Americans are spending less on clothing • Hacker News Board

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#21

Post by noelwelsh » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 9:28 AM UTC

dandare wrote: post #8

European here: when visiting my company HQ I was surprised how casual Americans dress for work. I am not saying devs should wear suit and tie, nothing like that, but even my bosses boss* was wearing what looked like a rumpled sweater with worn out jeans. And I don't mean like fashion statement rumpled and worn out, more like the "great depression" crumpled and worn out. Jules and Vincent in their new t-shirts would f…

Where in Europe are you? In the UK people dress in darker tones in winter. I think this is partly because coats are expensive, so most people only have one or two and thus choose colours that are easy to match. I think it is also partly because the landscape in winter is quite dark. In summer you'll see much more colour about. IME the US does tend to be more conservative in terms of fashion than Europe.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#22

Post by EliRivers » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 9:36 AM UTC

jmadsen wrote: post #17

One thing the article missed but for me personally is an important point: the rise of minimalism I'm not the type of minimalism you write about, but clothes last for ages now & I just don't want lots of stuff. Especially here in Japan we do laundry every day, so I just don't need very many items. Just some comfortable layers, enough to have a little variety, I'm all set. (I'm leaving in the morning for 2 weeks in Flo…

clothes last for ages now

They can do (as indeed they always could) if you pay for it, although in my experience the majority of clothes bought don't last ages; modern materials (from the sixties onwards, I would say - polyester and related), manufacturing techniques and the easy attitude of consumers in buying clothing that doesn't last have all contributed. Certainly anything you buy in a high-street chain, be it the low end of the market or the more middle offering of Gap and chums, don't last long. It seems odd to me to say that clothes last ages now; they used to last ages, and now (on the whole) don't last nearly as long.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#23

Post by EliRivers » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 9:38 AM UTC

djhworld wrote: post #9

dandare wrote: post #8

European here: when visiting my company HQ I was surprised how casual Americans dress for work. I am not saying devs should wear suit and tie, nothing like that, but even my bosses boss* was wearing what looked like a rumpled sweater with worn out jeans. And I don't mean like fashion statement rumpled and worn out, more like the "great depression" crumpled and worn out. Jules and Vincent in their new t-shirts would f…

tbh you'll find a similar culture of casual dress in the UK too, depending on what industry you are in. Corporate IT and finance companies can mostly be "business casual", but venture into the media/creative industries, along with the usual tech companies and startups, it's mostly wear whatever you want.

So long as you fit in, of course. Many a tech company recruiter has shot a great candidate down for wearing a suit instead of a pair of shorts and a t-shirt with pizza down the front.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#24

Post by ReaderReader » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 9:41 AM UTC

jmadsen wrote: post #17

One thing the article missed but for me personally is an important point: the rise of minimalism I'm not the type of minimalism you write about, but clothes last for ages now & I just don't want lots of stuff. Especially here in Japan we do laundry every day, so I just don't need very many items. Just some comfortable layers, enough to have a little variety, I'm all set. (I'm leaving in the morning for 2 weeks in Flo…

We have a clean-out-day once a month, were we throw stuff out or give to Oxfam if possible. We decided some years ago we have too much stuff.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#25

Post by bob_theslob646 » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 9:42 AM UTC

I think that as large marketplaces such as Amazon push their own brands. They really do a tremendous job on the marketing value of these clothing companies because essentially they're saying" hey why pay more when you can get essentially the same exact thing for this price coupled with extremely fast shipping. Sounds like a recipe for disaster for a clothing brand.

A perfect example of this is under armor. Why pay 40 dollars fora t-shirt when you can get 5 for that price?

Other thoughts:I wonder if the lack of size standardization has anything to do with it, coupled with the abundance of cheap clothing.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#26

Post by PhasmaFelis » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 9:51 AM UTC

bob_theslob646 wrote: post #25

I think that as large marketplaces such as Amazon push their own brands. They really do a tremendous job on the marketing value of these clothing companies because essentially they're saying" hey why pay more when you can get essentially the same exact thing for this price coupled with extremely fast shipping. Sounds like a recipe for disaster for a clothing brand. A perfect example of this is under armor. Why pay 40…

> A perfect example of this is under armor. Why pay 40 dollars fora t-shirt when you can get 5 for that price?

You've always been able to buy a five-pack of perfectly good T-shirts/socks/underwear for less than one fancy name-brand item, though. That's not new with Amazon.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#27

Post by arkh » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 9:56 AM UTC

EliRivers wrote: post #22

jmadsen wrote: post #17

One thing the article missed but for me personally is an important point: the rise of minimalism I'm not the type of minimalism you write about, but clothes last for ages now & I just don't want lots of stuff. Especially here in Japan we do laundry every day, so I just don't need very many items. Just some comfortable layers, enough to have a little variety, I'm all set. (I'm leaving in the morning for 2 weeks in Flo…

clothes last for ages now They can do (as indeed they always could) if you pay for it, although in my experience the majority of clothes bought don't last ages; modern materials (from the sixties onwards, I would say - polyester and related), manufacturing techniques and the easy attitude of consumers in buying clothing that doesn't last have all contributed. Certainly anything you buy in a high-street chain, be it t…

They never lasted ages. People just repaired them because it was economically a better choice. And most of them did not mind using clothes which were not perfect.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#28

Post by jaggederest » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 9:58 AM UTC

dawnerd wrote: post #3

Hextinium wrote: post #2

I think a major contributor that isn't pointed out in the article is that clothes can last forever. I haven't needed to step into a department store in over two years not because I don't want to but because I don't need to. I wear the same clothes year-round and they have worked for the last 3-4 years before they even start to show wear. The only thing I need are new shoes and socks. Heck now with microfiber underwea…

Flip side I’ve been trying to buy new clothes but everything out there seems to be poorly cut or nothing but slim/althletic fit. If I go big and tall they’re also disproportionate. These games shirts I have from a couple years ago are perfect. The ones they sell now are horrible.

Go custom.

Depending on your preferences you can go made to measure online, or old school fly-to-southeast-asia and get them tailored in person. Either will be approximately as expensive as reasonable off the rack wardrobe and will fit 100% accurately.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#29

Post by arkh » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 9:59 AM UTC

bob_theslob646 wrote: post #25

I think that as large marketplaces such as Amazon push their own brands. They really do a tremendous job on the marketing value of these clothing companies because essentially they're saying" hey why pay more when you can get essentially the same exact thing for this price coupled with extremely fast shipping. Sounds like a recipe for disaster for a clothing brand. A perfect example of this is under armor. Why pay 40…

> A perfect example of this is under armor. Why pay 40 dollars fora t-shirt when you can get 5 for that price?

Because they suck and their sizing is way the fuck off.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#30

Post by mrarjen » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 10:02 AM UTC

radicalbyte wrote: post #16

mrarjen wrote: post #6

I remember the thrift stores in the US are full of second hand clothing that might as well have been all new or maybe worn once. And as a Dutch person I was amazed how much perfectly fine clothing was disposed of. Especially since I usually wear things till they break in some manner. Actually there was a lot more well fitting clothing (mainly shirts) in the thrift places than in the actual clothing stores. Not to men…

Thrift stores sort and sell. The best stuff goes on to their stores the rest is graded and sold. You see the same thing here in NL charity shops.

True, but quality wise it's far lower in the Netherlands than it is in the US from my experience. Plus now a days it seems most people buy from the Primark, as it's ridiculously cheap...