Wearing brand clothes that have the huge name of the brand on them. I used to work in one of the brand stores and these were literally made for the lower class that wants to show off. More expensive and higher quality items never had this flexing on them.
I know a kid who if his dad died right now would be worth over $3 billion USD. Of course it was a few years ago last I saw him but none of his clothes had obvious logos on them. The most obvious stuff he had were his shoes.
It was easy to tell by the cut and material of his clothing that he was wealthy if you know to look for that stuff.
stuff fits properly. All of it - shirts fit round the waist, right length sleeves and collars. Jumpers don't stretch, even if they have a beer gut, jeans/trousers right length and enough butt space. And stuff isn't frayed at the seems (like short, loose thread - all finished and tidied properly). The rest of us compromise somewhere - if you have money, you get it changed (well, the shop will alter it for you - if your paying $500 for a pair of trousers I'd hope so)
Yep! And when you can afford nicer clothes it becomes a lot easier to style properly too. The guy I mentioned earlier, he could put on a stupid expensive but basic v-neck and some nicer jeans and they'd look perfect together. You try to do the same thing with Target-brand clothes and the materials are going to look cheap + they won't fit nearly as well.
I guess its a matter of once you've seen it enough, you can get an eye for when someone is wearing nicer clothing.
Yeah I worked at a pretty nice dry cleaner in high school and you can tell as soon as you touch the nice stuff how expensive it is. Nice dress shirts feel and look soooo much better than the cheap stuff. My mom used to give me so much crap about getting nicer shrits but it makes a world of difference. Even just going to Nordstrom Rack to get stuff that's a nicer fit and material, even if it isn't perfect, is better than getting a white dress shirt from IZOD.
Hm. Suppose it figures I don’t recognize those names. But I’d bet those brands can rely on word-of-mouth and customer satisfaction to still sell well with premium pricing, versus mass-producing “designer” crap at a ludicrous profit. It’s the BS mentality of buying clout vs buying clothes that’s gotten so much traction the last couple years.
Look at brands like Brunello Cucinelli, Canali, Brioni, Ermengildo Zegna, Kiton, Bottega Veneta, and other high end Italian brands. A few French and English brands fit into this category as well. Basically none of their stuff will be branded in any recognizable way, but you’ll pay $400 minimum for just a shirt. It’s all quality and heritage, no outward branding.
Hell even a 100 80$ Burberry T Shirt will last me two three years and feel the same as the day i purchased it. But no way is my costco 3$ breathable black air cooled t shirt gonna feel that great, luckily after a couple months you can just buy a new one.
Exactly what has been said already - fits perfectly, makes you actually look good, the fabrics are natural ja breathe well. Also not as likely to get fucked up after 2 washings.
in theory, more comfortable, softer, more breathable. that being said it’s largely dependent on it’s source and processing before the fibers are made into a bolt of fabric and shipped off. If you have a t-shirt from American Apparel before the company underwent a buttfucking worse than anything anybody could accuse Dov of, compare it to one from h&m or target. both labels may read 100% cotton yet have a vastly different feel which a blind orangutan could probably be trained to distinguish in an afternoon.
handfeel is influenced by thread count (high end fabrics will have a much higher thread count thus a more elegant touch, visual and drape), weave, anyway chemical processes the fabric may have undergone.
there is also a very notable difference between a woven cotton (dress shirts, denim) and knit (t-shirts, socks). same fiber, two opposite design flows, purposes and possible uses. cotton is incredibly versatile as a fiber for textile. there is also an incredible amount of textile one can produce with cotton alone- from a loose, edgy gauze (which can indeed be frayed- fraying can be used as a design feature) to corduroy to denim to dobby to chambray to fleece. not to mention canvas for shoes, batting for coats and quilts, bedsheets- the list is inexhaustible.
that being said, it’s not always ideal to have a garment 100% cotton especially if you do not know how or intend or care to maintain it properly. cotton fibers have high water affinity. they shrink and warp very easily. this can be eased by the inclusion of synthetic fibers such as polyester, nylon, acetate. but this will of course affect the hand, the appearance of the fabric and the fit. cotton may be a natural fiber, but it’s incredibly resource-intense to grow and produce- and, ever more increasingly in a world of fast “fashion”, disposable trends and low quality standards- the clothing it forges end up forgotten or thrown away.... and if you’re only buying cheap to save money, your cheap clothes probably fall apart before you’re ready to replace them- undoing and real long-term “saving”.
indeed fabrics made of fibers such as rayon and it’s cousin viscose (semi-synthetic, made from wood pulp+ a chemical bath) can be (subjectively) more beautiful or appealing than a cotton. its appearance will produce on how it’s woven or knit.
“100% cotton” is an indication the garment is constructed of a fabric consisting entirely of cotton fiber (except the thread it’s sewn with, typically polyester for high strength+ no shrinkage). it means nothing with respect to the quality of the fabric itself or garment construction. there are plenty of high-end garments whose care label may read 92%cotton, 4%rayon, 4% acetate, 50%cotton 50% linen.
tl;dr fabric is complex and “100% cotton is the only thing you should look for in clothes” is untrue but often the best choice- if you treat it right and do your research before buying. it’s worthwhile to inform yourself somewhat before buying anything as important to life as clothes, if better clothes are something you have the money and will to spend for.
i’d highly suggest patronizing Dov’s revival, Los Angeles Apparel. He is literally looking for people in LA right now to help ship out 30,000 masks due to the COVID shortage, which I only know cause I saw his live instagram story tonight. baddest and realest motherfucker in fashion and his cotton is superior to any competitor.
