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I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

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Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#161

Post by masto »

n4r9 wrote: post #4

I did a double-take at the 3.5k Euro spend per year on clothing. My own spending is probably 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller. But then I saw how many shoes they own, and the fact that they have a summer house where at least one pair resides. This person lives differently to me.

It is good to have different people in the world. The article starts with "Have you ever wondered whether expensive clothes are worth their price?" I have never wondered that, no. I'm 49 years old and I'm not sure I have ever purchased an expensive clothe.

I have, however, wondered whether an expensive screwdriver is worth its price, but I have not collected the data to support my Wiha habit.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#162

Post by bombcar »

ZephyrBlu wrote: post #160
n4r9 wrote: post #4

I did a double-take at the 3.5k Euro spend per year on clothing. My own spending is probably 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller. But then I saw how many shoes they own, and the fact that they have a summer house where at least one pair resides. This person lives differently to me.

The cues you’re picking up on here are completely incorrect. This doesn’t require you to be rich. In fact, I would consider his wardrobe to only be small/medium sized for someone into fashion. I’ve spent >35k USD on my wardrobe in the last ~3 years and it feels medium/large sized: - 2 suits - ~10 pairs of pants - ~30 dress shirts - ~10 knitwear pieces - ~8 jackets - 2 pairs of jeans - ~15 pairs of shoes - 2 pairs of…

Exactly this if it’s something you enjoy, you can easily spend magnitudes more money than you “need to” - for example I know a number of people who have spent more on power tools than many professional contractors will spend in their lives. They enjoy collecting tools they enjoy having them and they enjoy being ready for anything even if they never really use them. If you have the money and you can afford it and it’s something you enjoy who is it really hurting?

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#163

Post by Shaanie »

tekla wrote: post #27
Waterluvian wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don’t have “expensive hobbies.” You have hobbies that you feel are expensive. There will be people who perceive your hobbies as quaint and austere, and there will be people who think you’re being outrageously opulent. There is no objective “my hobbies are expensive. Their hobbies are outrageous.”

It's pretty incredible that several grand a year per year is not considered absolutely insane amounts of spend on fucking FASHION. I guess I'm not the audience for HN since everyone here seems to be insanely rich.

You hardly have to be rich to spend $300 a month on fashion, you just have to be not poor, and have it as a priority. Just because fashion isn't a priority to you doesn't mean it's the same for everyone. The same people that spend $500 a month on clothes might think buying a TV for more than $300 is unthinkable. Priorities differ.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#164

Post by ZephyrBlu »

deathanatos wrote: post #104

20 to 25 uses for an undershirt seems terrible. Once per week for church and it is worn out in 6 months. Heaven forbid you dress formally for work and it is gone after a month of use…? (spread out by the other shirts in the inventory, but still.) An average of 102 USD for a pair of shorts¹ is something else though, and like other people in the thread note, … Larry, I'm on DuckTales. (171 USD, real / pair of shoes.) (…

This is why I put a lot of energy into finding brands that are transparent with their materials and that I can trust for quality.

Once you find these brands you can buy stuff without worrying about whether it’s going to suck.

For dress shirts, definitely do Made-To-Measure (MTM). There are a bunch of brands that do good MTM shirts. Look on styleforum.net.

I like Proper Cloth, but have heard good things about Luxuire and Collaro as well. Kamakura as well, but I don’t think they do MTM.

Proper Cloth actually does MTM jeans as well.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#165

Post by fat_cantor »

masto wrote: post #161
n4r9 wrote: post #4

I did a double-take at the 3.5k Euro spend per year on clothing. My own spending is probably 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller. But then I saw how many shoes they own, and the fact that they have a summer house where at least one pair resides. This person lives differently to me.

It is good to have different people in the world. The article starts with "Have you ever wondered whether expensive clothes are worth their price?" I have never wondered that, no. I'm 49 years old and I'm not sure I have ever purchased an expensive clothe. I have, however, wondered whether an expensive screwdriver is worth its price, but I have not collected the data to support my Wiha habit.

You would know if you had purchased expensive clothes before. Due to autoimmune issues and a change of diet, I lost a lot of weight and could not afford retail clothes. I found a $300-retail shirt for ~$5 at a thrift in LA, and because my skin had become more sensitive, I noticed a huge difference compared to the cheap dress shirts that I had worn before. It's even more dramatic with nice wool. Perhaps an equivalent question is whether air conditioning is worth the price. Yes, if you can afford it, and it's not even close. And don't even get me started on knives...

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#166

Post by sneak »

seszett wrote: post #117
switch007 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My new European heat pump energy efficient tree hugging liberal dryer only heats to about 47c (sorry not sure what that is in futuristic values) Edit: but I do understand about clothes. I think it has a lot to do with the decline in the quality of clothes more than anything. Agitation is quite central to the cleaning process no? Top loaders agitate too? I can't imagine there is much in it

I'm not even sure US-style hot dryers are allowed in the EU? Everyone I know that has one has a low-temperature heat pump dryer.

My gas powered venting dryer in the US, while massively less efficient than my recirculating condenser electric dryer in Europe, seems to get way less hot and damages my clothing less.

I think there is just much less airflow in the efficient ones? Not sure. I’ve washed the identical make/model clothes many many times in both places, as I split my time between the two.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#167

Post by sneak »

vladms wrote: post #136
sneak wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

25.5% of that is Finland's VAT. Europeans include tax in prices. Also, for whatever reason, European clothes cleaning systems are insanely harsh, and your clothes don't last nearly as long when washed there. I think it's related to the energy efficiency requirements; the dryers are much much hotter (if they are available at all) and the washers have to use miniscule amounts of water so they use a lot more agitating i…

Do you have a reference for cleaning systems being harsh? Having moved countries I noticed many difference in: water hardness (will make your cloths stiffer), materials used (when you buy stuff), usage (car versus biking vs public transport), weather (some places is more rainy), washing habits (not everybody washes as often). Overall my impression is that the quality of the clothes affects more their lasting chances…

I wear the exact same outfit every day, and I have many identical copies of it, so I have a ton of experience with how it functions when cleaned differently.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#168

Post by maicro »

masto wrote: post #161
n4r9 wrote: post #4

I did a double-take at the 3.5k Euro spend per year on clothing. My own spending is probably 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller. But then I saw how many shoes they own, and the fact that they have a summer house where at least one pair resides. This person lives differently to me.

It is good to have different people in the world. The article starts with "Have you ever wondered whether expensive clothes are worth their price?" I have never wondered that, no. I'm 49 years old and I'm not sure I have ever purchased an expensive clothe. I have, however, wondered whether an expensive screwdriver is worth its price, but I have not collected the data to support my Wiha habit.

You may be interested in the youtube channel Project Farm then - I don't know if he's specifically tested Wiha screwdrivers, but Wiha performed well in his recent pliers test video[0].

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUklhL1cGqY

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#169

Post by martin_a »

tetris11 wrote: post #154

Scrolling through this thread, I feel like I am the only one who experienced a web page where the CSS gave me a blank rectangle on the left side, with all the content smushed narrowly to the right.

Happened to me too and was wondering whether this was on purpose or not. Figured out the blog template is probably broken. Two column layout, both equal width on 100% container... That can't go well...

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#170

Post by hotspot_one »

LandR wrote: post #126
hilux wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not convinced you need cushioning. I spend zero on running shoes, and I've run two marathons like this.

In regular training shoes I can barely run a mile without getting some pretty bad pains in the side of my knee. With good cushioned running shoes I can easily do 10-12 miles pain free. I'm assuming it's a form thing, and that the running shoes just somehow naturally give me a better form, so I could maybe fix by learning how to run in normal non-running shoes, but I'm lazy and would rather just pay a few hundred ever…

If it is a form thing, it might be that the running shoes naturally encourage a poor form (a form that only works with them, vs a presumably more 'natural' form of running closer to barefoot).

Doesn't matter. The main thing is you are out and running. And if that "costs" a few hundred every few months, and if you can afford it, why not?

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