What makes a £400 cardigan 'worth it'?

[NiceSausage]

I was thinking about this because the ONLY damn cardigan I have truly loved and which fits (perfectly) my ultimate criteria in many years of searching comes in at this price. Typical!

It is a cashmere loose fit v-neck from Johnstons of Elgin.
I have searched everywhere, from Poetry to Ebay to Vinted and have never been able to find the one in my mind. And then this turns up.

I could use my savings, which wouldn't be hurt by it, but it feels somehow off. I can't bring myself to do it. When I ask myself why, omitting financial constrains (which thankfully there aren't at the moment), it comes down to wondering whether the construction and source of this garment are actually worth it.

Does anyone know how this shit works?
How does a person qualify such expense for a transitory item? It mnight surely last for many years, but it isn't a holiday or a true life experience. I am not used to throwing money on expensive clothes.
But I adore it.

I don't want permission to purchase it, but would like some insider knowledge of why it costs what it does. I gather these are made in Scotland - great. But what does this cost truly cover? And is this just another item which lends someone status and not much else?

Johnstons cashmere is usually pretty good. The price of cashmere reflects a lot of dffferent things. First is where the wool comes from - the colder the climate (as a rule) the better the wool so the best cashmere usually comes from Mongolian goats. Then you need to look at the type of fibres the wool is spun from - the longer and finer the fibre the better the quality. Cheap cashmere is usually made from thicker shorter fibres. These will be rougher and scratchier than cashmere made from longer thinner fibres which ought to be soft and stay soft. Then there's both the skill and the labour conditions of the people who spin the wool dye the wool, operate the knitting machines and assemble and finish the garments. A reputable Scottish company like Johnstons will be complying with UK health & safety legislation and training up the next generation of craftsmen and women - a Chinese sweatshop not so much.

The description says gauzy cashmere so I would expect this to be made in a 2 ply wool - it knits up smaller/finer than a thicker wool so takes more work to make the same size of cloth (so a thicker wool might consist of x many rows and stitches to the square foot whilst a finer wool might take 2x of rows and stitches to the square foot).

Hope that helps

It does, thank you very much!
I have read about the fibres before somewhere, and do so love softer cashmere, although I don't own many items. I have a very small amount of clothes and tend to overthink the ones i do buy.
I have had both good and bad luck with pricier purchases in the past, so tend to stall.

I feel like if I bought that moths would eat it in the first week. I don’t know why, I’m cursed when it comes to anything expensive.

I quite enjoy grafting knitted fabric but I wouldn’t attempt it on something as fine as the OP ‘s cardigan. No reason why not, apart from patience and not wishing to risk something new which cost £400.

The video you posted shows a much thicker knit - but probably that’s to show the process more clearly.

Aaach, it’s free delivery and free returns. Lay the ghost and order it, so you can see if it’s as ideal as you’re building it up to be (and just because arms are a bit long on that model, doesn’t mean they will be on you).

Top tip: order two sizes, so you have to do a return either way - makes you less inclined to think ‘oh, it’ll do’ and keep things when they’re not perfect.

I think i will have to sit on this for a while, it will likely sit around in my favourites list then sell out, usually what happens!

These are all great tips, even the slightly snarky ones. I get it.

Whether i could bring myself to care enough to pay that is something I can't say right now, but do value the info that I asked for - such as how the item is made and how people are paid, etc. This is very helpful, thank you.

My MIL bought me a cashmere scarf from JoE about six years ago. It is so soft and lovely, much, much nicer than cashmere I have from places like John Lewis. The colours on it are not what I would have chosen myself but it is still my most worn winter scarf because it feels so nice and is super cosy - we live in NE Scotland, not too far from Elgin, and warm scarves are an essential!

I have a cardi about same price. Thick cashmere, classic and so warm. No bobbling as thick wool not cheap stuff. It is divine, I always get compliments on how lovely it is. I don't buy many clothes so one expensive cardi is my 10 cheaper ones...

Yes, I meant to say in my post that this particular video shows a much thicker garment, but it demonstrates the process of shortening sleeves on a knitted garment while retaining the original cuffs.

Many of the other reels show incredible invisible repairs on fine cashmere garments. It's good to know that moth damage doesn't have to mean the end of the garment.

This is such a good question. I often see what I consider very expensive items on here that people clearly do buy, so why shouldn't you be one of them? (If can afford). Oftentimes people just have a different scale and it feels quite normal to them and if there are people out there who will pay the prices, then companies will charge them.

I think what would stop me is that it would feel quite high stakes, e.g. I'd inevitably get pen on it, or shrink it, or lose it. Not so bad if it's £50 but would feel quite devastating at £400. Its the same way I wouldn't wear - or even own - a really expensive piece of jewellery.

It's very, very hard to find a nice warm cardigan with buttons in that style. It's hard to find a cardigan with buttons at all. I think you should order it and see what it feels like because you'll always wonder if you don't.

