Designer Clothes: Are They Worth It?

Designer clothes typically come with a high price tag. For some people, the idea of spending hundreds of dollars on a shirt or a pair of shoes is ludicrous.

However, others argue that designer clothing is worth it because it’s much higher quality. Just what is the truth when it comes to designer clothes?

Designer Clothes are Made to Last

One thing is generally for certain: designer clothes are made to last. Your average $10 pair of shoes is likely to be made from cheap materials that wear easily. Compare this to designer shoes and this isn’t the case. These shoes tend to use only the finest leather. They’re also likely to be carefully stitched – not assembled with glue.

This is the case with women’s and men’s clothing. If you want to buy something that’s going to serve you well for years, designer clothing is a good investment. Of course, if it’s an item you’re not going to wear often, you should weigh up whether this extra robustness is worth it.

With Some Brands, You’re Paying for Craftsmanship

Most of your top end Italian designer brands (the likes of Balenciaga, Versace and Gucci) will incorporate some level of artisan craftsmanship into their products, whether it’s sewing on a handle by hand or stitching on a logo by hand. It’s true that such products used to be much more heavily handcrafted than they are now – pretty much all designer brands now incorporate some level of machinery into their manufacturing process. However, unlike some cheap clothing, it won’t all be done by machinery.

You can also generally count on most designer brands not using cheap labour – although some brands are still using sweatshops in 2021. It’s best to do your research if you’re looking for something fair trade.

Not All Designer Clothes are Created Equally

Some designer clothes are better quality than others. Similarly some brands are more ethical than others. The price tag isn’t always the best indicator of whether an item of clothing is high quality or ethical.

While it’s safe to say that a $150 dress will generally be higher quality and more ethically produced than a $15 dress, that doesn’t necessarily mean that two $150 dresses are both going to be on an equal level. As a result, you need to do your personal research.

When it comes to the very high-end designer stuff, there are cases where you’ll be paying a lot for the brand – the classic century-old European designer brands often have huge profit margins because they know people are willing to pay extra for the label.

A lot of newer less established designer brands are more fair in their pricing. You should consider which types of brands you really care about. There are $300 handbags out there that are just as high quality as $1,000 handbags – both will be sold by high end designer brands, but the latter designer brand will usually be more of a household name.