In today's era fashion has been integrated into our everyday lives and varies from person to person. Some, including myself, prefer to buy higher quality clothing for higher prices, others believe in buying cheaper clothes no matter the quality since the price is so low. In this essay I will be addressing the differences between high and low priced clothing and using some popular designers such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and Louis Vuitton to prove my point of why some brands are worth more than others.

Brands such as H&M, Zara, and Forever21 are brands that focus on delivering products to average consumers at a very low price point, this is often what these corporate giants are known for. Although the low price is appealing consumers are often blind to the fact that the clothes are made for roughly 90¢ a piece in a large factory by machines that produce the clothing in bulk for 12 hours straight. When you think about designer brands like Gucci you may think to yourself “Why would I pay $420 for a t shirt with a logo on it?” What differentiates H&M from Gucci is the craftsmanship that goes into the clothing when making the products. The majority of people would argue that you are mainly paying for the brand name, and although for the most part that is true, people often don't think that the clothing is often hand stitched with premium materials and if machinery is used, there is staff that are assigned to make sure the quality of the clothing being produced is up to the prestigious standard that the consumer is paying for. 

There have been articles written that you could buy 10 to 20 times the amount of clothes at stores like Zara for what you would get for one shirt at Gucci. For example, if each t-shirt at Zara costs roughly $15, you could buy 28 of them for the same amount of cash you would spend on one Gucci t-shirt from the 2017 collection ($420). What some may not realize is that Zara t-shirt quality will only last you a few wears, whereas a high quality graphic tee could last you up to a year and a half depending on how well it is treated. Although this point still may seem irrational to some, I typically have a different state of mind when I am wearing my $150 Lacoste polo in comparison to my no longer existent Zara v-neck I had to throw away after the first week of use due to the fabric breaking apart and the shirt shrinking.

A counter argument some readers could make is that the prices some designers set is absurd and that no matter the quality of the clothing, spending $690 on a polo is something even a very wealthy person would have a bit of trouble convincing themselves into buying. The truth of the situation in the end is that you buy what you can afford, there are hundreds of high quality brands that sell clothing at a more reasonable price. For example, Armani Exchange is a high quality brand based out of Milan, Italy, each graphic tee is roughly $50 and offers the same quality that you would receive in a shirt from a higher priced brand such a Versace.

In conclusion I believe that buying higher end clothing is a better investment for average consumers and that the current cheaper clothing bought by many from large companies like H&M and Zara is a complete waste of hard earned money simply due to the fact that it will probably only be wearable 2 to 3 times.