I often see video essays or tiktoks claiming quality of fashion decreased. They often praise the 90s, 80s for having better quality. I am Gen Z and when I think of clothes my mum bought me in late 2000s one thing I remember is the material was much thicker. I also cant remember I saw any jackets that dont have proper material inside, no loose jacket pockets, not beeing covered by an extra layer of material, even cheaper brands.
Its not only affordable brands. In my city is a Louis Vuitton, and when I pass by I see that the saleswoman often dont have time to give people proper advice, cause most of their time goes to deal with complaints.
Also I feel like (I always check materials) since corona its nearly impossible to find a woolsweater in a normal store that has no plastic fiber in it or at least no viscose. 100% cotton shirts are still easy to find but the material is so, so thin.
Thats why I believe it is true what these influencers say but I am not sure to what extent and when it shifted. Many influencers are Gen Z too so I think they cant really compare. So I am looking forward to hear some of your experiences.
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It’s my experience, too. Clothes are also cut in a much more basic way: buttons hang weird, there is no more fitting for curves, etc.
I like 2nd-hand shopping because I can see the effect of a few washes on clothing, and it gives a better sense of their durability.
For ex summer dresses are vague cuts of random fabric that immediately wrinkle. They age horribly as the dye is basic. It’s sad.
Yes, very much so. I was a teenager in the ’90s and half the crap out there now may as well be made of paper, it’s so awful.
Unrelated fogey opinion: the style was better, too. Everything wasn’t the same. Fashion now is so one-note and boring.
Sidebar: “the 1990s” was not where I went upon reading “last century.” I was about to launch into a whole thing about the Industrial Revolution and the death of the artisan class. 🥲
I’m over 40 and yes: both garment construction and quality of fabrics have gone down a lot.
On the other hand, new types of materials have been introduced that have a positive effect as well. Modern fabrics allow for a broader range of styles, colours and techniques. The downside is increased environmental load, because technical fabrics are often made from or mixed with polymers.
My mother remembers a time when fabrics were extremely expensive but also extremely high quality. Her mother saved for a long time to be able to buy fabric to make herself a wool overcoat. She then wore the coat every winter for years. When it finally started looking worn out, she picked the seams, pressed the pieces flat, flipped the underside out and put the coat back together, and it was like new again.
Today fabrics are so cheap (relatively) that buying more fabric is realistically attainable to almost everyone. But for them to be cheap, they also have to be of lower quality. What my grandma did with her coat wouldn’t be possible because fabrics can’t take that much stress without being ruined. It’s a cycle that has become worse and worse over time.
Garments and all other consumer products today are unrealistically cheap, given how much resources and labour they actually take to produce. It’s one of the greatest dilemmas of our times. How do we build a society where people get fairly compensated for their labour and materials are pricey enough to adequately account for their environmental impact, while still making it possible for normal people to purchase these items?
Personally I’ve been learning to consume less but better. When I was a student working part-time, I bought a Max Mara coat (with a big discount) that cost me three times my monthly salary because it fit me perfectly, was the perfect (unusual) colour for me, and it was clearly very high quality. This was around 20 years ago and I still wear it every winter, although this year I’m planning to finally get a new one as the silouette is starting to look dated. But the coat is still good enough to keep and wear later when it’s fashionable again.
So much worse. I still have a couple of things from the 90s/early 2000s bought from regular ass shops that are still wearable.
I haven’t bought anything in the last 5 years at least that I’ve thought i might still own 20 years from now.