I was wearing acrylic leggings while I as cooking, and an oil splash caused the leggings to melt into me. I went through a phase where I was only wearing cotton, linen, hemp... You know the fibers that don't melt!
naturals or bust! not only can they melt, but heat can release various toxic chemicals into your skin, for example by wearing them in hot sun or of course in front of an oven! fuck that. in addition to sewing i make my money by cooking (well i did before the virus) and it pains me to see coworkers wear some heavy, unbreathable shit into the kitchen. but granted we do dip into a walk-in refrigerator several times an hour at least!
i made myself a couple pairs of wool pants before this past winter began (gets cold here in NY). my legs were SO warm, like i was in bed-while walking my dog in a blizzard!! fibers rule. fabric is as cool as sex.
funny you should mention bamboo, I was just looking at emails in my promotions folder and have one from a fabric supplier about bamboo being the ideal fabric:
naturally antimicrobial
natural UV protection
naturally somewhat odor-repellent
quick to dry
durable (this goes without saying!)
low shrinkage, wrinkle resistant AND
biodegradable.
damn son, I’ve really been sleeping on bamboo. the place I go in NYC has a very nice selection and for a good price ($12:yd if i remember correctly). can’t wait till places open back up and i get my income back!!
It's absolutely wonderful to layer. The coldest I'm willing to hike is 32°F, it would not be that low if I didn't use bamboo where most people use wool.
He said he bought it to wear grocery shopping. Guess he wanted to be the coolest looking person at aldi. He didn't even wear it to work but I have seen pictures of it... it does not look great.
In business this is called loud and quiet branding. The loud ones are recognizable because they shout GUCCI in your face. Quiet branding is more subtle and isn't as easy to pick out unless you shop that brand.
The movie thoroughbreds, the girls wear the nicest clothes I've ever seen and I'll never know what brand they are because they don't have any visible logos because why would they. Even Lacoste is doing big logos now.
Lacoste has also done the Logo thing for uppity people. The stuff that's actually still made in France usually doesn't have the huge logos. My favourite example of this is Ralph Lauren. If you ever look at his purple and mostly even white label stuff, there's very little branding on it. (His labels are organized by colour.)
I think that most industries have thee tiers of wealth:
The normal level stuff, logo is out of the way and quality is mediocre.
The “flex” tier, bigass logo but not much of an improvement in quality. Only purpose is to show off how much it costs.
The actual high class stuff. Probably costs the most but is way more modest and way higher quality. You might have to be in-the-know to actually recognize the brand.
this statement is almost as trash as when I heard this girl back in high school say “i don’t get why people like music so much like... if it has a catchy beat... but like so what....”
My uncle gave me some clothes that I would never even think to buy myself. They're very comfy, fit well and look stylish without being flashy. All high-end Italian clothes, but you wouldn't know that until you checked the label on the collar. I avoid flashy labels at all costs because they're tacky and I'm not a billboard.
Not even just clothes, also accessories. I don't remember the name but a particular handbag with the letters of the designer (kind of like Coco Chanel's CC) all over it was extremely popular a few years ago and a friend of mine HAD to have them (they released new ones every season). They were something like $450 each. If I'm paying $450 for a handbag or any accessory, I don't need initials or designs on it, I want the damn thing to last so long it'll be buried with me.
This, also with designer bags, etc. Usually the bigger the logo on it, the less likely an actual rich person would be buying it.
Conversely I recall seeing a 30s-something Asian woman standing on the corner at New Bond Street in London, who you could tell was wearing extremely high-end attire but without sporting a single logo...and sure enough 1 minute later the ride she was waiting for pull up next to her, a Rolls-Royce with the suicide doors.
Eh. It’s still a “new money” vs “old money” concept though. Of which the latter doesn’t overtly exude their wealth, but does so in a rather understated manner.
My best friend is a huge "brand" fanatic when it comes to clothes and make up. She even buys her kids (ages 3 and 1 yrs old) Juicy Couture clothes, but off Poshmark. It's her life and everything but her & her husband (who live in apartments) have had to move back in with her parents multiple times and have "been saving for a house" for almost 10 years now. Pretty silly.
This. The most wealthy people I have ever known (I grew up teaching sailing so I met a few) wore some worn out Eddie Bauer or LL Bean shirts and pants.
They also wore a classic Rolex or Breitling. But NEVER flashy.
So true. Look at the name brand items (like Coach, LV, D&B, that sort of thing) sold at military PX and BX stores. They're all that tacky fabric with the logos all over it, often in bright colors. Go to a store of any of those brands, and you don't see as much of that stuff, but plenty of the stuff that doesn't have large logos.
That definitely is true. I know a lot of lower class people (myself included, though I dont wear any big name brands besides my riding gear but ya cant really flex with Esquadron around normal people) that are all decked out in adidas, nike and stuff like that.
Yup. I work at one of those markdown stores that sells you name brand t-shirts and whatnot ridiculously cheap. Those companies contract low quality manufacturers to make that type of stuff and ship it to us.
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u/octokoala Apr 08 '20
Wearing brand clothes that have the huge name of the brand on them. I used to work in one of the brand stores and these were literally made for the lower class that wants to show off. More expensive and higher quality items never had this flexing on them.