Clothing woes
My son and I were at the mall this past weekend, looking for some new shoes and clothes for him. We did find a great deal on some shoes, but had no luck with finding any shirts he liked.
I have a hard time finding clothes for myself as well. It’s helped since I started shopping without trying to find both clothes that look good and that are at a great price, but I still have difficultly finding quality clothes that I like.
It seems as though clothes fall into one of two categories: good clothing that will last but is not something I like or doesn’t fit, and cute clothes that are cheaply made and quickly look worn out.
Maybe the problem is that I’m looking for casual clothing? Still, you’d think I should be able to buy something casual and still have it look good after washing it 2-3 times.
I think part of the problem is that clothing is viewed as disposable. Styles change so often, that clothes are only expected to last for a season or so. (Although I’ve had a hard time finding clothes that last even that long…)
I would love to find some quality clothing that is reasonably stylish and that fits well.
Have you had any luck with that? Where do you recommend?
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August 6th, 2009 at 6:15 am
I recently discovered Christopher & Banks. I always walked past in the mall, admiring the windows, but never walked in. Not everything is fabulous, but all things are comfortable and for some reason sit nicely on the body.
August 6th, 2009 at 6:17 am
Ebay or yard sales or Goodwill. You already know what they will look like after they’ve been washed two or three times.
This won’t work if you are “clothie” ? (I figure there must be a word like that if there is a word like “foodie”) :)
I’ve seen girls pick up really nice Docker shorts for $2 at yard sales. Almost brand new….the looked new, just not “in the package”.
It does take time, though. There is always the trade off—time for money. Rarely can you walk in a place and get a good deal at a cheap price–quickly. Usually there is a trade-off–money for time. This is true whether it is checking for good deals on travel on the internet, or sales at the mall, or checking on Craig’s list.
August 6th, 2009 at 9:11 am
The longest-lasting casual clothes that I own were purchased from Duluth Trading. They cater more to blue-collar workers, but I’ve picked up jeans and flannel shirts that have lasted a long time.
August 6th, 2009 at 10:13 am
I agree with Becky. Ebay and yard sales were how I have clothes myself and my boys for years. I still have most of what I bought on Ebay (including shoes – orthopedic and not ugly which make them very expensive in stores). The boy’s clothing always lasted at least a full year and usually had some hand-me-down wearing after growth spurts.
My boys liked Ebay because they could get the brands they wanted but in styles different than our region. I loved Ebay because I could often find $40-80 jeans, shirts, hoodies, etc. for anywhere from $5 – $15. A trick on Ebay when there seems to be alot of competition for a type of item is to imagine how someone might accidentally mispell the title of the auction and search for that. Some of my best bargains were found using shoe versus shoes or jene versus jean…
Good luck.
August 6th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Do you have a Loehmanns in your area? I have (cheap) dresses from them that I’ve worn for years and still look great! :)
August 6th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I do Goodwill and love it!
August 6th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Yay, lots of recommendations. I’m going to have to check and see which are in my area. Several of them don’t sound familiar, but that doesn’t mean anything.
I look at Goodwill and some of the other thrift stores, and find things there occasionally. I think eBay is out for me because 80% of the things I try on don’t fit right.
I’m not really even necessarily looking for inexpensive clothes — just ones that are good quality. Yard sales are definitely a good idea.
August 7th, 2009 at 5:28 am
I guess it depends on how you value the clothes. I need business casual clothes for work. I used to shop Old Navy, Target, Wal*Mart, etc… but found they didn’t last.
I switched to Ann Taylor Loft. I always head to the sales rack and try to buy off season. They send out coupons and are connected with ebates. The clothes are good quality pieces, and they are a ‘classic’ style that will always be ‘in’. The offer several different styles of pants/jeans so they fit a variety of shapes and sizes. I have found that cheap clothes never fit as well as quality clothes, and sometimes that is worth a little more.
August 7th, 2009 at 6:01 am
I’ve had very little luck finding quality clothing at our local second hand stores, Old Navy, Target, Kohl’s and JC Penney (closest shopping stores to us). Very little lasts more than 1 season.
About 2 or 3 years ago, I stumbled onto Lands End. Everything I’ve bought from Lands End has been been good quality. Recently, the Company added a “fit 1″ which is more modern than their other fits (longer shirts, more fitted). I always shop at their overstock section of their web site and use coupons. If something doesn’t fit, I can return it at Sears, thus avoiding return shipping costs.
August 13th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
This article is making me think back to your post: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/13/cheap-the-high-cost.html
Also, maybe you can find someone who can make you high quality clothes in the style you like or to mend your cheap clothes to make them last longer. You might even be able to set up some kind of barter to reduce the labor costs.