We all see it, that pair of jeans that somehow are worth $60, or that pair of shoes that are quite ugly, but people buy them because they're $130.

What is your opinion on these prices? Price gouging? Are they actually worth it?

I personally am a thrift store man, because of my family's financial situation. Which is also why I find those prices exorbitantly high.





(This kinda seems like a silly debate with all these other serious ones. )

No, I don't think it's silly.

But, in this case, YAY CARTELS!!!!!!!!!!!

I could easily afford expenisive high-end brandnames but i still shop at Value Village. Brandnames are pointless i'm not going to pay $50 extra for a shirt that i could get for $5 just because some Gay guys name is scribbled on it somewhere its absolutely pointless and while it doesn't hurt anyone but yourself to pay that money i think anyone who does is pretty stupid and/or needs to stop giving a damn about what 12 year old girls think of them.

That being said i have a pair of Kalvin Clein jeans that i like alot but that was a birthday present.

And seriously I've said this before all brandnames like Hollister and Abercrombie do when worn on a guy is make them look like a feminine muppetbag and/or queer.
(which i guess is an opinion but it seems to be a pretty common opinion from my experience)

As for girls i can't comment there really wierd and confusing. But know that no decent guy that deserves your attention gives a damn about what queers name in written on your shirt so think about that before you buy stuff.


THIS DEBATE IS OF THE UTMOST SERIOUSNESS!

Well I used to think people paid big bucks for big labels as an expression of their wealth (and/or their willingness to spend money on a logo).
But I see plently of people with mega-expensive clothes that you cannot even tell costs insane amounts without checking the receipt.
These are the people that still confuse me. I imagine they believe they're paying for quality and I suppose the amounts are relative to their overall wealth.
There'll always be people willing to spend money on clothes that cost hundreds of times more than they're worth.

Some people like those ugly, expensive clothes. It's all a matter of opinion.

Ouch. :x

I like buying expensive things when I can, but only have a few things in my wardrobe that are expensive.

My question is why not just go and find some brand names at the thrift store and pay a whole lot less....?

Although I do aim to be one of the designers selling clothes for the price of £500 and up, I do have to say that I agree with the ridiculous pricing, although I'd practically be contradicting myself by saying that, haha.

Sure, it might be good quality fabric, but you could get something which looks the same cheaper from another store. Clothes are a sort of vital thing in ou day to day lives, since it's sort of wrong to simply run out on the street without wearing anything, but you could spend the money on food, bills, or something more important than a piece of clothing that you're only going to wear probably to fancy parties or important meetings which only turn up once in a blue moon.
And if you rip or tear the clothing or ruin it in general, you have to live with the guilt knowing that around say £600 has just gone down the drain.

I do, but often the more expensive and high cost clothing are more comfortable and have a more distinctive and creative style to them.

They're often more comfortable because they're pre-worn to make the fibers more relaxed. You could get the same effect from wearing a pair of jeans for a while.

I prefer not to buy expensive clothes. But hey, that's capitalism. Whoever's making those Ed Hardy shirts is getting a ton of money for selling cheap shirts for $60 each.

Or buying them second hand. I've had expensive brands before my mom stopped buying my clothes and honestly i can't tell the difference. Infact if anything Hollister is itchy and abercrombie shirts are tight in places i don't want them being tight on.

I agree with the people that say paying for a logo, or buying into price gouging when there is no quality difference is very stupid and something you definitely should not do. However, if you're looking at an item you want and there is a higher-priced brand that is of higher quality than the lower-price brand, you need to buy the highest quality you can afford. I'll use an example: I'm a sunglasses kind of guy. Like them a lot, wear them a lot, look at them online a lot, etc. My next big sunglass purchase will be a pair of Oakley sunglasses. I had a pair of knock-off M-Frames (that weren't marketed as such, but the look was very similar) that were polarized and had nice polycarb safety lenses, and only cost about $25. Great pair of glasses, lasted me quite a while until my dogs chewed them up. D'oh! But, as good as that pair was, after some very extensive research, I've come to the conclusion that there is a quality difference between the $25 pair of JiMarti's and the $90 pair of Oakleys. I can afford the Oakleys - so I'm buying them. I'm sure part of the money I spend on them will go straight to the Oakley profit department, and I'm sure I'm partly paying for the name, but in my mind the difference of quality is worth the price.

Don't know if sunglasses count as clothing but this is just my .02.

