Weekend trip to NYC

[polarmystery]

So a few friends of mine and I decide to go to NYC. Most of the girls wanted to go to 5th Ave to look at all the merchandise to satisfy their material needs. What kept going on through my mind is why these t-shirts are selling for hundreds if not thousands of dollars? Can someone explain to me why I should spend $100 on a t-shirt that I can get something virtually identical for 1/20th of the price?

Sure, there is a certain appeal to fashion and that's fine, but I find it hard to believe that a t-shirt that CLEARLY is not that much different than one from target is so much more expensive. When these people buy these clothes, what's the point? When they are walking around in these stupidly high dollar clothes unless people stop them and ask specifically how much they are worth does it really matter? I don't walk around looking at people's clothes and wonder if it's genuine "_____" because I don't give a crap. I guess it's just because I'm a dude and I see no logical reason to spend lots of money for someone's designer whatever when you can still dress very fashionable for clothes orders of magnitude cheaper than those stores.

I understand if the quality of the material is made to last longer which in my mind would merit a price increase, but I can't find the connection to as why someone should pay lots of money because some other person designed something. I know women who shop from target who looks 100's of times better and more fashionable than those who spend lots of money on clothes and make it look terrible. It just seems so rediculous to me.

WHY OH GOD WHY??? :| 😕

 

[ViviTheMage]

marketing....

 

[CraKaJaX]

If you aren't buying it for her... who gives a shit. My GF is into all that designer stuff, but the day I spend $250 on a pair of jeans is the day I castrate myself with a butter knife.

 

[aceO07]

Thanks for helping our economy or at least keeping a few stores in business. 🙂

I wouldn't mind paying more for clothes, but (even at Barneys or Neiman Marcus or more expensive places) the clothes are made in the same countries as the cheaper stuff. China, Vietnam, Thailand... The fabric isn't that much better nor is the stitching. A cheap white t-shirt probably $2-3, print a logo on it and the price goes up 30x. 🙂

 

[polarmystery]

Originally posted by: aceO07
Thanks for helping our economy or at least keeping a few stores in business. 🙂

I wouldn't mind paying more for clothes, but (even at Barneys or Neiman Marcus or more expensive places) the clothes are made in the same countries as the cheaper stuff. China, Vietnam, Thailand... The fabric isn't that much better nor is the stitching. A cheap white t-shirt probably $2-3, print a logo on it and the price goes up 30x. 🙂

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DAMNIT

*holds finger on nuke button*

 

[EvilYoda]

Oh, one of these again.

 

[nageov3t]

they're status symbols.

 

[purbeast0]

well the quality IS better than the $5 shirt at target, just not 200x better quality.

and the people they are targeting with their line of clothing are obviously not yourself. they are targetting people who have more than enough money to spend.

my wife is a manager at a womans clothing store and there is this couple that comes in once a month and the wife spends at least $1k on clothes while the husband spends at least $1k at the store next to hers, tommy bahama.

these people have money to spend, why not spend it?

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
well the quality IS better than the $5 shirt at target, just not 200x better quality.

It's only marginally better as far as I can tell. When you buy a nice button-down dress shirt, that is going to be a lot better than a $5 cheapo shirt at target, if you buy the right brand. But the t-shirts only seem marginally better no matter the brand.

I just buy something similar designed by some dude in his mom's basement on threadless instead.

 

[dakels]

Search these forums for "expensive jeans"

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: loki8481
they're status symbols.

yep

Kind of like most Apple products.😀

 

[polarmystery]

Originally posted by: loki8481
they're status symbols.

I'll give you that, but unless you look directly for it how are people walking along the street going to know any difference? A car, a house, boat, you can all tell as a status symbol, but clothes?

 

[nageov3t]

Originally posted by: polarmystery

Originally posted by: loki8481
they're status symbols.

I'll give you that, but unless you look directly for it how are people walking along the street going to know any difference? A car, a house, boat, you can all tell as a status symbol, but clothes?

generally speaking, the people who you care about knowing will know.

your average person probably couldn't tell the difference between 10 and 60 frame rates at a glance, but I bet most people on AT could.

