The Economics of buying a World Class Sweater
I am offering up something different to Angry Bear readers. The offer is a chance to listen to an article on Radio Atlantic. Or you can read the article:
“Read This Before You Buy That Sweater,” The Atlantic, by Hanna Rosin Or at least read the tag.
An introduction:
“We’re in the coldest season. We’re in the shopping season. We’re in the season of hygge. All the cues point to buying yourself a new cozy sweater. Don’t do it, until you hear what Atlantic staff writer Amanda Mull has to say about the cratering quality of knitwear. For years I’ve wondered why my sweaters pilled so quickly, or why they suffocated me, or smelled like tires. And then I read Mull’s recent story titled;
It turns out that international trade agreements, greedy entrepreneurs, and my own lack of willpower have conspired to erode my satisfaction.
In this episode of Radio Atlantic (another option), we talk to Mull, who writes about why so many consumer goods have declined in quality over the last two decades. As always, Mull illuminates the stories the fashion world works hard to obscure: about the quality of fabrics, the nature of working conditions, and how to subvert a system that wants you to keep buying more. ‘I have but one human body,’”’ she says. ‘I can only wear so many sweaters.'”
A Choice to be made:
Read the complete article here: Read This Before You Buy That Sweater or listen to the article here: The Atlantic. The article is ~22 minutes in length if you listen. I subscribe to the Atlantic, have done so for ~10+ years, and can use this as a freebie.
Or click in here: https://dcs.megaphone.fm/ATL9555041455.mp3?key=219b3a69b2475352701cb87b22a27be6&request_event_id=fb6d70b9-3540-495a-ab48-d4ba097e9b7c
Please let me know if this works. As I may do it again.
The links all worked for me. Thanks.
Garment quality at the high end started going down in the 1990s. That’s when I noticed Nike shoes tearing apart with normal wear and Armani silk blouses shattering after their first laundering. A lot of it was the affluent fashion for the masses that started in the 80s leading to a collapse in quality. Production was moved offshore, and it showed.
Cashmere sweaters went through a dramatic change early this century when China started producing them at lower prices and with much lower quality. This happened around the time pashmina became popular. Before then, four ply cashmere sweaters would last five or even ten years of fairly heavy use. After the collapse, they would last maybe two or three years.
Most people don’t buy cashmere sweaters, but I’m not surprised that quality has finally gotten so bad that more and more people are noticing. When I was a kid in the 1960s, we’d often wear discount garments and irregulars. NYC was a clothing town, so we’d get seconds, rejects and overstocks. A cheap dress cost a dollar. That’s $10 nowadays from Shein, and the quality of a dress from Shein is probably no better than that one for $1 back then.
Kaleberg:
All of my sweaters are old ones and were expensive when I first bought them. In AZ not likely needed but ok on a cool evening. I keep them for special occassions.
@Bill,
Same here. Sweaters are more handy here in New England, but all of mine are decades old. Also the Pendleton wool shirts. Sturdy stuff.
Joel:
You are in the right place to wear them.
@Bill,
Indeed.
But I can verify that it snows in Falstaff AZ.
Joel:
Yes, indeed. Been a while since we have been that far north. Plenty to see and I need to shake my wife loose and go-see.
i am not an economist, but i think the ten dollar dress today is actually cheaper than the one dollar dress in the 1960’s.
quality is a different matter, i think the quality of everything is much worse than it was in the 60’s.
That seems to be the power of capitalism…and advertising. You can always find ways to make something cheaper and sell more of it to people…who have no choice, and no actual store-owner to give them honest advice about quality. The owners of big box stores don’t even know what their products are or do. Just how much profit they make, and if it falls apart after six months, even if it never really does the job you bought it for…well they just make more profit when you buy a new one…in the hope it will be better. kind of like presidents.
Dale:
Craftsmanship or Material lessens the cost?
bill
i dunno. probably both. but parts that fail you can’t fix yourself or get from anyone but the manufacturer increase the cost. no doubt they have no choice. e.g. they know GM food will kill some people but without it they could not feed 8 billion people. back in the day boskin report said cars cost more but they were better so not increase cost of living….until you needed a car without electric windows or remote locks and nobody would sell you one. not to mention you can’t go to a grocery store store unless you own a car, how do they figure that into cost of living?
of course we have only ourseelves to blame. how could we make our kids go to school without an iPhone?