If price is the most important consideration for you when it comes to shopping for clothes either instore or online then it may be worth considering what you are actually buying for your money. Does it always mean a drop in quality if you buy cheaper clothes, and just what does give high-end clothing that luxury tag? Let’s take a look.
Premium clothes
Luxury clothes are premium clothes sold at the higher end of the market. Stylish and long lasting, they are usually associated with brands that come from a strong pedigree and set the fashion tone. Luxury clothes usually form part of seasonal fashion collections and so are hotly anticipated. Their higher price tag suggests that they are more for the upmarket customer, rather than the casual wearer. Luxury clothes are also made from fabric and material that is of a much better quality than mass produced clothes. Material that could be strong, softer or more durable and maybe even hand finished rather than being produced in a factory. Because more time and care has been invested in these clothes, they come with a higher price tag.
Mass market
Cheaper clothes, by contrast, are mass produced and aimed at those customers who may have one eye on current trends and fashions but are much more pressed for both time and money. Not only are mass market clothes more affordable, but they are more easily available too. Cheaper versions of fashions on the catwalks can be in the stores a lot quicker than it takes for luxury fashion houses to first parade them. As such they are easily available both on the high street and online.
Because luxury fashion houses and the clothes they produce like to trade in exclusivity, they are not so easily available to the average consumer. Purchase a luxury clothing item and you feel like you’re joining an exclusive club. Buy something on the high street, however, and you’ll simply be one of many wearing an item of clothing that is mass produced.
Ethics
This mass production can also lead to a corresponding drop in the quality of clothes both in terms of what they’re made from and how they are made. Luxury garments can often be traced right back to the source which gives a potential customer much more of an insight into the sustainable and ethical working practices that went into the making of them.
Joining a club
Ultimately, buy a cheaper item of clothing and you are more likely to be perpetuating the disposable fashion culture. Purchase some luxury clothes, however, and you are buying a lifestyle and the values of a brand. Pay that bit more money for your clothes and you’re joining an exclusive club; you’ll look and feel special in a way that wearing mass market clothes just does not provide.