 

[puffff]

Originally posted by: polarmystery

Originally posted by: loki8481
they're status symbols.

I'll give you that, but unless you look directly for it how are people walking along the street going to know any difference? A car, a house, boat, you can all tell as a status symbol, but clothes?

People who equate clothes with status just know these things. They can look at a piece of clothing and tell you what store it came from, because of subtle differences in material and style.

 

[cheezy321]

Originally posted by: puffff

Originally posted by: polarmystery

Originally posted by: loki8481
they're status symbols.

I'll give you that, but unless you look directly for it how are people walking along the street going to know any difference? A car, a house, boat, you can all tell as a status symbol, but clothes?

People who equate clothes with status just know these things. They can look at a piece of clothing and tell you what store it came from, because of subtle differences in material and style.

Exactly. Its just like people who know the differences in processor speeds, Memory size, and video cards.

Just replace computer parts with clothes.

 

[mundane]

Originally posted by: puffff

Originally posted by: polarmystery

Originally posted by: loki8481
they're status symbols.

I'll give you that, but unless you look directly for it how are people walking along the street going to know any difference? A car, a house, boat, you can all tell as a status symbol, but clothes?

People who equate clothes with status just know these things. They can look at a piece of clothing and tell you what store it came from, because of subtle differences in material and style.

Yes - it enables them to judge a person's value immediately, and not waste any time associating with 'normies'

Edit: Good analogy above with the PC hardware.

 

[AstroManLuca]

The good thing about NYC is that they also have places all over where you can buy T-shirts for very very cheap.

 

[dakels]

For every place that sells high end clothing, there is a place that sells similar clothes for cheap. Century 21 is where a lot of people go who want expensive fashions but want it cheaper. The drawback is that you have to look through a ton of racks to find something and you'll be lucky to find it in your size. They basically get what the major retailers don't sell for whatever reason. You might see only all XXL's, damaged merchandise, or only few pieces of a collection that didn't sell. You will see high end couture items a long with made for wholesale type items too. You might find some real gems in there but you're going to have to fight through waves of people in a very overcrowded and unpleasant store. It's an entirely different experience then walking into a 5th avenue boutique or Bergdorf Goodman.

 

[EGGO]

Tourists go to 5th ave. NYCers go to thrift stores or maybe what's in SoHo. 😛

I can tell what a person is wearing, like the comment above, just by seeing the material and whatnot. I only have 4 or 5 expensive casual shirts, but they're not just print on a white t-shit. THAT, I think, gets a little crazy.

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: mundane

Originally posted by: puffff

Originally posted by: polarmystery

Originally posted by: loki8481
they're status symbols.

I'll give you that, but unless you look directly for it how are people walking along the street going to know any difference? A car, a house, boat, you can all tell as a status symbol, but clothes?

People who equate clothes with status just know these things. They can look at a piece of clothing and tell you what store it came from, because of subtle differences in material and style.

Yes - it enables them to judge a person's value immediately, and not waste any time associating with 'normies'

Edit: Good analogy above with the PC hardware.

Clothes, on this level, is not comparable to PC Hardware, not really. PC hardware you pay for the performance. Very few people pay just for a brand and if so that brand usually has something that gives it value. Unless we are talking about clothes for performance, like staying warm, sports, etc, clothes are purely decorative. PC's are not purely decorative and more money usually means more performance or some other tangible value. When someone buys a $3000 dress over a $200 knock off of the same material. It's purely an ego purchase. I'm not talking about clear differences in workmanship or materials. Just the label.

Now there are plenty of situations where the price is indicative of quality. A suit is a pretty good example where many untrained eyes cannot describe the difference between a $200 suit and a $2000 suit. Many people can and do notice the difference and it effects their reaction and judgment of a person. If salesman walks into a meeting wearing a $2000 suit. I'm gonna think that business is probably good. It might be inaccurate, but most situations, the cover is the first thing you notice about the book.