To think the price of clothing has soared!

[Orangegreen]

Not talking particularly high end brands. Even supermarket clothing lines, historically cheaper shops, ASOS etc. Hard to find a dress for under £30 and that is often pushing it, usually they are in the £40-60 bracket just for an every day type dress. Occasion wear is probably much more but I’m not in the habit of buying this!

I nipped into Primark the other day thinking they would be cheaper but not anymore.

Why has it gone so crazy?

oh no some random on the internet dont like how i shop

how ever will i cope........

Nowadays price is just what the brand thinks people will pay, nothing to do with quality or ethical production.

It's probably the logistics/transport having to pay increased prices to get the clothes over here. Shipping has increased massively since Covid. Utility bills for heating factories and warehouses have also increased massively as we have all experienced.

I was looking for children's clothes (for a four year old) in Next the other day and they seemed quite expensive, T-shirts for £10-15 each and not great quality, dresses were £25-30. Those prices are what I used to spend on myself a few years ago. I went to Asda in the end.

Another second-hand devotee here. Hardly ever buy new, only shoes really. Have mostly been lucky on Vinted, though have had a few bits that
didn't work. Tend to play safe and look for things I am confident will work for me. Great for kids bundles, I look for sellers with a few things we need to save on postage. I also love a mooch round a charity shop though the prices have crept up a lot. But I don’t mind for quality. Yesterday got a lovely Hobbs summer floral dress for £10. Recently spent what I considered a lot on jeans, £20, but they are All Saints in good condition and they are the comfiest jeans I’ve ever worn, love them.

There are still bargains out there - new - if you shop around. Last night I bought a new dress online from Nobody's Child, they are rated 3/5 for ethics by Good On You which is better than M&S, Primark and Zara. It was £19 and £5 delivery which is not expensive for a brand new dress.

As others have said repeatedly, £19 is what we were all paying for a new dress in the 90s. Clothes are ridiculously cheap.

When I was at work yesterday (charity retail), I sold a gorgeous child's dress from Next and I realised my DC had had the same dress about 14yrs ago. I checked it over and the dress was still in almost perfect condition. When I bought the dress from eBay 2nd hand, I probably paid about £15 and remember it costing £36 new - a fortune at the time! I sold the dress for about £8 at a car boot and the dress that I sold yesterday was £2.50
The children's clothing that we get donated that has been made in the last few years is often poorly made and out of shape but this dress was quality even though it was 15 years old. So, yes, quality has gone down hill drastically because I can't see an expensive dress made now lasting 15 years in pristine condition.

I've always thought the supermarket kids clothes were good.

Once they hit teens found https://www.qwertee.com/ for t-shirts.

Even there prices have also gone up a lot recently though still cheaper than what I see in some shops but they still have regular sales and we've had no quality issues with their T-shirts.

So, yes, quality has gone down hill drastically because I can't see an expensive dress made now lasting 15 years in pristine condition.

Few years ago I notice newer clothes were wearing out at same time as much older decades old clothes - meaning I was suddenly short of more items than expected. I've mainly replaced with charity shop items - but again wear is mixed.

Well it's clear from this thread (and from real life in general) that the price of clothing has soared.

Why on earth do you think that you are being unreasonable to state a fact?

Cost of materials have increased globally. A mixture of unsteady political situations, challenging climate change issues affecting different industries, rising inflation etc...
If you keep up with the news,it's not difficult to see why everything is costing more.

Clothing has been too cheap for too long. It was underpinned by low cost manufacturing, children in factories in bangladesh etc.

Costs have risen to due to:

• commodity costs including rising cotton prices
• rising wages in developing markets increases manufacturing costs
• rising transport costs
• high store rental & staff costs in uk retail space

Then suppliers can also choose to raise prices in response to high demand, for example caused by:

• second hard marketplaces - people are more willing to pay £60 for a dress if confident they can sell on for £30
• buy now pay later/other cheap credit enabling people who can't afford to spend more

We comsume too much, we dont need it

It always amazes me that people can't see the flaw in Vinted quality. The clothes people are buying and praising today, are the better quality clothes that were made a few years ago, usually. As the supply of these dries up, all you're going to find on Vinted is the same tat that's in the stores now!

This is clearly a joke 🤣
You don’t even get the same item of clothing that you see on the advert for the item lol

Shein is hideous quality tat that just copies western brands designs. Its a complete potluck what you receive

Also?

