{"id":24108,"title":"What is Quality Clothing?","description":"For a long time now the true value of apparel hasn\u2019t been at the centre of promotion. Glitter and glamour, the brand image and its aspirational power stand above the utilitarian value. No wonder that we are confused. So, what is quality clothing? Read on to find out more.","content":"

I understand the confusion for customers. For a long time now the\u00a0true value\u00a0of apparel hasn\u2019t been at the centre of promotion.<\/h3><\/blockquote>

Glitter and glamour, the brand image and its aspirational power stand above the utilitarian value. In addition, a high apparel price no longer guarantees or equates to high product quality and production standards. To round it up, sales strategies train us to watch out for discounts. If you will, customers are the puppets of the fashion industry drama.<\/p>

Of course, we always have the option to buy some pace else, but we also\u00a0always<\/em>\u00a0have the option to buy cheap. If in doubt, that seems to be the default move. After all, any jumper seems to keep me warm? Right?<\/p>

We know that this is a dangerous, short-sighted view that adds tonnes of clothes to landfill every year.<\/p>

It is estimated that the\u00a0fashion industry creates 13kg of waste per person every year<\/a>. For the UK that would be 860.000 tonnes of fashion waste per year.\u00a0According to a UK Parliament publication on sustainability in fashion<\/a>\u00a0\u201cTRAID said that the UK\u2019s 11,000 charity shops diverted over 330,000 tonnes of textiles from landfill in 2017 [\u2026]\u201d.<\/em><\/p>

\"\"
Today True Value is Twofold<\/h2>

In my view, there are at least two elements when it comes to value in clothing. As briefly discussed, from a traditional\u00a0utilitarian<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0viewpoint clothes should benefit your body, protect it in any season, for a maximum period of time. From a\u00a0hedonic<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0viewpoint, they should look beautiful, make you feel good and foster self-expression.<\/p>

Since the rise of fast fashion, the latter seems to be the dominating and sole factor driving purchase decisions. Many trend driven items experience a devastating existence after their micro life-cycle.\u00a0Leaving-it-in-my-wardrobe-for-the-next-3-years<\/em>, until it finally decorates the bin, is a common scenario.<\/p>

So, what is a valuable garment then?<\/h3>

Without doubt, only the combination of utilitarian\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0hedonic aspects make it an overall valuable garment for the customer. Today, pure utilitarianism wouldn\u2019t work. Clothing without the style, is like pasta without pesto \u2014 flavourless. But pure hedonism mustn\u2019t work either. As we\u2019ve seen when the pursuit of\u00a0pleasure shopping<\/em>, style, quantity and budget go before everything else, this has detrimental effects on our planet and people.<\/p>

Hence, we need to rebalance the elements by\u00a0reviving the utilitarian value<\/em>\u00a0and mix it with a\u00a0healthy attitude towards hedonic values<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>

Underlying the aforementioned, the fundamentals of sustainability must be respected. I will publish a separate post on this, but to briefly sketch it, I am referring to the following three aspects when talking about sustainability:<\/p>