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Comment by bsder | Hacker News Reader

That wasn't always true.

When I started interviewing out of grad school, I REALLY stretched to go buy a nice suit from Neiman-Marcus, a Valentino at $700 in 1995. The suit was gorgeous and the tailor at N-M did a beautiful job adjusting it to me.

I could be considered, barely, middle-class--certainly the lower end at best. The suit absolutely paid for itself many times over--that's a different set of stories.

That Valentino is now closer to $5,000. Inflation says that Valentino should be about $1,200. I suspect that even at $1,200 most students couldn't stretch for it today.

So, is Neiman-Marcus to blame for going further upscale given that they probably can't make any money in the middle anymore?

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>> is Neiman-Marcus to blame for going further upscale

You made one purchase at N-M 25 years ago, and from that single experience, you're generalizing the entire merchandising strategy of the brand ever since then?

And your premise is false anyway. The 1 and only Valentino suit currently available at neimanmarcus.com costs $1173, which is less than $1200:

https://www.neimanmarcus.com/search.jsp?aq=valenti&dq=valent...

All I've taken away from this is Valentino is more expensive in 2020 than it should be. By nature of you even being physically close enough to a Neiman Marcus in 1995, chances are you were of higher income than the rest of the country. They're still located in mostly more wealthy areas of the country.

If you consider driving 3+ hours close ... And a "grad student" is generally damn poor (and I was) ...

My point was that Neiman-Marcus had a product (properly fitted business suits) that was actually (probably upper) middle class. And that product, in fact, served its purpose really well.

People still underestimate the effect that an excellent suit has on people's perception of you in business. Being tech, I normally cruise around in really casual wear. However, investor meetings demand something a little more upscale so I'm pulling out my nice suit. I chuckle at the difference in behavior of the people around me (both employees and strangers) when I show up for work in a suit.

You valued and knew to value a suit for your purposes in 1995. Most people now or in 1995 did not drive three hours to buy a suit. The number of jobs that require a suit for everyday use is definitely down vs 1995 and you can rent a suit (not vouching for fit here) if you need one for interviews which is the primary use for most people who do not wear one on a daily basis.

I'm not disagreeing with anything you said on making a good impression but that doesn't change anything on the fact that Neiman Marcus has never been for middle class shoppers. A one-off purchase does not make a customer base.

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