choosing

My friend and I were discussing our shopping train of thought. It usually starts with "oh look at that, very nice", followed by a laundry list of why it's a no.

If you sit down and make a list of things that you dislike about clothing, very little would make the cut. This makes not buying stuff a lot easier.

I’m not going to go into fit and styles – those are pretty subjective. Quality is the iffy thing I’m thinking about here. Eileen mentioned on her blog that in her experience it’s largely been one of trial and error, and there isn’t much easy-to-reference guidance out there. I agree.

I learnt a bit from my mum, who took lessons from a seamstress and made our clothes as a child. I learnt a bit as a sales assistant in a couple of boutiques.

The rest I learnt from episodes like watching my cardigans unravel at the sleeve, beginning its rapid detachment from the armhole. I had NO idea that could happen to an item of clothing.

So I decided to try and somehow put it on paper (digitally speaking), and hope this is useful for some. Even better, it could generate more tips from you guys, and we all benefit.

This is going to be a loooooong post, so if the nerdy details of shopping don’t interest you, you can stop here.

My laundry list of crap to look out for include, in no particular order:

Shoddy seams and stitching. Ones that are exposed and not properly finished for starters, ones that don’t have much give. Ones that are not straight. Ones with loose threads. Ones that are so skimpy it doesn’t allow for slight alterations – if you’re shortening your trousers for instance, skimpy seams won’t let you finish the job nicely because there isn’t enough of it to fold flat neatly. Wherever there are seams, pull them apart. The good ones allow a bit of stretch but it holds and they fall back into a straight line when you let go. At Zara, they actually split. Jeez.

If we’re talking about leather bags – look the parts where two pieces are sewn together, or where the handle or strap is sewn to the bag, and give it a good yank. As far as I can tell, a good bag has nothing to worry about. On a related note, the leather shouldn’t stretch too much when you pull at it too – it’s a sign of how well it will keep its shape, or whether it will sag like crazy. My sister has a Fendi Peekaboo made of lambskin - you’d think it’s the most delicate thing ever made. But pulling it, pinching it, picking it roughly, has left it no worse for wear.

As for stitches, they should be small and even. I’m not asking for eye-wateringly small, but the more stitches per inch, the more durable. Assuming the thread used isn’t cheap. Sometimes the threads themselves break after some wear (Zara, you again). This is a sign to not bother with that store again.

Thin, cheap fabric masquerading as “delicate”. The kind that if you pull in two directions with your two hands, you see light coming through, and feels like it's disintegrating in your hands. Maybe it is delicate. But whether it’s precious and refined or simply cheap, it’s not fit for everyday wear if you’re a pleb like me. Besides, I have spent a day shopping for quality silk chiffon (in varying weights, from French to Japanese), and they do not come apart like that.

I especially hate over-thin fabric on trousers. Where you can see the outline of the pockets. Awful.

And for something to be soft doesn’t mean it has to be see-through.

For shirts, a high thread count is softer, but they’re actually less durable according to what I was taught as a sales assistant, because there are more yarns. Durability counts for me so I’m not always looking for the finest fabric. This is probably down to personal preference.

Skimpy waistbands. I illustrate this with two pairs of my jeans, both of which retailed in the same price bracket.



This is a skimpy waistband. It looks wavy around the edges. That’s how they looked when I bought them (in a moment of insanity brought on by a 90% markdown).

A waistband has to be made with two pieces of fabric sewn together to keep their shape and sit well on your body. In this case the two pieces are so crap that it looks and feels like one layer. Quality trousers will have a lining between the pieces (feel for it).

A sturdy waistband looks like this -



If anyone needs proof that brand and price is a poor indicator of quality, this is it.

Hairy button holes. The kind the button keeps snagging on, caught in the frayed threads. I LOATHE this. A lot of shirts (not necessarily the cheapest ones) are like this right off the bat. Jeez.

While we’re talking about buttons, a good one should be thick, like 2-3 mm for a shirt. I had this Zara (again) cardigan where the button was a shaving. I squeezed it too hard on one occasion and it crumbled between my fingers. True story.

