s collar. I made my own t-shirts and would like to try sewing my neckband on like this. Do you have any more info about the construction? How can I achieve this?
I noticed this I bought a early 2000s t-shirt that was still brand new with the tags because I like the style and it feels so much better quality than the new stuff I was barely a toddler then so what can you do I guess
So... What brands are actually worth their asking price? So many brands are expensive and are almost on par with things 10x less.
I’ve been spending ~$60/year on a new pair of Vans every years for about 20 years now. The price hasn’t changed and quality has gone up and down in that time. They are solid now but it was hard to love em in the late 2010s.
Agreed the early 10 to mid 10s Vans quality was great. I had a pair of shoes last my 5 years and they were my beaters. Only recently has the quality gotten good again and i love the pro line where the used to rock the red tab but now its a checkered tab logo and the quality on those are better. Less colors nd options but comfort is better
I have been buying T-shirts from the US cause you guys have a lot better quality! I live in Sweden and I got clothes from my American relative. I would use these clothes about 10x as long. I think it was H&M who ruined the Swedish market. Maybe you guys are next :P
H&M used to have decent clothing but after awhile the sizing and fits were all over the place and pricing was not good. I switched to express for dress shirts
I also think that the return to buying better made stuff at higher prices is happening. The last big menswear boom where everyone was going nuts over heritage / made in US clothes was around 2010 as we were climbing out of a recession. With current inflation kinda lowering, and with global warming rapidly accelerating, I think people are seriously putting thought into where and how their clothes are made and that the slogan "buy once, buy better" will save you money in the long run. But it is hard to compete with larger companies that can make make whatever you want for as cheap as you want. However, it is happening in other markets. Look at coffee and beer. I don't know anyone who drinks corporate anymore when you can get much better, locally made stuff for about the same price. Maybe as more people like you get into the fashion game, similar things will start to happen?
Surely the main reason is that consumers just dont care, why on earth would you put time and effort into making good clothes when your customers dont even want it and would rather it be cheaper. Also why a lot of the good clothes today are made in Japan where (not all but more than the west) consumers seem to be a bit more demanding.
Gildan brand T-shirts are the most obvious quality drop with their products, a major difference after 2021-22 manufacturing, even the tags got smaller, hems suck, material thin weave, less stitching, etc
Ooof! You should look into who just bought Champion.
Good ol'
HANESBRAND
what just 7 times I think I go through my entire wardrobe in 2 weeks so about 24 times a year and my cloth last about 2~5 years, and I wear about 3 pants throughout those 2 weeks so they get worn much much more, I think I replace my socks/underwear every 1~2 years and they get replaced when the fabric starts to develop holes, I am from KSA
Can you suggest any brand which does quality clothing and inside Europe?
Most of the luxury brands are just expensive fast fashion nowadays and nothing more when it comes to quality imho
That is interesting you chose Patagonia prices in comparison to Sears because I would say that Patagonia has the best price/quality ratio of any brand I own.
i think you did things right in the video regarding inflation. Hopefully that apparel specific inflation numbers simply reflected your observations.
But anyway, I'll take your concrete observations over gov data either way.
I notice recently wrangler leather patch on the back pocket are looks cheap it doesn't look like genuine quality anymore when you compare on old one