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Americans are spending less on clothing

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Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#151
What? Didn't they answer the question themselves?

You cant measure clothing in terms of Dollar Value. Or Revenue, and it is less would means people are buying less. That is I think so far from truth. People are buying more from Uniqlo or other much Cheaper brands that offer better value.

We all know the manufactured cost of any clothes is absolutely minimal. It is the design, marketing, and Retails Rental that covers vast majority of the expenses. It also enjoy very good economy of scale.

Material improvement means T-Shirt that are cheap today are likely to be much better then cheap T-Shirt 10 - 20 years ago. It comes to a point where these cheaper alternative are good enough.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#152
post #54

>Apparel is being displaced by travel, eating out and activities—what’s routinely lumped together as “experiences”—which have grown to 18 percent of purchases. [..] That now tops all clothing and footwear expenditures. I have a completely blunt theory on that. People learn that pictures of them smiling in their bathing suit in the Maldives or with that exotic plate of food attract more 'likes' than the pictures of th…

I think you've got cause and effect the wrong way round. People who enjoy hobbies are going to be drawn to Pintrest, people into finance read /r/fi, and people who are into tech read Hacker News.

I actually think he/she's got it the right way. I don't think most people post pictures of food because they're dedicated 'foodies', I think they do it for the likes.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#153
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…

I wish Germany was like that. I work as a IT consultant in a financial institution and we all have to wear suits here, even though most of the people have never seen a client in their life - they just sit behind their desks and do their daily work on a PC. So they do so - in a suit. I really don't know why Germans do this to themselves.

> I work as a IT consultant in a financial institution and we all have to wear suits here, even though most of the people have never seen a client in their life

I had to wear a suit at a place that it would be illegal for the client to interact with me. Logic and dress codes aren't always friends.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"More people" implies increasing amount, not entire workforce.

Fine, I’ll be that guy: CITATION NEEDED. “More people” in your office says nothing except that more people in YOUR OFFICE are remote. I don’t understand how people who bill themselves as so smart can continue to fall for these basic errors in reasoning. > More people are working from home several days a week, so nobody cares how you're dressed. Says who? Where is this data? Is it from a survey? A study? Or something…

your tone is condescending but i'll bite: cursory search will provide plenty of evidence for the claim that telecommuting is on the rise; very little evidence to the contrary.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/21/pf/jobs/working-from-home/in...

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#155
post #142
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a business environment. Compare https://duckduckgo.com/?q=sweden+business+office&t=ffsb&iax=... with https://duckduckgo.com/?q=germany+business+office&t=ffsb&iar... . The people in the Germany pictures are more likely to be wearing a dress shirt. The people who wear a business jacket in the Sweden pictures are less likely to be wearing a tie. My experience is also that people (or at least managers) in the UK also…

Wearing a suit is only weakly correlated with dressing well or caring about your looks. Someone wearing jeans and a t-shirt can appear better dressed and more caring about their looks than someone wearing a suit.

Well, .... yes.

I was explaining that my use of "dress down" was in a business context. And it's not like I have a pan-European experience. My account was a chance to tell an anecdote which supported the OP's views.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#156
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…

Maybe it's because I work in small companies, but New Zealand and Australia seem to have the world beat for casual dress codes. I frequently turn up to work wearing flip flops and shorts. The way I see it, and the way the company sees it, is that if I'm not interacting with anyone outside the company, it doesn't really matter what I wear. If I'm talking to customers or other companies (very rare), I'll put on chinos,…

Here in Oregon some people wear sandals and shorts to work in winter. Hiking boots at work are also sorry common.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#157
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I love the clothing by Rapha - while they are known for their high quality athletic cycle wear, they also have a city range, that looks exceptional off the bike. I'd categorize it as fucntional fashion and due to their athletic roots it will fit very well for slim bodies. [1] Another alternative is Outlier - a small brand that focuses on high quality, durable fashion. [2] For more afforadable basics I like Uniqlo - s…

Rapha and Outlier make some good clothes. The most interesting new category of clothing is coming from outdoor technical apparel retailers who are moving into more urban/city clothes, and reinventing everything using better fabrics and technical features, and, in keeping with the conventions of the technical apparel industry, everything they make is field tested up the wazoo.

I bought these cycling pants from Arcteryx, they're the best pants I've bought. They're Teflon coated, presumptively to shed road splatter, but they shed everything else as well, they don't get dirty! I've worn them 20 times, they haven't been through the wash yet. I spilled flour, spaghetti sauce and coffee on them, there's no visible evidence that any of that has happened.

https://arcteryx.com/ec/en/shop/mens/A2B-Commuter-Pant

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#158
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think this is very good news. Fast fashion leads to resource and people exploitation. Not a fan of fast-fashion, but what does "people exploitation" mean? Should a Bangladeshi factory worker go back to begging in the streets instead of working a job at a factory? They provide value in terms of making a product that you buy.. what's the problem with that?

When foreign companies open a factory in a third world company the companies economy benefits significantly less then if a factory owned by citizens of the same country open up. The profits leave the country instead of stay inside, where the money can exchange hands many more times. First world companies can outbid foreign companies on labor, land, resources and bribes. This makes it harder for domestic manufacturing…

This isn't a choice between foreign-owned factory or a locally-owned factory.

This is a choice between a foreign-owned factory or no factory.

Also, why would you expect the profits to stay inside? If Nike opens a factory in Bangladesh, wouldn't the profits go to Nike? I don't understand your "local profits" statement?

And the jury isn't out on the benefits of neoliberal globalization. It's been shown to clearly reduce poverty among the global poor. It's why Bangladesh went from 41% extreme poverty to 14% extreme poverty over the last 25 years...

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#159
post #11

tl;dr: They buy less in quantity and value expensive brands less. This is in line with the "spend money on experiences not stuff" trend we're watching rise in popularity, particularly in the younger generation. People aren't flocking as quickly to flaunt their status via possessions, particularly in clothing. The right $20 shirt can look great and last you forever. I found a $8 t-shirt and $20 pair of pants that I li…

>I replace my daily shoes ~annually. I wear the same thing to work and at home. If you mean to say you have one pair of shoes that you wear daily, you should buy a second pair and alternate. This will allow your shoes to dry out between use which will increase durability and reduce smelliness. tl;dr: 1 pair : 1 year, 2 pairs : 3 years.

[deleted]

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#160

IMHO there are three clear causes for this trend: 1) US business fashion is increasingly casual. Ties, skirts, suits, coordinated outfits, scarves, leather soled shoes -- all are passe, even in button down East Coast Fortune 100 companies (other than for aspiring managers or those in banking/finance). 2) Color is passe. Shades of black and grey dominate wardrobes, especially in large cities. Thus fewer accessories ar…

> Ties, skirts, suits, coordinated outfits, scarves, leather soled shoes -- all are passe, even in button down East Coast Fortune 100 companies (other than for aspiring managers or those in banking/finance).

I dunno about that. When I see someone who's wearing decent clothes, I still think, 'wow, that's someone who wants to look good.'

But I think that I'm a bit weird — I actually enjoy dressing differently for different occasions: it helps me get into the right headspace. Programming while wearing hiking clothes would make as much sense to me as hiking in a tuxedo.

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