Posh materials like horn and mother-of-pearl are nice, but I expect them only from higher-end brands. It’s okay for Massimo Dutti to use plastic buttons on shirts (plastic is perfectly durable); it’s not okay for say, Kiton.

More important for me is how they are sewn on. Buttons are easier to button and stay on longer if they’re sewn like its mounted on the shirt, rather tightly flat down. And the buttons sewn with a cross-stitch with stay on longer– my mother taught me this one.

Puckering. Self explanatory. You see all the time when the stitching is bad. A related problem is wavy edges. You know, at the neckline of a t-shirt, on the ribbed cuff of a cardigan. In the fitting, pull at these edges. If your finger leaves an indent, however faint, don’t buy it. This is why I don’t buy t-shirts with ribbed necklines.

Wonky collars. Even a silk shirt should have neat, firm collars. Collar stays under the collar are a nice detail that only seems to exist on men’s shirts, but I have good shirts that do fine without.

Bad zippers. Ones that get stuck - instant fail. One that aren’t straight, fail. Not mention ones that are badly sewn to the garment (see puckering, shoddy seams, stitching).

Mismatched patterns and stripes. Making sure they're aligned is a sign of attention to detail. Even Massimo Dutti can do this for a GBP49.90 shirt. So I would expect more from expensive labels. I've noticed for very expensive shirts, you can barely see the outline of a pocket from afar.

Cheap linings. Synthetic anything will make me work up a sweat. Actually, so do silk linings.

Digression: I would love to find a good partially-lined blazer. The lack of a lining annoys some people, but for me it's only necessary at the sleeves so that my arms can slide in easily, and around the shoulder so that it looks nice. A full lining is the reason why I rarely wear my jacket in Singapore. If the jacket’s seams are well-finished, the hems nicely weighted, and the material sturdy, I can dispense with a lining.

Shoes are a whole different kettle of fish and given I'm generally attracted to ballet flats and sneakers, I'm probably not going to be able to offer much of use.

As a ballet flats wearer, I can safely say there’s an upper limit to how good they get, since they are by nature flimsy things. So I don’t bother with expensive ones.

Crappy leather. I don't like it when the leather feel too thin or flimsy. I don't like it when it feels very "coated" - to the extent that you can't seem to feel the grain of the leather, and they don't have that nice leather smell. I also like a certain amount of suppleness.

Some shoes are marked 100% leather and yet they feel like plastic. Like the Tory Burch flats I ordered online. Never again.

I insist leather shoes be leather inside and out, to let my feet breathe. No fabric sides or uppers.

I bend the shoes or tiptoe with them one to see how well the soles are attached to the shoes, and whether the leather creases weirdly. Sometimes you get these weird bulges when you bend them. Fail.

Hand-stitched shoes are nice of course but soles attached with glue or welts (I don't know the exact term) aren’t evil. Clarks' shoes are so comfortable and they last for ages - and they didn't need hand-stitching to do that.

For boots, I like it when the soles “protrude” from the bottom of the shoe, like this (no they don't have to be US$460). This protects the actual shoe better at the edges and allows for the replacing and repairing of soles.

Knitwear is one area I’m lost in – I know that technically shorter fibres pill faster etc but I have no idea how to spot that by looking and touching. In any case most of my knits are cotton so pilling isn't such a big issue for me.

Once you apply all these criteria, is there anything left to buy? Of course there are. After all, there are other factors - necessity, design, fit, price.

And this isn't about buying expensive things, or going for certain brands - although it's obvious I've gone off a particular brand. My shirts don't have to be Charvet, they just need to be good, whatever the label or price. I don't need handmade shoes, they just need to be honestly made with quality in mind. I don't need selvedge denim from an obscure mill in Japan.

In the end it comes down to buying the best you can afford within your means, and getting value for money.

P.S: I think this article sums up how to balance how much one wants to spend versus the quality attained quite well.

EDIT: More links recommended by Prêt à Porter P and Jess (thank you guys!) - a guide from GQ on shopping on a budget, and three useful posts on how to buy quality clothing here, here and here.