Do it 👏 do it 👏 do it!
Enjoy, wear it and cherish it, Good quality will far outlive cheaper products, so when you think of it as 'price per wear' you are actually making a great investment!

How many times have you considered buying a cardigan like this, but didn't because it wasn't what you wanted. Think how much money you saved on the cardigans you didn't buy. I'm sure this cardigan will feel much cheaper now and it's the right one!

Another way to look at it would be - if someone said they'd swap you that cardi for one of your pieces what would you say?

Think about the cost per wear. If you can afford it and will get value from it, then get it.

Just did a reverse image search, anything here that works?

https://lens.google.com/search?ep=gisbubb&hl=en-GB&re=df&p=ATHekxcF1woGI2iqgeCjR1C0CX200y5hrFuQy5g3EuQJEdZz7LNRLthhKkrQMZZ1DKmUGMhkGh7j8JCkTjddjDvGsuEtaVzQbwZrlPw3q3GGOgcZDFgzeXKnTf1-oMC7huhi-MUkQNZBEiNcrKP5QMGxCPY-SoOXMFoiNmz67kszhiBjNt0zpiHWTuAd8C1Ct2mDx9K2zGBy386fqefpkUUvE7Pog2CRKOJyAM9ChKlvXx6XszjukXF2ktahIpS0-W01i6jG4sxrwVhA0LTyN6EiugdwlfcCHt4nkOHbgOjXobJFJoA3EYVThwMt#lns=W251bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsbnVsbCxudWxsLG51bGwsIkVrY0tKREJqWVRVd00ySm1MVFJpT0dFdE5EQmpPQzA0TmpjM0xXVmlOakJqWm1JNU56RTROaElmUVhsV09HZzNObVJPYVZGYVVVUjFWV2RKVkUxaWJEUkJlSFpsYzJoQ1p3PT0iXQ==

I am like this with shoes, i tear them up and wont pay over a certain amount, although i take care of knits and they can last. I still dont know

I dont feel that it is affordable tbh, but i can lose a bit of money on it, it would be an annual treat rather than something i would do generally. I agree with you and think that the mess the world is in is due to us forking out (whether via credit or not) for unaffordable crap that we don't need, so am in a quandary!

Buy it..life is too short.
I have various grades of cashmere and rhe expensive ones are the most lasting..valuable per wear. Wash with wool degartgent..dry flat..always have a comb for bobling. Some i have for 20+ years and still in fashion. A fantastic investment per wear

thanks!
They are mostly hip length, boxy and if not over £1000 sadly.

I can see why you love it. It'd make me look like a sack of jelly, but I'm already imagining the sheer joy of wearing such a soft, light and just slightly oversized garment :)

It's always worth paying for quality if you can. I've just completed my first-ever "who cares if it's polyester" spree and it's been fun, but there is NO WAY you can't tell the difference!

If it makes you feel a little better, the most expensive clothing I have ever bought was a £1,250 cardigan. It was more of a jacket, I suppose, but knitted and unlined. I wore the hell out of it, loved every minute of it, and regret not a penny.

You wouldn't get much of a holiday for £350. I think you cardigan will deliver more pleasurable moments, pound for pound.

When I see something like this I sometimes think it is the overall effect of the item eg how it looks on the slinky slim model with her cute hair. It would look nothing like that on me.

You have obviously done your research and found your perfect cardigan. It's only £40 a month. It sounds like you can afford that, if you normally shop in White co etc. I'd say order it. No harm done. It may not fit as you want it but it might. If you care for it, it will last years (with a cashmere shaver thing to go with it).
I couldn't afford this new but if I could, it would be a lovely treat.

?

Yeah, do it. I have some JoE and it's gorgeous. All my cashmere and wool gets washed, bagged and put in the freezer in the spring before storing.

I got a beautiful thick, high quality cashmere jumper in a Reiss outlet a few years ago. I paid about £120 for it, but I think that the original price was around £300, and that was probably about 7 years ago.

It's lovely, and I still wear it occasionally, but I wouldn't pay over £200 for a jumper personally. However careful you are with hand washing, they are difficult to maintain and keep pristine.

I expect that your cardigan is thick, good quality cashmere, made in the UK, but there's nothing original or interesting about the design which warrants that price tag imo.

When I was younger I used to think that investment pieces were the way to go, but I've changed my mind as I've got older. Your body changes throughout your life, even if you manage stay the same size, things don't fit or look the same as you move into different stages of life. Fat redistributes itself and clothes hang differently. What I've learned is that however expensive an item of clothing is, and however much I love it at the time of purchase, I will still tire of it, and decide that its no longer me, after a few years

This doesn't mean that I buy fast fashion, I still look for quality, but there is a limit to how much I'm willing to spend on a single item, and this is too much to be worth it imo.

Oh, and the other thing about thick cashmere is that it's VERY warm. I don't wear my Reiss jumper very often because it's rarely cold enough. I don't want to wear it sitting about at home because it feels like a waste of an expensive jumper - but if I wear it out and about under a coat, then I end up getting extremely hot, even on very cold days!