Ask HN: Where do you shop for durable clothing? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Where do you shop for durable clothing?

2 pointsrich_sasha7 comments

Title says it all. It used to be that premium clothing lasted longer, but it no longer seems to. Most of my clothes are either old and holding up or new and falling apart - cheap or expensive, ethical or perhaps not.

I'm fed up with being stuck between paying medium amounts for unethical, fast-fashion clothing that falls apart quickly, or paying a lot for perhaps ethical clothing that falls apart almost as quickly. Usually you also can't pick-and-mix - companies that treat their employees fairly also seem to invest in reforestation or social schemes, which I'd rather consider separately.

For example, I used to buy some things from Patagonia, but even they seem to have gone downhill. I bought a shirt about 5 years ago, which I still have, and last year I bought the very same "model". The newer one is failing, the old one is going strong.

Can any HN folks, better than average at finding signals among the noise, recommend brands that make quality clothing that lasts, presumably above Fast Fashion prices in $/item, but better in $/month of use? Many thanks in advance.

REI, because when a member discovers that their purchase is not actually durable, REI has a solid return promise. For members, returns are allowed for 1 year for any reason and lifetime for product defects. I’ve had items wear out after 6 months (and others last 20 years…) and they’ve always been great about it.

REI’s onetime $30 membership fee is worthwhile on its own. However, since it’s a member-owned co-op, you also receive 5% of your purchases as a rebate (https://www.rei.com/membership). REI is usually competitive for pricing - not the cheapest, not the most expensive.

However, even if that 5% was explicitly added to the price, I’d pay it. For those of us who think in terms of value for the money, paying 5% more to ensure that I’m going to be satisfied (with the whole product, not just durability) is an amazing value.

That sounds really cool - thanks! I can't see their guarantee spelled out anywhere in the "membership" section, is it particular to some items, or something unwritten?

Here’s their return policy: https://www.rei.com/help/returns

Buck Mason makes nice cotton T-shirts. They're plain, but the thick fabric also makes them look way sharper than your average solid-colored T-shirt.

That said, I have to ask: are you laundering your clothes in a way that makes them more prone to falling apart? (Not a dig at you; most people do, because most laundering methods aren't conducive to long-lasting clothes.) Almost any piece of clothing will hold up if you wash it in warm/ or cold water and dry it on the least-hot setting possible.

It takes a bit more effort, but all of my "nice" clothing (jackets, shirts that don't have logos on them, anything 100% cotton) gets washed in a cold water cycle and hung dry. Stuff keeps it shape longer, doesn't shrink, and doesn't erode in the dryer—the lint you pull out of your dryer's filter is proof that your clothes are slowly losing mass every time you dry them!

I have a 100 year hoodie by Vollebak

https://vollebak.com/products/100-year-hoodie-black-edition

Dunno about brands, but farm stores might sell a better grade of utility clothing than you could easily find elsewhere.

Find the places that do uniform leasing. They'll have heavy grade stuff they might sell.

This stuff seems pretty good https://www.beretta.com/en-us/mens-clothing/

Reply on news.ycombinator.com