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Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

nytimes.com

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Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#61

Post by Scoundreller »

colmvp wrote: post #26
mthoms wrote: post #8

I'm saddened by the job losses, but the fashion industry (esp. the high end) seems nothing but a toxic drain on society and the environment. New "trends" dictated by celebrities and designers every year do nothing but sow personal insecurities and environmental destruction. Good riddance.

Couldn't agree more. High end fashion is woefully overpriced items that predominantly largely priced on their brand rather their functionality and material. While yes, you could make the same argument with technology, I can at least get a lot of value out of premium I've paid for Apple products like my seven year old MacBook Pro or five year old iPhone. And after working briefly in the fashion industry as a developer…

> I can at least get a lot of value out of premium I've paid for Apple products like my seven year old MacBook Pro or five year old iPhone.

Yep, their Total Cost of Ownership can make them very appealing. I’ve made significant contributions towards my MacBook Air upgrades by selling the old one part-for-part.

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#62

Post by lotsofpulp »

okamiueru wrote: post #33
colmvp wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't agree more. High end fashion is woefully overpriced items that predominantly largely priced on their brand rather their functionality and material. While yes, you could make the same argument with technology, I can at least get a lot of value out of premium I've paid for Apple products like my seven year old MacBook Pro or five year old iPhone. And after working briefly in the fashion industry as a developer…

To be fair, and you even bringing it up, apple products is to some degree the fashion equivalent in tech. I recently had to buy a MacOs compatible hardware for the first time in years, and I had really no idea how large the difference has become. Apple products truly are "way of life", more than anything tangible. And when choosing to upgrade components, I really couldn't believe it. It was more than twice the compar…

> In what other industry are people willing to pay at least more than twice, for the same hardware?

The whole premise is incorrect, so the conclusions are incorrect. The hardware is not the same, and even if it was, clearly the software makes a difference to the user.

The whole Apple fashion status trope is tired and has never been true. The amortized cost of an Apple device in my 15 year + experience with them has always been less than the competitors. Especially if you add my troubleshooting time.

Not to mention they’ve been selling iPad Minis for $400 for 7 or 8 years, and they now have an iPhone at $400. Their stuff works, they offer physical stores you can get technical support at, and they seem to be the best offering for privacy conscious users.

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#63

Post by the8472 »

chrisseaton wrote: post #58
the8472 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They knew that there was a continuous risk of a pandemic and prepared for one happening eventually . Just like we know there's a low risk of an entire server room going up in flames/water damage/lightning/getting hit by a truck driving into a building and that's why we have offsite backups even though we won't know when something is going to happen.

> They knew that there was a continuous risk of a pandemic But I think so did every country. Wasn't global pandemic at the top of almost every country's national security risk register? They knew it was likely, and they knew it was high-risk. I know for a fact it was at the top of the UK's public national security risk register. You're perpetuating a silly myth that major western countries didn't know this was coming…

They (or someone within the government at least) may have known, but they did not act on it. On the contrary, for example California defunded its emergency stockpile.

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#65

Post by kazen44 »

seltzered_ wrote: post #25
mthoms wrote: post #8

I'm saddened by the job losses, but the fashion industry (esp. the high end) seems nothing but a toxic drain on society and the environment. New "trends" dictated by celebrities and designers every year do nothing but sow personal insecurities and environmental destruction. Good riddance.

Your friendly reminder from Alan Kay that 'computing is pop culture'. https://www.drdobbs.com/architecture-and-design/interview-wi... (...off to scroll YouTube's infinite list of tech reviews..)

thank you for this link. That interview was actually rather interesting and gave off a different perspective then most.

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#66

Post by toomuchtodo »

spaetzleesser wrote: post #34

I am getting pretty tired of sweatpants but regular pants feel uncomfortable while working from home. Does anybody know some pants that are reasonably comfortable but still a little stylish?

https://publicrec.com/products/all-day-every-day-pant-inseam... (Public Rec All Day Every Day Pant)

They aren’t cheap, but I find them worth the price and live in them.

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#67

Post by chiefalchemist »

Fashion is simply marketing gone wild. It's preying on the idea that the best way to be a better you is to wear ____. That you can cure your inferiority complex by consuming X, Y or Z. Which in turn belittles those around you, and so on.

TL;TD - An expensive ____ (e.g., watch) doesn't make you a better person. And you know this. So you get a nice car. Doesn't help. So you get new shoes. And so on.

Fashion is a cure for people who lack confidence and style. But that cure is more like an addiction.

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#68

Post by kazen44 »

spaetzleesser wrote: post #34

I am getting pretty tired of sweatpants but regular pants feel uncomfortable while working from home. Does anybody know some pants that are reasonably comfortable but still a little stylish?

how are normal pants uncomfortable when working from home exactly? How is your home enviroment different from work that makes this clothing uncomfortable?

Re: Sweatpants Forever: How the Fashion Industry Collapsed

#70

Post by [deleted] »

mthoms wrote: post #52
pembrook wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, human “culture” and it’s “trends” are such a waste. Why can’t everybody just spend their entire lives staring at screens while dressed in tshirts, like us software engineers do? Those thousands of years of human history spent on emotionally-driven aesthetic pursuits like art, fashion, music, culinary tradition and architecture...what a waste of time and resources. If only we could be more robot-like and efficien…

Besides being a reductio ad absurdum [0] argument that ads nothing to the discussion, I'll address your comment. Music, Art, Food, Literature and Architecture generally don't go out of style every 6 months (although companies are trying harder and harder to make it so). Nor do they have the same toxic effect on the environment (possible exception: food?) and personal self esteem as high fashion. [0] https://en.wikipe…

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