It's just silly, and in this economy people that can afford them should just restrain themselves.

man i agree with you. Im 13 and my birthday was just yesterday. thou i am a girl i don't go for all the designer brands and stupidly high priced things. There just plain stupid anyways it not exactly like your going to have some one rip open ur shirt just to see watt brand it is, right>?








interesting.... it also depends if your the spoilt type of person i guess... not saying that you are thou... and no offence




Truee Truue...

If you shop around, you can get nice clothes for a lower price. I don't think i've ever spent more than £40 on any item of clothing

I'm not so bothered about overpricing of clothes, more that the people (and sometimes the children) that make them get paid pennies, to ensure the maximum profit for their corporation. To get through the loophole with manufacturing labour, the work is often given as a quota to a contractor, who himself finds the workers to make the items. He/she gets the quota and then makes them as quickly and as cheaply as possible, at the expense of the workers pay. Then in the unlikely situation they are caught (Nike were), they can blame the contractor, as it was the contractor who employed the workers.

meh if you look hard enough then there are plain awesome clothing lines that are as cheap as chips so I just go around not really doing anything and sometimes they just ''appear''

Brah I don't shop at the expensive stores. Just find like a Marshalls and $60 jeans are $15-20

Alot of high price fashion clothing are made and manufactured in Richer countries so they don't come across as cheap, and some are even hand sewed by experts.

But equally, alot is made in LEDC's.

Those china-men probably have good hands though after sewing for so long. They could just give them some extra washroom breaks and a small pay raise to get him/her to make a "less cheap" looking piece of clothing.

Expensive shoes use materials that are harder to obtain, thus making the shoes expensive. The company has to MAKE money, whether the customers like it or not.

Personally, I buy from the Wal-Mart clearance or the Salvation Army. I wear a lot of Flannel and such. Not only is it cheaper, but my Lumberjack look rocks. In all reality though, I hate people that spend that much just to look 'nice.' I mean, who pays that much for jeans?

No. Unless they were made out of gold for example.

The cost comes from the designer and the reputation the store has. A big name like D&G can charge what they like become they have build up respect over the years of coming up with the latest fashion which people enjoy wearing.

I don't mind splashing out on a new pair of sneakers every now and then but normal shirts and jeans? I just buy what looks awesome with in my budget.

They're not worth it, but they have the right to put the price they want on the clothing they make... It's your own fault if you're as stupid as to buy it.

I actually like moderatley pricey(sp/gr?) clothes

Most of my clothes are good brands, but i got them cheap at places like TKmaxx. It's just a nice feeling that you have nice clothes.

getting a £65 top for £20 is good and i would buy it. And i'd wear it a lot. If you don't have the money there's no point in buying it though obviously.

In my opinion people do it because it's attention, if you're on a high salary why not buy high end clothes? If i was rich i'd have the best things my money could buy and that's basically what people do.

It's the exact reason why people buy flash car's, they don't need it to go as fast as it does. But it looks bleeding great and all eyes you pass will be on you

edit: What a false world we live in lol

Because theres better ways to spend that money. If nothing else you could feed a starving kid in Africa.

Yes that is an opinion but that money could be hardly an impact.

If all the preppy kid gave up there Aberceombie? That would make a huge difference for atleast 1 part of the continent but instead people choose to buy a logo over saving a life. I'm not a big charity guy but i'de much rather feed starving child then have an expensive shirt.

Near where I live there is a place called freeport which has loads of factory outlet shops which is normaly where i get clothes.
The place I get my shoes is great as normal everything there is around 70% off high street prices and I got a really nice pair of Airwalk shoes there recently for 20 pounds recentley rather than the 70 pounds they would cost on the highstreet.

Yay cheapskates

I prefer to have less clothes that are more expensive than more clothes that are less expensive. My wardrobe isn't huge, but I've got some very good quality stuff in there. I have jeans I bought nearly two years ago that I still wear and they still look great (wearing them actually right now ). Paying $70 for quality American Eagle jeans is worth it for me if they last and are super comfortable. I'm slim, so not many stores fit a 26-28" waist. American Eagle does, so I pay more to get the clothes that fit me properly. And I like their style, too. That being said, I don't go out and spend tons of money on unneeded clothes - I go shopping when I need new things, not "just because".

I've come across quite a few good deals, too. At times we get 20% off AE clothes because of how much we shop there and the points we get. I also got a $400 DC winter jacket for $170 because I ordered it from the States. And I have to say, that jacket is completely worth it.

Shoes are something that I can see spending $100+ on - I want my feet to be comfortable. I love my Nike's and they have the fit I want. Plus, I can walk around all day in them and not be sore at the end of the day. That's worth $100+ right there.

