Sleepyjack

I did some clothes shopping yesterday and was very surpised and some price differentials of different products. Luckily, i guess, i don't fret for any kind of clothing label or fashion image really. However this was teh first time, in a while i got around to have a looksee at lots of different clothes etc.

Now i was looking at brandX shirt and what was in it (what material etc) and they were basically the same as brandY at this other store. HOwever, the price differential was $100 to $20. I find it hard to imagine that the shirt was 5 times more than the other when basically it had similar material and effects (like the patteren etc).

There where a few other comparisons with highly differing ratios as well. It was also interesting for me, cause i didn't know who most of the high-end brand names where, but you could tell by the price tag and that's all really But i guess, more educated people in labelism would quickly point out the better shirt by it's given label/tag/brand name

I mean i thought one of the cheaper ones was better than the more expensive one, in both style and quality, then i saw the price tag and realised what the cool brand was

bascially thoug, dress is subjective and a lot of people who buy more pretentious clothing like to say thet like finer things and nice things in life. Although i am not a complete dunce at fashion and realised that a lot of the materials where the same and so quality etc was just bullshit cause they where roughly the same and basically the name was everything. Sure in some cases, fine clothes are made by some extravagent material and evidentally cost heaps, but it's amazing to see such comprable products get quite overpriced, just for the label.

So how much are labels costing you?

edit: also, i am a ltitle pissed at this cause i got some new shoes the other day. After a long time of searching i finally found some that i liked in terms of comfort and the look of and style etc (namely though, since i have large feet it's hard to find my size as well).. but was pissed that they had to be this sepcific brand, cause i knew that would've made it inherently more expensive, even though from a quality perspective they probably weren't

SVT01Cobra

Expensive brands dont bother me at all.
I usually wear Abercrombie, Hollister or Armani Exchange. I like looking good.

hucklebuck74

I wear clothes to avoid being naked, so I don't pay any attention to labels.

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Sleepyjack

haha, on the contrary, i wished we all where naked. That why we wouldn't have all this judging and fretting about clothing anyway. Also, all the girls would be naked and every single guy would have a constant erection.... well, the girls would be naked, that's a change

Although completely agree on it's funciton over form, pretty much

Also do people actually look what amterial ect the clothes are made out of? or just look at what it looks like?

SVT01Cobra

I look at what it looks like.

krwlz

I never buy labels. Sometime people will give me brand name shirts, but I dont pay any attention to it.

omega2K4

A shirt is a shirt. Whoever made it doesn't make a difference. Now, if I knew I was paying more for one shirt, than another, but the kid in the sweatshop who actually made the shirt gets a better wage for it, then I'm all for it.

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phoenix1002

I don't bother much with brand names and labels. The shirt I'm wearing cost me about $5, the pants $15. I think my shoes probably cost me about $30, not because I care about the brand, just because its pretty hard to find any comfortable shoes for less than that.

The way I see it, I'd rather save money on clothes and be able to spend it for other things that I get more enjoyment from. Also, I feel that if someone will dismiss me because of what I wear, they really aren't worth dealing with. I don't look grungy, I just don't have any labels. Are they really that important? I submit that they are not.

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Reese

Here's my problem with 90% of my cheap clothes.

Pants: Most jeans are ok but usually can't find any that aren't tight arund the ankles, Other kinds of pants tend to get holes in the pockets early and have easily breakable zippers.

Shoes: Hard as hell, not very stylish and very easily damaged.

Shirts: T-shirts fade really quick and thread isn't very good so the armpit rips easily. Button up shirts have the same thread problem plus thread on buttons.

Hats: I've never found a hat as confortable as a nike hat. They are pretty durable, and fit my head perfectly whether it's forward or backwards. Most cheap hats seem like they are too deep or not deep enough, I've never liked a cheap hat good enough to buy it so I have no idea about quality.

Is it worth the money to buy brand name clothes? Maybe, Maybe not. I wouldn't buy a 200$ shirt unless It was going to last 6-7 years, I would buy a 30$ that I know is going to last longer than the 3 10$ ones from walmart.

For me it has nothing to do with the brand. I don't buy really expensive clothes and I don't toss out all my clothes and start over every year. I wear my clothes until they don't fit anymore or are damaged. If I have to pay 2x as much for a shirt I expect that I'll be wearing it 2 times longer.

Why is that whenever I post in a thead like this it feels like I'm defending myself for buying what I like... hmm

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lurkette

It's the difference between use value and symbolic value. Both shirts serve the same use: hiding your sinful naked body from others and keeping it warm and dry. The difference in cost is however much some sucker is willing to pay to wear an essentially identical shirt with a label and be able to think/say it is somehow better than the non-label variety.

Buying quality is a different story. If you buy a really well-made article of clothing, it essentially has an extended use value that makes the extra cost justifiable. But if you're buying something that's basically a piece of crap with a $50 price hike for the privilege of being seen buying it at Fashionable Store X, or wearing it (if the logo/label is visible), then you are a silly person who deserves to have their wallet emptied.

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gloveshot3

after all of life's necessities a covered-food,shelter,isp-whatever is left is called disposable income. where one spends it on depends on what the individual deems most important. some choices include: clothes, cars, booze, drugs, pets, children, entertainment(movies, concerts, cd's. dvd's, sporting events, etc.), and even a few give a little bit to charity. the choice is yours

Cynthetiq

it's not the labels but the quality of the material and the stitiching of the fabric. I don't care what label you've got, I'll point out exactly where your clothes are going to fall apart and which ones are keepers.

