How To REALLY Tell If Your Clothing Sucks

Clothing has gotten worse, so how can you tell if yours is about to fall apart? Or even worse, how do you know if you're being sold a trend-driven product you don't really like?
Ultimately bad clothing is a cross between bad quality (or 'good quality' elements which don't tell the full story) and marketing pushing us to buy stuff that either makes our existing clothing seem worse, or itself will become aesthetically useless next season.

*Some of my favourite international stores right now for technical fashion and more*
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[SoulcarePaperwars]

Dont want clothing that sucks ? Just only buy Bangers

[larskars]

Astute analysis. I'm an old guy who's still wearing many Dries van Noten and Comme des Garçons pieces purchased many years ago when I was able to and felt like spending money. I almost always waited for the sales and stuck to basic shapes and styles that don't really go out of fashion (being a male helps). I've also bought fast fashion and have maybe 50% regrets. I've also found surprisingly well-made stuff through a super market chain here in France, where I've found truly decent T-shirts and cotton sweaters that pass fashion criteria. But I also make clothing, and have been for decades, so I understand quality materials and construction, which is (as you state) a crucial factor in purchasing clothing. Having personal style is not following the trends—think of yourself as a fashion curator, and be aware of what looks best on YOU, not on some model or celebrity. And think for the long term.

[ashyblackankles]

antwon may be the “techwear guy” but atp he is simultaneously one of the best fashion commentary channels out there

[twanozzo]

yo antwagwan, thanks for the video. I feel like people don't talk enough about overconsumption and how to tackle that problem in the fashion landscape

[uuuu]

A little over a year ago I made my most expensive fashion purchase to date, a grey striped ACG alpine jacket for $330. I fell in love with the stupid edgy hypebeast techwear look as a teenager and never quite grew out of it (thanks mirrors edge :/) but even still I was pretty concerned I'd get spooked about it looking too edgy or out of date or not fitting right and that I'd end up not wearing it. It ended up becoming my favorite article of clothing by a long shot, I've been wearing it pretty much every day in fall/winter/spring and genuinely love the way I look in it. Fashion is about making yourself feel happy and cool, so catering to yourself first is important :)

[ryansubong]

Everything is about content and context. “Timeless” doesn’t mean anything without your own context. A pair of acronym cargo pants made of schoeller dryskin is not timeless in a menswear context but may be a staple in a more technical wardrobe. It’s important to be holistic about buying new clothes and consider every new piece of clothing as an “investment piece”.

[blockwearingman]

trying stuff on in store helps out so much

[Tamizen]

This is very much the right mindset. Evolving your style through time and not settling for things that you only somewhat like, it’s a good habit to only get stuff that is perfect in every way for you and what you personally like, you end up wasting less money and getting better clothes. Recently picked up the eye jacket reduxes after eyeing them for a while, got them for a crazy 70% off, so the time waiting and evaluating that specific piece really paid off. Great video as always!

[Ulfscher]

You have to be exposed to high quality in order to recognise it. Truly high quality is never cheap (unless you happen to find it at a super deep discount or in a thrift store).

I've studied tailoring and have been shopping for decades, so I don't really make mistakes when it comes to quality. It's a learning process. I still buy the occasional item that doesn't get much love though. 🙃

[AbtrAct]

The quality of the video increased, bro!

Amazing growth! Thank you!

[VD.mp]

Quality is an important factor but as you've often pointed out, the highest quality item won't work for you if it doesn't fit your specific use-case. A gore-tex shell might look cool but it won't give the best preformance in a +30°c city-setting.
Likewise, you have to experience higher quality options in order to recognize and appreciate them. If you've only ever known H&M and Zara, a Shein piece might blow you away because "it's the same quality" for a much lower price-point. I've recently tried Veilance for the first time and now I feel like I can't go back because I just think "hell yeah" whenever I put that piece on. Likewise, I know it'll last me for a really long time as long as I take good care of it.
People's expectations of quality clothes are also really skewed nowadays. As in, they expect quality to be cheap. My friends will compliment my fit and ask where I got the pieces I'm wearing, but be shocked at me telling them I spent 300€ on a 2nd hand Nike ACG poncho or 400€ on a skirt.

