Can most people really tell expensive clothes from good high street pieces?

[pontipinemum]

I'm listening to an audiobook at the moment and the main character talks about her clothes a lot. About how expensive clothes look better etc.

Now I am absolutely NOT a fashionist by any stretch.

I am wondering though can others tell the difference? I'm not talking about really cheap shein clothes etc. Or really unusually designed dresses.

But say a regular clothing item like this Chanel pull over, it is nice but I absolutely would not be able to tell if it was $3,500 or if it was £40 from Marks and Spencer

https://www.chanel.com/us/fashion/p/P82481K11949UA790/pullover-wool-silk/

DS can. He works in the high fashion industry. He can tell by the cut and the finish, especially hemlines, necklines, cuffs, buttonholes, waistbands etc. And what fabric is used.

But the difference between expensive high street clothes and dirt cheap high street clothes can be minimal if you shop carefully IMO. Some of my best, longest wearing staples come from Primark.

I can to an extent, I can tell a Chanel from an M&S jumper from the quality of the fabric and the cut, I'm best on wool and embroidery. But a lot of high fashion is mass produced now and I cannot tell a fake from a real in many cases let alone pick out 'quality' items at a distance.

I would absolutely be able to tell the difference between that Chanel jumper and an M&S one - especially if i was the one wearing it. The Chanel one is a wool/ silk blend so it will feel different to wear and touch, dye also sits differently on natural fibres - I can often can tell if clothes are even a synthetic blend often just by how the colour sits in the fabric.

Things like zips and buttons can really make a difference on clothes as well. I often replace buttons and zips on cheaper clothes,

The following sounds awful, but this is my observation, and I stopped buying expensive clothes because of this.

Friend A spends a lot of money on designer clothes, bags and watches. I’m talking £15k on a watch, £2k on a bag, and designer clothes. I’m wincing as I type this, but it all looks fake on her.

Friend B spends very little on clothes. She buys all her heels from Charles & Keith (she’s overseas based, copy designer bag from a market). I kid you not, it looks expensive on her.

The difference between them is how they carry themselves, poise, and confidence. Having seen this first hand I’d never spend loads of money on clothes because either way, I’m wasting my money 😂

Also, I bought an outfit from Sosander, costing me about £60 in total. I saw something very similar in Max Mars for £500. The Sodander outfit was nicer!

I couldn't unless the high street one was really poorly made (obvious messy stitching, shiny see through fabric etc.).

Maybe if I was the one wearing it, but not just by seeing it on someone else in the street.

It doesn’t matter what others think though, that’s not the point of designer clothes?

I have that sweater in a different colour from Sainsbury's 😆

I would be able to tell on seeing that in the flesh it was expensive material yes and not markies. I’d not assume designer automatically. You can even tell from the images the material is high end.

id say I can tell something like me and em v markies, the difference in quality is immediately visible, its the material and the cut. I don’t assume expensive means designer, I think it means high quality v average to low high street, markies is at the lower end now.

I can sometimes tell based on cut and fabric. I love gorgeous high-quality clothes, but sadly don’t have a Chanel budget at the moment.

The audio book just got me thinking about it and I wondered if people could.

I'm not really sure what the point of designer clothes is either.

Some things I think you can tell but far more important is how it looks on the person wearing it. Someone who is good at putting outfits together can look good or even stunning in relatively low cost items.

I've trained myself not to notice! I still would, though, if there was some reason to think about it. Now and again, you do find a high-street item that's well cut and perfectly finished in a fabric of appropriate weight, composition, etc. I've got some £40 jeans like this - unsurprisingly, they were sold out by the time mine arrived and I realised I should get another pair.

Producers that maintain high standards and affordable prices tend to go out of business, sadly. Their fabulous little manufacturers in India, Turkey, Romania or China get offers they can't refuse from mass producers and it's game over.

The Chanel jumper's only worth $4k because of the name. But you'd probably still have to pay over a grand for an identical one with an unknown label.

I totally would not buy a beige half zip sweater for £3,500 but I bet it is beautiful to wear and sits nicely.

This is often how rich/famous people look so effortless chic in casual clothes - they are able to afford very very good quality casual clothes.

No I don’t think most people can.
The reality is there is a lot of overlap of cuts and style from cheaper brands copying designer brands.
Some things will be made in a heavier/ nicer fabric that will probably be more expensive, but there’s just as much tacky, cheap shit at the top end as the bottom end.

Without the crass label there’s no way anyone is guessing this jumper costs £4k!

It can be more subtle, for example autograph and Jaeger in M&S are a world apart from the cheaper ranges in m&s.Not hugely expensive but I can tell the difference immediately.

Good lord, looks like Primark.

I can tell cheap material from expensive,. it's usually to do with the absorption of light. Pure wool blazers versus mixed wool for example. I can tell acrylic from cashmere but I couldn't tell a Tesco cashmere jumper from a designer one from a distance. I have no ideal about cut.

Of course lots of really expensive clothes use cheap fabrics now so I am at a loss.

The design screams Primark or similar but the execution suggests it’s a high end label.

I can spot cheap polyester crap from primark from 15 metres away.

I can spot good fabrics and a good cut (or tailoring in general). But that`s it...

A LOT of expensive clothes unfortunately are not made with what I would consider "good" fabric. And they (obviously) don`t necessarily fit the wearer.

I agree with @MassivePushover . How you wear something is at least as important as what you`re wearing.

Yes you can, cut, quality of material, stitching, finish etc.

But from a distance, a well put together highstreet look can look expensive.

I can tell cheap material by feel. Sometimes things like acrylic jumpers smell distinctive too (not in a nice way!)
But by eye, no.
There's a thread on here about the TV show Two Weeks in August and someone has observed that one of the characters' clothes look cheaper than the others'. I have no idea how you can tell that on TV!

EDITED typo

Rubbish. It looks like any old mass produced bargain basement rubbish.
There is not a bit of me that believes anyone would think this was executed so well if you hadn’t already known it was Chanel.

Yes. The whole fashion industry is very Emporer's New Clothes.

I’m sorry but that’s clearly a very cheap item of clothing and poor quality. No one really would mistake that for an item of quality higher end clothing. I’m actually thinking you’re joking?

@Ginmonkeyagain I agree, it’s how wealthy people have a look of being very well dressed about them. You absolutely can tell if someone is head to toe primark or markies, versus a much higher end brand, it’s the quality of the material, the finish, the cut,