Monday 19 October 2015

Wardrobe planning ... the case for expensive clothes

Last week I came across this article by Marc Bain in The Atlantic. It starts off saying:

If you’ve ever found yourself buying clothes just because
they’re cheap, or if shopping itself has become a form of entertainment for you, I’ve got a proposal: The next time you buy something, spend a whole lot on it. Enough that it makes you sweat a little.

The point is to make you pause and ask yourself, “How much do I really want this?”

In the U.S. and much of the industrialized world, cheap clothes are everywhere. At any fast-fashion chain store, you’ll find piles upon piles of jeans that cost less than $20. The problem is, all that low-cost clothing is produced, sold, and finally discarded in mass quantities, which has serious consequences for the environment, the workers paid poorly to make them, and even the mental well-being of the people buying them.

As a fashion reporter, I like clothes probably more than most. But I also know all the troubling facts represented by those cheap t-shirts and jeans. For more than a year now, I’ve set myself a simple goal for every clothing purchase. It’s an entirely personal choice that I feel helps me buy less and enjoy my purchases more. My hope is that it also reduces how much I contribute to some of those issues mentioned above.

The goal is to spend at least $150 on each item of clothing. And I propose you give it a try.

The immediate reaction I get when I tell people about this goal—and I call it a goal because I don’t always live up to it—is that $150 is a lot to spend for a piece of clothing.

The rest of the article is here if you want to read further:  http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/10/the-case-for-expensive-clothes/408652/


Now this article makes me think. As I wrote in my last blog post about Courtney Carver of Project 333I am trying to plan more and buy less clothing, especially the cheaper throw away type. I have recently noticed that I spend less overall and make better decisions if I am not tempted by a bargain or a sale item. I do much better when looking for a specific item to fill a real need in my wardrobe. And I make a more considered decision when it is full price.

Now the big question is WHAT IS MY MINIMUM PRICE? $150?

What do you think?
Ree

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