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How to assess the quality of garments (2014)

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Re: How to assess the quality of garments (2014)

#181

Post by distances »

Waterluvian wrote: post #168
swish_bob wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that poor people spend more money on things than rich people, once you include replacing them when they wear out. Or do you think that it's just that the poor people are held down? (Cue stories about people working their way out of poverty and thus proving the poverty trap isn't a real thing)

I see an interesting form of this that isn't exclusive to the poor: daycare. My wife has the luxury of not having to work so we have never used daycare. That's tens of thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours driving, not getting sick all the time, not needing a second car, the list goes on not to mention the immeasurable cost of missing out on the absolute best hours of your child's life.

In the US. Over here daycare is paid by taxes, free for everyone regardless of income or employment status, and in the city you'll likely have the daycare within a couple of blocks so no extra car needed either. Yes you'll get a cold more often thanks to all the germs, but sick days don't eat to your salary or holidays (also sick time on holidays gets reimbursed!) so no monetary loss.

You'll miss out on a lot of the time with your kid, but on the other hand they get to socialize a lot more from a very young age already. Some parents also burn out at home after a while, but that of course depends on the person.

I realize this went quite offtopic, sorry about that.

Re: How to assess the quality of garments (2014)

#183

Post by jacobush »

elliekelly wrote: post #24

In high school during the summers I worked as a seamstress making vastly overpriced custom curtains for an interior designer. I learned a quick & dirty method of judging the quality of just about anything made of fabric: look at the fabric grain relative to the primary vertical seams (pant legs, jacket sleeve, shirt torso). The angle at which a piece of fabric is cut can drastically change the shape/fit of the item b…

What I heard is that the cuts are laid out like a puzzle on the fabric. So some lucky t-shirts get the straight, "correct" angles vs fabric grain, while others will be wrong.

Re: How to assess the quality of garments (2014)

#184

Post by masklinn »

RomanBob wrote: post #146
masklinn wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or rather, they're expensive upfront but often turn out to be more economical over the life of the garment. In either case, they will be more pleasant to wear than a lower quality alternative. Good ol' Vimes "Boots" Theory of Economic Injustice strikes again: > At the time of Men at Arms, Samuel Vimes earned thirty-eight dollars a month as a Captain of the Watch, plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots…

What is the injustice here?

> Therefore over a period of ten years, he might have paid out a hundred dollars on boots, twice as much as the man who could afford fifty dollars up front ten years before. And he would still have wet feet.

Re: How to assess the quality of garments (2014)

#185

Post by Waterluvian »

distances wrote: post #181
Waterluvian wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see an interesting form of this that isn't exclusive to the poor: daycare. My wife has the luxury of not having to work so we have never used daycare. That's tens of thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours driving, not getting sick all the time, not needing a second car, the list goes on not to mention the immeasurable cost of missing out on the absolute best hours of your child's life.

In the US. Over here daycare is paid by taxes, free for everyone regardless of income or employment status, and in the city you'll likely have the daycare within a couple of blocks so no extra car needed either. Yes you'll get a cold more often thanks to all the germs, but sick days don't eat to your salary or holidays (also sick time on holidays gets reimbursed!) so no monetary loss. You'll miss out on a lot of the…

Thanks for sharing and helping reduce my ignorance on the subject. I'll be honest, any social service we have in Canada, I just assume the US has it worse.

I believe we have cheap or free subsidized daycare too but it's generally terrible. There's also 12 month waiting lists where I live. My colleagues all pay tens of thousands.

Re: How to assess the quality of garments (2014)

#186

Post by friendlybus »

carapace wrote: post #82
kingludite wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did manage to move the not so nice thoughts to the end of the train. Now if I could just learn to stop writing/talking/thinking(?) before we get there the world would be a happier place.

That line was poetry, and made me smile. :-) FWIW here in SF you're on the money: everyone used to dress in motley and calico but these days it's all greys and blacks. I was at the farmer's market behind Stonestown the other day and everyone was in grey and black. The cars too. My mom has this habit of calling out the colors of cars and she's been pointing it out for a few years now. Cars used to be colorful and now…

Video games used to be dark or brown and gritty. Now they are pushing colour a lot. Seems out escapism is the inversion of our real life products

Re: How to assess the quality of garments (2014)

#187

Post by frosted-flakes »

megablast wrote: post #60
tonyarkles wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another Carhartt fan! I’ve got a Carhartt bunnyhug that I wear all year round. They somehow made it warm enough to be a great add-on under a lighter winter coat, and cool enough to be ok up to about +15C. It’s black and the dye faded quickly, but it has otherwise held up way better than any bunnyhug I’ve ever owned. Plus the small bit of cognitive dissonance when people see the the sweater and then realize I’m workin…

Is bunnyhug a common term?

In certain parts of the United States, it means a heavy hooded sweater, or hoodie.

Re: How to assess the quality of garments (2014)

#188

Post by vanderZwan »

distances wrote: post #179
losvedir wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really believe this anymore. Basically because of this theory my last pair of boots want the nicest I could find, high quality materials, hand made construction, almost $500, thinking it was an investment and I'd never have to go shoe shopping again. Well, I've had to repair them once already, and frankly with how cheap boots are at Walmart I don't think anymore I'll ever break even. Nice boots, though, and a…

I think there's a middle ground. I bought 110€ winter shoes 11-12 years ago and they've worked fine (with one resoling) this far -- now I've worn through the inner material and will probably have to find a new pair. Same for my 100€ winter jacket, sits and looks great still after 10 years. It's def not lovingly handcrafted but a level up from fast fashion anyway.

So in short: Vimes' "Boots" Theory of Economic Injustice is incomplete without taking the Pareto Principle into consideration as well

Re: How to assess the quality of garments (2014)

#189

Post by distances »

lloeki wrote: post #156
dlivingston wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any high-quality clothing stores that you recommend?

https://www.loow.com Wool garments, from a small company set up by a Danish ex Jaeger Corps who was aghast with the quality (or lack thereof) of clothes out there when he returned to civil life. I don't even remember how I got in touch with them, but I was looking for robust, functional yet stylish clothes I could both wear everyday and do skateboarding with. I just remember buying one for the heck of it early in the…

Thanks for this tip! I generally love my few woollen garments but without a good source where to get some everyday wear.

I'm wondering how it'd work with underwear though, as that's probably something one might to wash after each use regardless of material.

Re: How to assess the quality of garments (2014)

#190

Post by H1Supreme »

losvedir wrote: post #177
masklinn wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Or rather, they're expensive upfront but often turn out to be more economical over the life of the garment. In either case, they will be more pleasant to wear than a lower quality alternative. Good ol' Vimes "Boots" Theory of Economic Injustice strikes again: > At the time of Men at Arms, Samuel Vimes earned thirty-eight dollars a month as a Captain of the Watch, plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots…

I don't really believe this anymore. Basically because of this theory my last pair of boots want the nicest I could find, high quality materials, hand made construction, almost $500, thinking it was an investment and I'd never have to go shoe shopping again. Well, I've had to repair them once already, and frankly with how cheap boots are at Walmart I don't think anymore I'll ever break even. Nice boots, though, and a…

Do you wear them daily? Even boots from Alden or Viberg should be rotated with at least one other pair.
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