It's a skill you can practise. Go to a second hand clothing store and feel the fabrics. Inspect the seams, zippers and what have you. Make mental note of brand labels. You'll develop a sense of quality.
And a second hand store, specifically, because the clothes there being used reinforces the survivorship bias - bad clothes don't make it through recycling.
I wanted to respond but couldn’t find the words. Then I read in the article [0] linked in a sibling comment:
“ Now, what's important to note is that the quality and the price of an item are not always related. Some types of items are easier to manufacture and get right than others, which is why it is totally possible to find certain well-made items at affordable shops. At the same time, just because an item is very pricey, that sadly does not always mean that the manufacturer used all of that extra money to up the quality of the garment.”
I don't think we're in disagreement. My point was that $50 pair of jeans tends to be better quality than an $10 one, although the difference with an $500 pair is not anywhere as dramatic.
Sure, but the $50 pair might just as well be worse than the $10 pair, they just spent $30/pair more on marketing to convince the buyer they’re something special. Then pocketing $10 more a pair than the cheaper but just-as-good version.
Same with the $500 pair.
It’s just difficult to tell if one can’t evaluate quality oneself.