Wages have risen. Quite substantially in some sectors. Generally speaking we don't all magically get richer with inflation, the value of each pound is simply lower so we have to earn, then spend more of them.

I’m very aware of the issues of buying second hand - it’s only as good as the products people are buying new. The issue for me is that item of clothing already exists and I would rather someone made use of it now while it’s still current enough to be desirable to someone. Im planning on learning how to sew so I can upcycle / make my own clothing which I appreciate is a longer term ambition. ( the main cultural shift that needs to happen is to normalise wearing items for longer, repairing clothes, “ shopping your wardrobe” and outfit repeating. Generally less “ hauls” whether second hand or not )

Most people don't do hauls.
However, lots of people do overbuy and don't make use of their existing wardrobe when they go out and buy items again.

Clothing is expensive in comparison to the last couple of decades and has gone up, yet somehow mostly cheaper than in the 80s and 90s.

We need to get used to decent prices, which is what the current ones are. We also need companies to make it decent quality and not waste resources wiith fast fashion. We don't need only two collections a year or the current endless fast fashion. We need something in between.

The companies need to do this and people need to vote with their feet if companies aren't treating workers, suppliers, manufacturers and resources correctly.

It's a enormous big puzzle but we can all start by buying smarter, taking better care of our clothing and not letting ourselves be led by the endless types of media/propaganda telling us how we should live/buy/ consume/wear to somehow be better. That's all a massive lie. ..

Im planning on learning how to sew so I can upcycle / make my own clothing which I appreciate is a longer term ambition.

Works for DH and DD1 because items they make are extremely expensive or just not in shops.

It's seem less worth it so far for me as you can spend a lot on fabric and time and not really like end product - of 5 tops I've made only like two - others have something off with sleeves or seams but as I bought cheaper fabric not wore that well either.

https://poundfabrics.co.uk/

Good place to look for fabric.

Had better luck with repairs - you tube is good for those skills. Never even heard of a Scotch darning but worked really well on a laddering and large hole school jumper.

When I was a teenager 15 yrs ago a dress or a jumper from topshop would be £40, a nice top maybe £30-35. Zara was similar prices. Now I can buy a dress from Zara for £35. A jumper from (admittedly asos topshop) for £30.

I can find loads of dresses from H&M for £20, same as new look. Yes of course brands like fatcae are expensive, but that have always been

Prices for clothes have been ridiculously low for years, many brands there has been little to no increase in price but a constant decrease in quality. You cant expect to buy decent quality item of clothes for very low prices.

I am totally on board with the make do and mend ethos. Have also made my own clothes in the past but sewing clothing is HARD!! It's a real skill to get something make as nicely as a shop-bought item, especially if you don't have an overlocker. It's also a skill which is not taught in schools any more, I remember making a cotton button up the front skirt in Home Ec when I was about 14, none of my kids who are now teenagers have had any sort of sewing in school at all. We have a machine at home but it's an effort to learn and you really need expert tuition.

Well that's why I'd encourage spending your £20 on something of quality from vinted rather than tat. If people dont buy the tat then less will be produced and less to arrive on vinted

And ultimately its still better if you are buying tat to buy secondhand tat

And ultimately its still better if you are buying tat to buy secondhand tat

Completely. And if you are buying tat from the fast fashion chains, wear it and wear it again until it is totally falling to bits, then relegate it to bed wear or for doing the garden or painting, or for washing cloths or whatever rather than wearing it once or twice and then chucking it in the bin, or giving it to charity shops who can't make any money on it.

@FiveTreeHill I agree- I don't think clothes are particularly more expensive at the mid market/cheaper end

I buy less these days and wear some of my stuff to death - others I keep just for holidays, consequently I have 15 year old dresses that look nearly new as I don't wear that often- the only things I regularly buy are 3 pairs of good quality black leggings/jeggings about every year and a new pair of good boots every couple of years and maybe a pair of sketchers every couple of years and maybe 2 new dresses or tops/dresses every year and possibly a new padded coat every 3 years or so

but sewing clothing is HARD!!

agreed. I have done a class in the past and am contemplating an evening class at a nearby college. I really was more interested in up-cycling second hand clothes but I actually think that might be more complicated than making something from scratch. I don’t want tons of stuff though so I’m going to start small and make a toile first.

I like vinted but for there to be good stuff on there, other people have to buy it at full price from the shops first!

If people can't afford to buy things in the first place there will be a knock on effect on the second hand market.

Plus for lots of things it's hard to buy without the option to return - unless you're a completely standard size jeans etc can be a nightmare.