dfagdfsh
Professional Style Farmer
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2008
- Messages
- 22,649
- Reaction score
- 7,932
I hate the fact that things are expensive and that they aren't available to everyone. The whole idea of exclusivity is snobbish and distasteful. I grant, yes, that the structure of the fashion in industry is really weird. I certainly don't want anyone to go out of business, least of all forum affiliates that are pleasant, helpful and generous. Retail in general is weird enough, and the clothing world in particular seems to be strange enough, that I'm certainly not going to try to spout some manifesto about How Things Should Be. I'm just saying, from an attitudinal perspective, some things are cool and understandable (supporting good clothing and businesses), and other things are cringe-inducingly lame (expensive == exclusive == good).
The features that we as a forum tend to like in clothing make that clothing is expensive. Because it's expensive most people won't spend money on it. Because most people won't spend money on it, less of the pieces are produced, fewer places stock it, and the product becomes more exclusive. Brands realize this and they start out small. It's a natural outcome of wanting nice, well-made and unique things. You buy your clothing because something about the piece appeals to you. For many people, the idea that they're wearing something semi-unique (or at least rare in their locale) is very appealing. Having cool clothing is a great way to stand out, and the coolest things are generally both scarce and because of that scarcity, expensive. That said, a high price tag doesn't imbue a piece with a special attribute and there's plenty of expensive clothing that you couldn't pay me to wear.