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People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

theguardian.com

71–80 of 165 posts

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#71
I hate shopping for clothes. Hate it. When I was growing up my parents made sure that buying clothes was as painful as possible and I never got over it.

I still year the same members only jacket my father bought in the 80s and gave to me in the 90s - the lining could use some work but otherwise completely functional. I’ve had the same umbrella for almost twenty years - was a niche brand that built heavy duty frames and it’s taken punishment that would have broken a lesser umbrella dozens of times over - but aside from some thin spots in the canopy it’s perfectly fine. I wrote the company that made it but only got a form letter in response so guess they weren’t impressed with my long lived umbrella that’s been to every continent except Antarctica.

I do have to say that buying clothes from amazon is a pleasure. They remember your orders forever so if I’m not sure of size or brand I can always look at order history. If the style or color I want is no longer available the purchase recommendations are good at finding me something similar. Best of all I don’t have to buy what’s available and get it tailored, I can buy clothes made for my exact size. I used to spend as much getting pants legs shortened as I did on the pants because I have an odd size that the stores don’t carry and can’t get for weeks. I still have to typically buy shoes two sizes larger to accommodate the width of my feet - Allen Edmonds is about the only places that makes affordable shoes in my exact size, but those soft leather soles get torn up quickly by NYC streets.

I’m sure that in another ten years I’ll just give Amazon my measurements and tailored clothing will magically appear whenever I order it.

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#72
post #3

I don't want to buy new clothes either. Where can I find clothes that will last 10 years. The article didn't help with any specifics.

Leather and denim are probably your best bet. Higher quality leather jackets can last for 10-20 years if you take care of them. Personally I recommend Schott in NYC. A bit pricey but my jacket still looks great 5 years later. I imagine it will be wearable for at least another decade. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schott_NYC

Jeans last for at most a year for me before my saddle eats through them.

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you mean random stains like coffee/juice or armpit stains? if the latter, you might consider switching to an aluminum-free deodorant. I switched a few years ago and I get much more use out of a tshirt now. as for jeans, these can also last a long time if cared for properly. in my experience, jeans are pretty resilient to day-to-day life but take a real beating in the washing machine. I wear my regular pants one or…

I heard once the ceo of Levi doesn’t wash his jeans. I decided not to as well (unless they get stained from kids) and they’ve been great. Just hang them up to air outside.

maybe he only wears them for public appearances? I like my levis, but tbh I would probably buy more expensive jeans if I were worth millions of dollars.

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#75
It's me.

More then ten years ago my fiance have converted three bedrooms into additional wardrobes (or more like storage rooms). All expensive designer stuff that she has been rarely using (if at all) just purchasing and storing for later.

Since then I wear mostly Uniqlo, $1 t-shirts from a heap or almost new re-sold stuff.

Clothes and especially cotton are killing the planet.

> About 5 % of household expenditure in the EU is spent on clothing and footwear, of which about 80 % is spent on clothes and 20 % on footwear. It has been estimated that in 2015 EU citizens bought 6.4 million tonnes of new clothing (12.66 kg per person). According to European Environment Agency (EEA) estimates, between 1996 and 2012, the amount of clothes bought per person in the EU increased by 40 %. At the same time, more than 30 % of clothes in Europeans' wardrobes have not been used for at least a year. Once discarded, over half the garments are not recycled, but end up in mixed household waste and are subsequently sent to incinerators or landfill.

> the global textiles and clothing industry was responsible for the consumption of 79 billion cubic metres of water, 1 715 million tons of CO2 emissions and 92 million tons of waste. It also estimated that by 2030, under a business-as-usual scenario, these numbers would increase by at least 50 %.

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2019/6331...

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#76
post #30

I stopped buying clothes because my size is never available. I guess I am physically more than a sigma away from the norm, and it sucks.

By the way, there are shops specialized in "extreme" sizes but their offerings are limited and frankly quite boring. Hurray for the free market ...

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#77
post #59
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LL Bean used to have a "lifetime" guarantee but like others (e.g. REI) have backed off considerably. I'm not sure how much of that is because quality has in fact decreased as so many of these brands have shifted manufacturing to the Far East--and how much is because people in general are probably more willing to abuse things like return policies. I suspect it's a bit of each.

They used to have lifetime returns ! Regardless of condition, no questions asked! This American Life did an interesting piece on it, I was surprised the degree to which people abused—or, I guess, took advantage of—the policy. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/591/get-your-moneys-worth/a...

The policies were always abused. I've heard people boast about taking in a well-used rain jacket every five years and swapping it for a new one although most didn't do this of course. I certainly don't have the data to support this sort of thing being more common; it's just a general impression that there are fewer social norms against gaming the system to your personal advantage so long as you can get away with it.

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#79
I rarely if ever buy new clothes (maybe a few times per decade). And, even on those rare occassions when I do, for jeans, its usually a used clothing store for less than 10$. As for t-shirts, I think I have a lifetime supply already (20 or so), so I won't need to buy those for a while. Those t-shirts last a long long time. I still have some cheap ones from 20 years that are still going strong.

Re: People who haven't bought clothes for a decade

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Not promoting/affiliated to eBay) When I made the decision to buy second hand clothes, I only though of eBay (have been buying stuff since 2001(?). I always seem to find a nice sweater etc, I don't mind if the size is a bit off, I can always resell. I would love it if anyone can suggest any other online stores that sell 2nd hand clothes at the volume/options that eBay (it's sellers) can provide.

A consistent sizing code system would dramatically simplify online shopping for both new and 2nd hand clothes. Imagine a system where say 10 critical dimensions of a bit of clothing could be embedded onto a QR code on the label. Then you could scan the code with some app which has your measurements (or potentially just take an average of the existing clothes in your wardrobe). It could tell you "Yes, this fits quite…

As part of a fitness program, last year I had a 3D scan made of my body. The website where I downloaded the model data had optional questions almost all about clothing brands and sizing. Sounded like they were planning to work with clothes manufacturers to create clothes custom tailored to your body. The scan cost $60 but you could get a free scan once a month for a year afterwards. Since this was for a fitness program, the main goal was to track body shape changes over time but the process was easy enough that it seems like a viable way of custom sizing clothes to the wearer.
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