Workwear brands (Carhartt, Duluth Trading, Dickies, Doc Martin, etc.) and some outdoor wear brands provide high quality and durability. If that's what you're interested in, and you've reached the point at which looking hip isn't your thing, and don't care to comb through piles of vintage items looking for a reasonable fit and style, you'll have options.

Aside from fast (tranlation: fall-apart) fashion, my major gripe over the past decade has been a transition to slim styles which offer very little latitude for different body shapes, and frankly feel tremendously uncomfortable in a full day's wear. You'll pay a slight premium, but generally less than mainstream brands.

A few classic items can offer many years of excellent wear without appearing dated.

The changes to mainstream clothing have lost my patronage at any number of stores. And the practices described in this NYT piece strike me as both alien and revolting.