Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Been hearing a lot about this brand. Plan to get a pair of their pants soon. They make really high quality clothing meant to be very functional and versatile. Stuff is expensive, but if you want to buy a few very high quality pieces that will last a very long time, look no further.

https://outlier.nyc/

If you're making clothes in San Francisco, I doubt they are a good value. I'm surprised they would even brag about that. Their t-shirts are $110.

The quality range for clothing is too small to be picky unless you are dressing to impress.

I can make a $5 Walmart T-shirt last five years or so, mostly through hand washing and air drying. If I want a fresh new shirt to impress my date Friday night that's the cheap part of the date; it's all of another $5. If someone steals that shirt off my back it's yet another... you guessed it. I fail to see the economy in a $110 T-shirt.

This sounds terrible.

I have plenty of hand me down or thrift shop clothing that has lasted 10+ years which cost 10% of these comparable items.

Even if my thrift store clothes only lasted a year each it would still take me a decade to clothe myself for that much money.

In fairness, the $110 t-shirt is made of merino wool.
Not sure it is necessary for a T-shirt (my answer would be no), but in terms of cost it's incomparable to cotton.

Still looks like clothing for the "overpaid hipster software engineer who wants to spend a lot of money to look poor" cohort, that seems to represent 85% of today's SF population

Some clothes are worth spending the money on and some aren't. I still wear shoes I bought in the 90s. I also have some cashmere blend sweaters I've been wearing for decades. OTOH I buy t-shirts and undergarments every year.

One thing I've noticed is that it's harder to find items that are a high enough quality to be considered BIFL. DH has been wearing his Bluffworks pants every week for the last 4 years, however, so they are out there if you look.

Sweaters, jackets and shoes can last a long time as long as you avoid them getting very dirty or damaged accidentally.

T-shirts, underwear and pants seem to be more questionable as far as their durability for price.Although I've found jeans that last a bit longer than cheaper ones I'm still not sure if they last so much longer that they actually are cheaper in the long run rather than simply breaking even with cheaper ones.

A strategy I've been considering to stretch out wear on clothing that tends to wear out faster like pants/t-shirts etc is idea of having 3 grades of clothing:
1. New - only wear for things where you need to look good.
2. Slightly worn - wear when you just need to look acceptable.
3. Moderately worn - wear when you don't even need to look acceptable such as staying home or doing dirty work.

Clothing automatically moves from 1 through 3 as it wears out, but things move slower from 1 to 3 as you for example wear 1 while interviewing, having meetings or going out on a date. You would wear 2 when just working or hanging out with friends/family etc. Then you would switch to 3 when you get home or are expecting to do things that are expected to get your clothing very dirty or worn. Then once it's too worn even for 3 it gets thrown away/recycled/repurposed etc.

Their t-shirts look comfy though really pricey.

If I am chilling out at home and no visitors coming to visit on that day I will stay in my boxer shorts and t shirt all day.

@prognastats strategy is like a modern version of wearing an apron or coveralls. People did not have many outfits, so you wore 'Sunday best', daily wear, and when at home or doing dirty tasks you added a top layer to make your dailies last longer.

I have similar strategy where clothes are in task-related capsules, and when they start to show wear or are no longer useful for their intended purpose they become at home/casual; later they get remade based on current textile needs like pants into shorts, redesigned into aprons, EDC pouches, hankies, cleaning cloths; and eventually all clothes get broken down to parts (button jar, zippers to reuse, material for patching in the next round, and stuffing for a large floor cushion).

Based on this clothing life cycle, I mostly buy used items that have good fabric, quality zippers and buttons, and are repairable. If I find ethical, new items that fit the quality criteria I'll buy those too. Anathema to this are any items that are flimsy, not repairable, and have a high sticker price = most 'designer' items.