It all started when my co-worker noticed a hole in the elbow of his blue cashmere sweater. I love cashmere (who doesn’t?), and it got me thinking about where he might find a replacement at a decent price if it couldn’t be repaired.
His pull-over is from Costco, but they aren’t offering that style again this season: a simple, navy Crew neck in 100% cashmere. I found myself Googling madly, and as I fell down the rabbit hole I realized that markups on high-end clothing are, if anything, even worse for men than they are for women.
J Crew: $225 for their “special” blend
Burberry Brit: $350 for the sweater + a dose of pretentious ad copy
Margiela via Neiman Marcus: $995 for a designer name and leather elbow patches to prevent those pesky holes
Needless to say, my fellow editor won’t be throwing a grand at a new jumper, but I also think $200, even for luxe fabric, is a lot to spend. I realize that retail markups are essential to cover labor, marketing, design, and other costs for clothing makers, but from the perspective of a consumer looking for a relatively basic item, an average price of $440 for a sweater sounds obscene.
A lot of guys (the ones in my life included) don’t like buying second-hand or waiting and searching for deals on new items. Fear not! Ebay, Craigslist, BlueFly, and the local Thrift Town may just save you from the menswear mob.
TL;DR
ReplyDeleteCashmere is expensive and really nice cashmere not made in sweat shops is even more expensive.
Cashmere are expensive but it has good quality clothing and comfy to wear. You may visit White + Warren Contemporary cashmere and knitwear for women, men + babies. Gracias!
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