What do You Pay For, When You Buy Clothes?

What do you pay for, when you buy clothes - especially name brand clothing? It’s more than just the shirt or pants. It’s the clout of a label, the endorphins at checkout, and the compliment you hope to get (on a date?).

Why we buy is at the root of many of the challenges of the fashion industry at present. Fast fashion is ending up in landfills. Hype cycles, micro trends, and aesthetics ask us to invest in the newest it pieces. The lower and middle classes are spending on luxury brands – and sometimes going broke over it.

I, too, have swiped my card at an overpriced item, hoping that it would give me a sense of … I don’t know, accomplishment? Self worth? Being cool? Status? Maybe a mix of all of it…

Online Trends: When the Clothes Wear You

I’m less enthused about labels now. I want quality clothes that fit well and highlight my personality and appearance.

Balenciaga is boring and now that everybody and their mother is flaunting a Birkin on socials, what’s the point of them? This is not an argument of elitism, by the way. I don’t care who owns these bags. It’s more that seeing them so often, everywhere, all the time (fake or not), has made them a lot less interesting. They’ve gotten boring as an object of aspiration.

We’re blowing through trends and micro moments. The mob wives aesthetic was gone as fast as it had appeared and old money style in cheap, fast fashion materials is anything but. None of these fashions underscore the essence of the wearer, though. If you fit the aesthetic, great. If not, it’s grown-up dress-up day all day, every day for you.

The algorithm inception, when you don’t know whether you like Amina Muaddi shoes because they’re cool or because you’ve seen them 50 times in the feed, is real. The result: the clothes wear us, not the other way around – and style is getting bland.

What Do You Pay for, When You Buy Clothes?

But, let’s back up a bit. What do we actually pay for when we buy clothes?

1. Materials

2. Production cost (including shipping, merchandising, etc.)

3. Emotional intents (I’ll be happy, when I have this)

4. Status

5. Somebody else’s vision for how you can dress in lieu of your own

When you look to trends, a lot of us are getting dressed by the algorithm’s vision. A designer or influencer creates an image for how to dress (or promotes it) and people gobble it up readily.

It’s fun to get inspired by others. There have been great collections in fashion history, that marked a seismic shift in culture (think of Tom Ford Gucci, for example). With these hype cycles and brands, you pay to take on somebody’s vision for dressing yourself, aside from the more manifest aspects like materials and production.

This can be helpful when style isn’t your thing. It can also render you looking like a clown. Who says somebody else’s vision works for your body or personality?

More so, it creates a lot of blandness. We end up putting ourselves in boxes of trends or the newest aesthetic – until you realize that you’ve spent a lot of money and don’t look or feel any better. Or, when you Marie Kondo your closet and stand amidst a pile of discarded, plasticy clothes that were cool two years ago and look hideous now.

This can’t be the way forward. At least it’s not for me. And likely not for a lot of people past the sartorial explorations of early adulthood. Time, money, and other resources are too precious for that.

Creating a Vision for Yourself

I prefer style that has an opinion. I love seeing people with a vision for themselves.

There is something so satisfying about a person who looks like…well, a person; just a little more chique, put together, and unique. I remember the early street style photographs of the aughts before it turned into a circus for brand exposure. It was so refreshing to look at all these stylish people going about their – albeit elevated – days.

It’s nice, when you can borrow somebody else’s vision or try it on for size. I prefer having my own, though. I had it from a young age, deviated a little bit in my 20s, and came back to it now that I’m in my 30s.

It’s very satisfying to take control of your appearance. I like to creative direct myself. I don’t want somebody else’s vision to dress me. I have vision now for how I want to dress and what works for me. 

And, I want to take you along for the journey.

In this newsletter, I’ll explore personal style, creating your own sartorial vision and how bespoke, tailored clothing can support you in that.