[-CMajor-]

ThisIsAntwon and The Iron Snail is the best team up this year!

[TeaCupCracked]

Recently I bought a dress from a very small brand from a "backwoods" area of my country. I bought it because the design was very unique, the brand is clearly marketing and designing for a certain niche and I wanted to support that creativity.
However, when I got it it was evident that they were contracting their small batches from a factory that was employing fast-fashion sewing methods. The fabric is... fine (100% cotton but that sort of lower quality feel you talk about here) the "idea" is still there and cool but the construction quality was bad. But instead of returning it I decided to re enforce all the seams on my machine and make some tweaks; add edge-stitching (collar sits better), make the skirt hem deeper (better drape) and such. Now I have the original concept, but actually sturdy enough to last.
So while I agree it's best to try and avoid badly-made clothes, I think if you find something that you really like and the key issue is something you know you can fix with skills you already have... Maybe see if you can salvage it instead of landfill it.

[bascal]

I like that you brought up those statistics. An argument I hear very frequently in defense of Temu and fast fashion is that people who buy it are poor and cannot afford anything else, it's very useful to see that actually their average consumer is middle class and could afford something made ethically.

[teno]

I feel like people are more sensible to "real" artisanal craftsmanship these days, with either unique or fine details, and less so to pure branding. Though it still only applies to some fashion/clothing niches, and it comes at a price that's harder to discern since more knowledge is required to know the backstory of a garment.
And I'm not talking about makers that are more on the side of luxury than anything else, despite branding themselves as artisanal.

Besides, I think people also tend to mix and match basic stuff that gets the job done like uniqlo t shirts - which are ultimately much more replaceable than other pieces - with finely crafted artisanal shoes or bigger pieces like jackets. Though that specifically is nothing new, but I feel like it's more pronunced now.

At least that's how I see it. Focus on specific, great pieces with some oomph to them, but also get some standard stuff. Again, nothing new but it seems more prevalent these days.

[cameronmartin]

Thanks for making this excellent video, Antwon!

I think you make some excellent points. My biggest takeaway is that it takes a significant amount of time and education to find quality clothing AND specific styles that work for you.

Perhaps you've done a video on this topic already, or have a video from another YouTuber to recommend, but I'd love a video covering "essential" recommendations at various price points. After 10+ years of being intentional with my clothing purchases, I know what fits I most enjoy, colours, and styles that work for me, but it's still confusing at times to know what brands to "trust". And I frankly don't have the interest, time or education to methodically review brands and specific items like you and others like the Iron Snail etc do.

Gun to your head, what are the best quality jeans you can buy for under $200 USD? Same question for tees, crewnecks, rainjacket at various price points.

I love how large the fashion world is and how much room there is for self expression and creativity, but it'd be great to get some high quality basic recommendations from an expert like you. We all need a regular fit white tee, a regular fit pair of jeans etc.

[understitchYT]

This reminded me that I was going to give you that Christopher Raeburn jacket, not a mistake purchase, love Raeburn so much, but its too tech-y for my style and would be better for you

[cactussyrup]

8:46 you talk about a concept in marketing called planned obsolescence and i think more people should be aware of this when buying clothing these days, there are simply things DESIGNED to keep people buying the same thing over and over again, a dirty trick in business that applies to almost every product we have these days

[larsmunchkins]

my biggest weaknesses for clothes:

I love jackets and vests, they're my favourite piece in an outfit. but living in australia it's mostly too hot to wear them with any sort of regularity

I love corduroy. years ago it was really rare to find, so I would snatch up any piece I could get my hands on. Now that it's come back into fashion somewhat, I'm getting spoiled for choice and I'm needing to be more choosey and not follow that knee jerk reaction of grabbing it just because its corduroy

and of course: been fat. you'll hear time and time again it's so hard to get anything stylish or well made if you're past a certain clothing size. And the bigger you are the more slim the pickings. It's very easy to panic buy something because it's so rare to find something that fits, but that usually ends up with tonnes of cheap graphic tees that peel and flake off after a couple washes.

And last of all, been a broke bastard. It's very tempting to buy the cheapest stuff. Everyone knows it doesn't last. Eventually I added one higher quality item, then eventually another. