Americans are spending less on clothing • Hacker News Board

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#121

Post by timmaah » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 2:43 PM UTC

bpicolo wrote: post #109

johnpowell wrote: post #7

Maybe I just live in a weird place. But I see a lot less branding when I walk around town compared to 20 years ago. My sister has 17 year old twin girls and they pretty much refuse to wear anything that makes them a "walking billboard". I live close to the university of Oregon and when I was in high school it was all Nike clothes all over campus. Now I still see some but not nearly as much. It is like "Likes" instead…

In Ithaca, Canada Goose is all the rage.

I went to Chicago and was really surprised. Nice coats with a huge patch. I thought everyone had added them themselves.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#122

Post by jimmies » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 2:45 PM UTC

bluedino wrote: post #82

jimmies wrote: 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…

>> Apparel is being displaced by travel, eating out and activities The apparel and technology spending lines basically mirror each other. Why is travel mentioned? Tech is the new status symbol for the masses. $600 phone instead of a $600 watch, leather jacket, etc

You might be right. However be careful, the graph doesn't suggest that all the decrease in clothing spending is siphoned into tech spending - it might be a coincident. If they draw more lines, you might see a similar increase in, say, books and education. Now what goes where? We don't know. All the graph says is that people spend more money on tech and experiences, and less money on clothing.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#123

Post by usukatstats » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 2:45 PM UTC

randcraw wrote: post #88

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…

> More people are working from home...

Your office is not representative of the entire US workforce, dear.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#124

Post by ubermonkey » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 2:46 PM UTC

This has definitely happened for me. In the dot-com boom I was a big clothes horse, and enjoyed it. Since then I've worked from home, and my biz wardrobe has dwindled to fairly crappy Jos. A Banks items I don't mind cramming into a suitcase for my rare business trips.

I still keep a suit or two for nicer social functions, but my everyday wear is increasingly casual. Since I lost a bunch of weight and became more active, it's also increasingly outdoor/athletic in nature -- turns out, Prana pants are super comfy, and cost a shitload less than Zegna.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#125

Post by icebraining » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 2:47 PM UTC

dnate wrote: post #42

TomK32 wrote: post #31

European here, pullover from the thrift store for €5,50 five-pocket pants from the sale for €29,99 same for the extra-long sleeves shirt, the socks were 30% off but at €7 still pricey, my sailing shoes (I'll just pretend it didn't just start snowing outside) are the most expensive thing I wear.

congratulations on supporting child labor

Expensive brands produce their clothes in the same factories. They just make higher profits.

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#126

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 2:48 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#127

Post by bdcravens » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 2:48 PM UTC

usukatstats wrote: post #123

randcraw wrote: post #88

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…

> More people are working from home... Your office is not representative of the entire US workforce, dear.

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

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#128

Post by meagher » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 2:51 PM UTC

mieseratte wrote: post #83

meagher wrote: post #74

i’d rather buy a small number of high quality, versatile items i love, than buy lots of cheap stuff i don’t really like to wear. this plus being able to wear whatever i want to work makes my decisions simpler so i can spend time on other things.

> i’d rather buy a small number of high quality See, something I've noticed too is that "high price / high quality" brands seem to not be so anymore. Recently I bought a handful of Carhartt pants, pricey-but-quality, or so it used to be yet the quality seems to have been driven downhill and all those pants quickly fell apart in various ways. I've found the $20-$30 lesser-known brands ended up being of higher quality,…

i agree high price brands are often not worth it.

i meant high quality independent of price. lots of brands let you “try before you buy” nowadays. if i’m shopping for a new t-shirt, i’ll get a bunch of them and return what i wouldn’t want to wear every day. (i’ll return all of them if i have to!)

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#129

Post by intrasight » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 2:51 PM UTC

dboreham wrote: post #95

randcraw wrote: post #88

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…

Sweat Pants should be trending up then!

Not if you wear nothing ;)

Re: Americans are spending less on clothing

#130

Post by usukatstats » Wed, Feb 07, 2018, 2:52 PM UTC

bdcravens wrote: post #127

usukatstats wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> More people are working from home... Your office is not representative of the entire US workforce, dear.

"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 you’ve decided is true for everyone because you see it at your own office once in a while and decided to build up an entire belief system around it?