Labels mean nothing. Material and workmanship mean everything. If you have a specific garment manufacturing type question I'll be happy to answer them.

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santafe5000

I always buy whatever is on the sale table when looking for shirts. So what if i an 6 months behind everyone else. I usually end up saving 50-60% off the list price. I don't look at the label so much as the color and pattern of the shirt. I will say tho, i only buy 100% cotton shirts. That is a must.

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absorbentishe

When I buy clothes, I go to the clearence rack first, and if there appears to be good buys, then I'm on it. Then it's the sale items, then finally it would be full priced. I try not to buy "name brand", with the exception of shoes, I've had a couple bad experiences with that. But as for clothing, I look for quality first.

Baldrick

For work, I wear suits about 95% of the time, and definitely do look at labels when I purchase suits or dress shoes. For dress shoes, I find that the most comfortable and well built shoes are the more expensive - Rockports are my favorite. I've tried "non-label" shoes, and they only last me six months to a year, no matter how well I look after them. My oldest pair of Rockports are nine years and looking better today than the first day I bought them.

For suits, it's not quite as drastic, but I really prefer some labels over others for style of cut, and durability. For example, I have two "Jones New York" suits that pretty much wore out about a year and a half after I purchased. Yet, I have a couple of really nice suits - Hugo Boss, Canali, and one Armani - that have lasted me several years. But, my favorite brand of suit for affordability, style, and durability is Shipley. About 3/4 of my suits are Shipley. Very reasonably priced (you can get on sale for about $300+ Cdn, sometimes even cheaper), nice style, and very durable. My Shipley's are my "day in and day out" suits, and I save my really nice suits for special business functions.

So yes, I do look at labels for my business clothes. I'd rather buy one suit for $400+ that will last me several years if not longer, than buy four $100+ suits that will last me at most two years.

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BentNotTwisted

Labels don't mean much to me. Quality of manufacture is important. I concur with Baldrick regarding shoes. For the longest time I was consistently buying dress shoes from cheap outlets. They would wear out within a year or two and were rarely comfortable. Then I found Rockports. I love em. Quality shoes are important to me as they need to support my weight comfortably. Cheap shoes just don't hold up. I recently bought a pair of Rockport casual style shoes, the price was a bit more than I'd pay for a pair of Reebock or Nike, but I can already tell they are well worth the extra money.
If someone judges me by the clothing labels I wear, they can go right ahead. I just won't have much respect for the person.

World's King

I am, what you call, a label whore.


Not by choice really... it's just that I grew up with brand names... my parents are label whores too.

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Tirian

Well I spent about 7 hours outdoors today in a chilling north wind at temperatures around minus 15 deg. I'm glad I was not naked :-)

Here's my thing... I will spend money for quality and value, but won't spend an extra cent on a labels.

crewsor

What she said.....Buy quality, don't buy junk regardless of the label.

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blindawg

Labels do cost though Cheap cloths are soemtime very cheap. A friend used to work for a company called Great Outdoor Clothing Co.. Basically and outlet for irregulars and overstock. The catch here was that his Company was owned by Odyssey International. Odyssey Internation is a clothing manufacturere who, at the time made something like 75% of all outdoor clothing, including All Eddie Bauer outerwear and all Northface products, as well as a fair amount of outsourced Columbia stuff. I have no idea os what the company is making nowdays. But there were many times they had Eddie Bauer and Northface stuff in (with correct buttons/snaps/other dist marks that had either ripped ou labels or other bogus labels often sewn in over the original label. And of course the prices were dramatically cheaper. The Eddie Bauer store in teh same mall had come in serverl time to complain and ask them to remove the items they were selling as tehy were identical to what they were stocking..


So yeah, sometimes a tag just costs too much.

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InTeGrA77

I HATE it when people buy clothes for the name! I have many friends that do it and it gets on my nerves hardcore. My older brother does it too, and he says that the cost doesn't matter, but it will sooner or later when he needs the money for more important things.

I always ask my friends why they buy the expensive name brand clothes when they can get the exact same thing for a much cheaper price. They sometimes say that certain brands fit better than others. Bullshit! I've taken them to many stores and had them try on not-so-expensive clothes and they looked and fit fine, to my eyes. But they always seem to find something wrong with them and refuse to purchase them. Some don't even want to be seen in the store, like its a disgrace to thier reputation or something along those lines!

Sometimes when we're in stores, I go straight to the sales/clearance racks while they go to the full price ones. There are some clothes on the racks that I'm looking at that I've seen them try on and almost buy. But now for some reason, they don't want them anymore...why??

It just makes me really mad...all this "labelism!"

I've got a closet packed FULL of clothes that I get many compliments on. And about 93% of them were bought with some sort of substantial discount off thier original price.

Sorry to bitch so much... but it bothers me that some people think that some brands are "better" than others.

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MSD

I get stuff at cheap stores. What I can't get there, I get at Big&Tall.

Guess what? Marshalls, TJ Maxx, Syms, all discount stores, you'll get stuff for a tenth of its original price because of slight irregularities, or because another store couldn't sell off their stockroom's contents in time. I'm not ashamed to shop there, I laugh at people who feel the need to shop at expensive stores because of some image they feel they need to maintain.

Abercrombie? Gap? Old Navy? Banana Republic? Nike? Guess what, I don't care how great their stuff is and how "cool" it is to wear it. Until they get their labor standards tot eh point where they don't violate basic human rights, I'm never going into thier stores, nevermind buying stuff there.