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/

I can definitely tell a good fabric and sometimes the cut but not usually if it's a designer label. However I often tailor my DDs clothes from Shein and the likes and she can make they look very expensive once they fit perfectly. It helps that she's young, tall and thin though.

^^ this. Someone like gwyneth paltrow. A lot of cashmere, silk, heavy cottons high thread count. Looks expensive.

Or like the cast on succession

You can tell until it goes bobbly like everything else. I buy a lot of expensive cashmere / wool it looks amazing until it starts to bobble and then looks tatty

I think you can tell with things like suits; just the way they hang and are finished.

This^
also for me it’s about how good something looks over the time (basically after a few washes) and how it feels - some cheap items have this horrible plasticy feeling, no softness at all. Also cheap items often have pale or synthetic looking limited colors.

The Chanel one you posted screamed high end at me BUT there’s two particular ladies who I serve who look beyond designer all the time and I realised recently one works in Primark, the other Tesco and have seen loads of the clothes they wear there- they just look very put together on them, plus they wear the most stylish looking clothes from there.

Chanel clothes may have branding, that makes it obvious. Would I pay those prices no. £3500 is more than my monthly salary! The care of these garments is also not something I could manage. I was so upset shrinking my hush jumper in the wash. Imagine doing that to a jumper that cost that much!!

wool and cashmere will bobble - that is not a sign of poor quality. Good wool and cashmere need maintenance, bobbling happens with friction and daily wear. There are loads of you tube videos ect on maintaining these items including de bobbling, spot cleaning etc to help

I think you can often tell cheap clothing from expensive clothing. Not always though. A lot of expensive clothing looks cheap.

A good example of this is TK Maxx. You can go along the rails and certain items will shout out that they are more expensive even before you touch them.

I'm not being snobby btw. 99% of my clothes are from Tesco.

But everything looks tatty if you don't look after it.

To answer properly, I'll have to tell you about the first time I saw Margaret Howell trousers in a second hand shop about twelve years ago. I stopped to look because I'd heard a lot about her and I thought, 'Is that it?'

I tried them on because I was curious. They were nice, very nice even but I still couldn't see what all the fuss was about. I bought them anyway because they were a good price but I came away telling myself I was turning into a label victim.

Then I started wearing them. And I noticed that they looked as pristine at the end of the day as they did at the beginning; that even if I didn't hang them up, I could grab them the next day, give them a shake, put them back on and that they'd look good. Over time I also noticed that the fabric didn't go bobby or shiny, that they didn't sag around the arse or knees, that buttons stayed in place and hems didn't unravel. I bought a shirt and accidentally washed it on 90 degrees. It was fine.

So no, I'm not confident I can tell just by looking, and I certainly can't tell from a photo or a screen. But with certain things - not all brands by any means - let me wear them for a few days and yes, I think I'd be able to tell.

I also buy a lot of vintage and I can tell if it's genuine 1940s/'50s/'60s pretty much instantly, and certainly as soon as I pick it up. It's not because of the style - because that gets replicated - it's the weight.

Quality and price are not necessarily bedfellows! You can tell quality of fabric, cut, production, but doesn't mean they are the most expensive. I've seen a great deal in fancy shops, with so called good labels, that really are poorly produced and quality. I have older, affordable items that leave many new expensive items looking awful in comparison.

I didn’t say it’s a sign of poor quality I said it doesn’t look expensive when it’s bobbly.

I tried a bobble off it was rubbish. I probably need to do some more research.

I once asked asked a friend of her friend who was staying from the US, if her bag was from Nine West and said, i know that becsuse my other friend has one just the same! She told me in a very snooty voice that 'No, its a balenciaga!' Ha ha! Oops!

I have learned over time how to spot good clothing . As reformed shopaholic of fast fashion clothes have learned myself over time what is good and what is pure crap. Andrea Chong is very good online - she does a review of shops ( no matter what the brand is high cost to low cost) and examines clothes tells you what are good and what are bad and what to look for.
I refuse to buy anything with polyester now ( except where you have to have it like leggings ect ) shop alot second hand to. a big one for me is fit you will look crap if it doesn't fit. It doesn't matter what the size is on the label is if it needs tailoring get it done or if you need a size up up get the size up. The better quality jeans t shirts etc wash better keep their shape last longer. I live in jeans and some of mine are nearly 10years old now. One of my husbands family is wealthy ( has worked very hard) and will be in full designer clothes however not flashy, but they are good quality and she always look polished, the black trousers are not a shiny black jumpers fit and it all looks well. But she very rarely goes shopping (she works very long hours) so everything is bought to last and to work everyday wear. Just because its expensive doesn't mean its good quality but i firmly believe just because ii so cheap it cant be good quality either. It all depends on the cut how its sewed material etc. Shein temu etc do not supply good quality clothing ever.

Apologies mis read. Yes the de bobbler needs to be a good one i highly recommend this one and dont press down too hard or you will cut the material - like i did once and ended up having to get it repaired :(
Pilo 2 Fabric Shaver - Rose – Steamery

I dont think most people can tell. The difference tends to be in the quality of the fabric and the finish and you really have to be up close and touching things to really tell IMO.

This a IYKYK situation. I wear unbranded clothing that costs a lot. The regular Joe would probably think I’d gotten the polo from Asda or somewhere. But no, I went to Loro Piana.

Out of interest (apologies if you have already answered) but what book are you reading?

The Eliza account on Instagram normally does a side by side and asks which outfit cost £5k and which cost £150.

90% of the time I get it right. There are usually give away such as more detail but that’s only through studying the photos carefully. If both models were walking towards me down the street then I probably couldn’t tell unless close up and I could see the shoes in more detail.

Ah no worries and thank you, I’ll check that out. Will be a lot cheaper than replacing bobbly ones, I feel horrible in bobbly jumpers

Too much polyester everywhere
So many of the designer dresses are polyester .
I am definitely more picky when it comes to clothing and try to avoid clothing that is mostly polyester

It depends on both the brand and the item, I have two pairs of ysl jeans, I bought them in store a long time ago, so they were altered to fit me in store. So the cut was already good, but as they’ve been altered the fit is perfect, they’re about eight and ten years old. No fading, no sagging around the knees, no mark where my phone sits in my pocket.

Equally, you can buy highstreet stuff and get it altered and that really changes how it looks when you wear it.

Nope can't tell the difference although clothes don't interest me

A few people can,but if you stick to natural fibres and buy high street pieces very,very few people will be able to tell how much you spent.The fashion industry is mostly smoke and mirrors.Sign up to a sight like Who What Where to follow trends. LP