Nope. Not much of a clothes man. What you are wearing should acentuate your features, but I don’t care what it costs or who makes it. In fact, I would kinda think you were silly for spending a lot of money just for the brand name…
I don’t pay attention at all to brand names. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass if some designer’s name is on a label. But I do notice well-tailored clothes and good quality fabric. Very much.
Well-cut clothes that are suited to the body they are covering always look tasteful.
Nope. Items that I pay $500 for are classics - they last multiple seasons, and I wear them for multiple seasons. If I do get tired (which would be odd when you’re talking about a classic black trouser or skirt), I consign my items - this is not possible with cheap quality things because they just don’t stand up.
Really trendy items I pay less for - if something is only going to last me one season, I shop accordingly.
I think that’s the difference between being trendy and being stylish. It’s all about investment dressing. (IMHO)
Maastricht - I may not notice a split-pleat hem, or double stitching in a glance, but I can certainly notice quality of fabric as well as fit - as other posters have pointed out, quality garments tend to fit better, and flatter the figure better than cheap alternatives. One give away for an inferior garment is when the lining bulges or (worse) shows beneth the hem.
Meh - silver. All the trendy girls are wearing the suit in bronze…
So, what color Go-Go boots go with bronze jump suits? Black?
I notice. I had a bit of a culture shock when I changed jobs. I went from the marketing department of a huge financial services firm in NYC to a community college in Florida.
At the former, people wore tailored, crisp, expensive clothes: suits, twinsets, lots of black, glamorous shoes. Here, the look is casual, comfortable and (in some cases) more frumpy. People do wear suits here, too, but they look less expensive to me. I guess it’s a combination of what posters above have said (fit, quality of fabric, quality of details) plus the less sophisticated style that makes me think they’re cheaper.
I can easily tell when someone is wearing very expensive clothing-the material just has a softness and luxury to it that is missing from knockoffs. On the other hand, I see people carrying off designer knockoffs with panache quite often-like Indygrrl I tend to wear higher-end knockoffs rather than buy the real thing and I think I look quite decent when I’m not lolling about school in my sweat pants.
The one luxury item I’ve never understood is the LV bag-I have a good friend that must own a dozen and I don’t have the heart to tell her that each is uglier than the last…although altogether her collection must be worth more than a year’s worth of tuition at our lawschool…
Space? [Hamlet] Ay, there’s the rub…[/Hamlet]
Call me obstinate, but it is all too easy to make circular reasoning errors when it comes to clothing. For instance, when we see somebody who’s welldressed, (or even someone who just wears clothes well, and that’s what most models are selected for) we assume that the clothes have been expensive. How do we know? How many of us have walked up to that person and asked how much they paid for the outfit?
And how many of us, when asked, wouldn’t either exaggerate the price? “Yup, cost me a few thousand dollars, but I always say quality pays for itself”. Or, for modesty’s sake, understate it? “Why, thank you ! But you’re too kind. This old rag? I got it in a clear out, I wasn’t even quite sure it was my colour.” My point is that there is now way of telling if somebody who looks expensively dressed, in fact is.
The only way to get an idea of price/quality is when you’re shopping yourself, and I think then we’re likely to talk ourselves into buying something expensive by stressing details like split-pleat hems, and double stitching.
I myself sometimes like to buy something expensive, just because it makes me feel special. “I’m worth buyin gth original Chanel 5 perfume”. I’m a bit surprised no-one has yet admitted that might play a part in buying expensiv clothes as well. Regardless of the better quality.
That’s very true, when I think about it. We automatically assume pinstripe pants are more expensive then corduroy ones.
Every once in a while fashion popularizes a certain fashion item that used to be indicate high status. Think rhinestones for diamonds, the introduction of non-expensive silk; Burberryprints on moderately priced shawls, normally priced fabrics with Paisleyprints or Hermes-like prints; clothes for expensive sports (horseriding pants, golf pants, poloshirts. Even the banker’s pinstripe has been applied to cheap or even playful, female clothes with pinstripes. Even embroidery and lots of handiwork in a garment is no longer an indication of price, as it can be done cheaply in India.
I can only imagine how that pisses off the fashion industry, who has to come up with clothing with ever more subtle indications of their superior quality, to a public that notices these differences less and less. No wonder they resort to blatant labels. 
I’ve also noticed that really expensive brands (in the pret-a porter range) artifically keep up their reputation by only catering to certain sizes and styles. Can you imagine Armani offering comfortable plain sweaters in women’s size 16 ?
Why not, when they consider themselves in the business of making clothes? :dubious:
Only the moderately priced brands cater to normal people wearing clothes for every-day life, and make clothes with good cuts and fabrics for this group. Armani seems unable to do that. :rolleyes:
I do notice expensive clothing, but I also notice people who have panache…that stylishness the French seem to do so well…expensive clothing or not. Frankly I am someone who verged on being stylishly challenged. I found that when I finally had enough money to move up to mid-range and name brand clothes, the designer lines prevented me from going too far adrift. They select nice fabrics with fine details in pleasing colors. Items that are timeless in many cases. Through buying these kinds of clothes I rarely go for this year’s trend which is tomorrow’s thrift shop find. Over time my motto has become “cry once”. Classic clothes last for a long long time.
Okay, I would say that at a distance, I most likely wouldn’t notice the difference. But the crux of the matter is that I really don’t care what other people are wearing, I care what I am wearing. Or, more precisely, I care where my money goes. To go back to our Sears v. Nordstorm example, I’m sure I could find perfect decent and good look and nicely fitting clothes at Sears. However, in my experience, the Sears clothing simply will not hold up as well over the years as higher end clothing. Granted, I do not want to wear all my clothing for several years. For fun and trendy items, it does not really matter if they are only good, quality-wise, for a season or so.
Other items that are more classic, however, can hang around for a long time if they are of high quality – your basic black suit, some good spectator pumps, a traditional tweed skirt, that sort of thing. Some styles go in and out – personally, I’m thrilled that pleats are back, and I was able to break out my pleated Chanel skirt that dates back to the last time pleats were in style. Let me tell you, this skirt will be ready to wear when alien archeologists arrive in ten thousand years to unearth the remains of our civilization. The pleated skirt I bought this summer at Penny’s, while cute and functional and compliment-garnering, will be a rag next year.
So yes, I shop at both low end and high end stores. I try to figure out whether I wish to spend little money on something I won’t wear for very long, or more money on something that I plan to use over time.
PS Granted, you can luck out and find something at Sears that does hold up very well, but that’s a pleasant surprise, not a standard thing. Just like some higher label stuff unexpectedly falls apart. I’m speaking as a general rule of thumb, here.
Living in an area that destroys clothes like nothing else, I can tell the difference between very cheaply made items and things that are a step up. I will still never buy anything too expensive- I have a habit of spilling things and waving permanent markers around wildly- but I think when I go back to America (and have to give u my tailor) I will stop shopping at bottom-of-the-barrel places.
I’m not convinced about the “it works out cost wise because it lasts longer”. I can buy a tee shirt for ten dollars, or a hundred dollar tee shirt. I can wear a tee shirt regularly for about a year. Can I really wear a hundred dollar tee shirt for ten years? I don’t think so.
Gah do you hang around with any French people? All the ones that come here come equipt with metalic capri pants, white-girl dreadlock and fanny packs.
This thread is soo 2004! Did you get it at Goodwill, or a garage sale?
No. I wouldn’t even know if they were expensive. I only notice clothing if it is outrageous (like my boss’ suit two weeks ago that looked like it was from the seventies) or on an attractive woman if it does something to accentuate her assets.