~Bcloutier~

I find nearly identical things at Target and sometimes Wal-Mart that I see in American Eagle or Urban Outfitters, and it's the same quality (sometimes better). I'm not ashamed to say that all of my jeans I wear now are from Wal-Mart, partly in fact that I wear them better than most wear Ecko or Express. A name sewn on the front of a shirt isn't worth the extra 40+ dollars that could buy even more clothes at a bargain. If people really want that name brand, they can go to resale shops and what not - there's a store in Saint Louis called Plato's Closet that had all the main brand names at prices that compete with Wal-Mart. For a smart and frugal shopper, looking good on a dime is not hard at all. You pay $100 for some jeans, I pay $65 for an entire outfit.

However, if something is exclusive and/or very nice, then I buy well. Sadly, things such as suits and coats are rarely made with good quality if the price is low. Suits made for bargain prices are usually ill fitting and have short-lived material, so tailoring isn't even worth the bother. I'm not ashamed to say that I have an Armani suit hanging in my closet, because it is good quality and I take care of it. It fits well and makes great impressions in important social events or interviews.

In all, there are some things that really can be found and acquired frugally, but at the same time there are some things that we just need to go ahead and pay the high price for - it'll pay off in the future.

The only brand that annoys me at the moment is Jack Wills. Mainly because the stuff looks like rubbish.

There are shirts that are £60 (~$80) that can't have any more fabric than the £5 shirts I picked up from Forbidden Planet. They also have these 'lounge pants' which look like the cheap tracksuits characterised by Vicky Pollard but you can expect to pay top dollar for them, and they make you look like you've stepped off a council estate. The whole concept confuses me as I used to wear 'designer' labels, but I'd pick the out of fashion jeans that were going for £10 and wear them to destruction.

All you are paying for is the advertising and the designers. The designers don't really design clothes you can wear, just the ridiculous garments the cat-walk models wear, and the advertising for prime time slots. I prefer to fund a nerd with a sense humour than some whiny muppet.

I can get a decent shirt for £5.
Why would I spend tons more on that same shirt with a name brand slapped on it?
I'm not one for glitzy clothing.

I buy clothes I like.

So, if its price is high, I'll work for it.

I'm spending my money.

What I find silly is people buying 200 dollar designer jeans (the only difference is the tears that are so popular now), where any other half-sensible person can go and buy a few pairs of 20 dollar jeans and put the holes in by himself.

Where?

I see no objection to it if people want to try and show off with expensive clothing it's up to them. I think saying have a one-off Lyle and Scott jumper for occasions etc. may be nice, but for normal stuff I don't really see the point for me personally.

As nice as it is to say this and that will save lives, I really doubt it will. Yes, you could save money buying other clothing, but I doubt that money will go to charity, money can be saved everywhere, and people always buy pending on where or what they are buying. (generally). So spending less may just provide you another bottle of vodka and cigs elsewhere...waste waste waste, it's what consumerism is based on. =p

Old Navy, 5 tees for $10.

I got them three years ago and I still wear them often. Comfortable and I spent two bucks a shirt. No stupid lettering crap. Just a shirt with a pocket and no tag.

I mean.

I'm stumped at how you can buy a t-shirt in small quantities for that price

Yes, I agree with the stupidity of buying clothes with some gay guy's name scribbled on it. I'd rather just buy a crud load of white tee's for 1/4 the price.

Don't you ever get bored of white t-shirts?

That's what grey, red, black, lime green, yellow are for

In some cases, the more money you put into something the more you get out.
I've seen a jacket that looks exactly the same as my mates jacket (£30) cost £2000 and I've stepped back and thought "woooah" but in reality, the types of people who spend large amounts of money on clothing are probably going to be able to afford it easily anyway.

Crazy Americans, that's how

It's really all about timing. We got those in September, I think. Summer was just over so people didn't want tee shirts.

Offseason purchases ftw.

My cousin is black and he won't buy anything that isn't name brand and expensive. From what I can make out from his incoherent rambling it seems to be merely a social thing for him. For some reason buying expensive stuff somehow gets him respect from his peers.

All people around me spend a lot of money on shoes. Especially girls, they all have at least 3 pairs of Converse. It's something I've never understood. I mean WHO DA HECK LOOKS AT OTHER PEOPLE'S SHOES and does it matter if they wear the same colour of shoes twice? Oh, and boys, they have seperate shoes for daily wear, football and basketball. Who cares about playing basketball with normal sneakers? It seems like they do...