Long-lasting clothes

pebbles88

i love clarks shoes, but i wont be buying anymore after a conversation with a few people, including our local cobbler, who told me that clarks now make the soles of their shoes from a resin that cannot be re-soled!!

im sorry but im not paying £50 plus for a pair of boots/shoes that cannot be re-soled!! no matter how comfy they are for the year max that i get out of them!! which is a bu**er as im a 6 and a half!!! and they were the only place i had found that did them!

Chia

I have found that, comparing like for like (clothes from shops in equivalent price bands), American clothes generally last longer than UK clothes, esp when looking at the lower end of the market. I still wear some of my American clothes that I bought in the early part of the decade, whereas a lot of the clothes I've bought here have fallen apart/stretched way out/etc within a year or two. So if you are holidaying in the States, I would recommend looking for some bargains there.

edgex

best to split clothes & shoes into 2 categories:

fancier/keepable stuff, like fancy shoes, outer layers of clothing
simpler/disposable stuff, basic everyday shoes, tshirts, underwear etc

first lot, its worth spending the money on them, & making sure you look after them properly
second lot, they will wear out & have to be chucked, so buy cheap but decent stuff

Chia

pebbles88 wrote: »

im sorry but im not paying £50 plus for a pair of boots/shoes that cannot be re-soled!! no matter how comfy they are for the year max that i get out of them!! which is a bu**er as im a 6 and a half!!! and they were the only place i had found that did them!

Forgot to say re shopping in America - a lot more American shoe brands offer half-sizes than is the case here.

Also, another vote for Uggs - 3 years for mine and no problems so far...they're not very weatherproof, though.

juliaw

The long lasting clothes used to be made in Britain. I have got Jaeger cashmere jumpers that are really old - bought second hand 20 years ago, an Aquascutum coat bought new 15 years ago and Burberry trench coat new 20 years ago. All very expensive stuff when new.

Now most clothes come from China and it shows.

Does anyone know of British made clothes now? The only manufacturer I know is John Smedley knitwear. Not cheap but if you visit their factory shop near Matlock the prices are much lower.

Also there is Linton Tweeds in Carlisle who make couture fabrics. I sew my own clothes from these.

jenniewb

juliaw wrote: »

The long lasting clothes used to be made in Britain. I have got Jaeger cashmere jumpers that are really old - bought second hand 20 years ago, an Aquascutum coat bought new 15 years ago and Burberry trench coat new 20 years ago. All very expensive stuff when new.

Now most clothes come from China and it shows.

Does anyone know of British made clothes now? The only manufacturer I know is John Smedley knitwear. Not cheap but if you visit their factory shop near Matlock the prices are much lower.

Also there is Linton Tweeds in Carlisle who make couture fabrics. I sew my own clothes from these.

Think its mainly knit wear companies that make stuff in the UK, the whole idea of throw away fashion has menat clothes need to be cheap for people to repeately buy more (and so throw out what they had). For companies to have their stuff made in the UK, they'd have to pay workers a basic minimum wage, let alone the fact most workers would require quite a good standard of skills requiring lots of study and so would expect quite a bit more then the basic minimum wage- hence why now its maily the brands such as John Smedly or Brora or Celtic Sheepskin that can afford to have their products made in the UK and price them accordingly to cover their actual costs and workmanship.

It would be great though if they did have proper UK companies making their stuff in the UK- there would be far more jobs going at any rate and maybe those of us with textile degrees wouldn't need to have a totally unrelated back-up plan!!

415SanFran

Chia wrote: »

I have found that, comparing like for like (clothes from shops in equivalent price bands), American clothes generally last longer than UK clothes, esp when looking at the lower end of the market. I still wear some of my American clothes that I bought in the early part of the decade, whereas a lot of the clothes I've bought here have fallen apart/stretched way out/etc within a year or two. So if you are holidaying in the States, I would recommend looking for some bargains there.

this may have been the case back then,
Now you can get a t shirt from Wal mart, target, Gap, en tel for less than $5 and after 6 washes it shows.

BitterAndTwisted

I disagree that Gap clothing falls into the "cheapo" category along with Walmart etcetera, although it's some time since I bought anything from there. The best bargains I ever got my hands on in the US were from the Lord & Taylor outlet and TJMaxx. Beautiful linen shirts for $15 at a decent exchange-rate and still wearing them five years later: by now, that comes out at a few cents per wear.

415SanFran

when the GAP was a San Fransisco company and stood for|"Gay and Proud" it was on a par with Next.
About two years ago it changed hands and went over to China *and have been caught several times for using slave labor*
I think the new company just bought the name not the policies if that makes sense, It is now on a par with Target

honeyD

When I was about 12/13 my parents bought me an Elesse coat that had feathers inside. It was quite big on me but thats what I wanted at the time :rolleyes: lol. Its still in the family now and Im 25! I wore it on and off for a few years, my Mum has worn it, my Dad has too and now my older bigger brother has it. It makes me wonder what I was thinking getting such a big size coat! :rotfl: Good that it has lasted so long though, dont think it will make it any further than my brother, he doesnt look after things well lol.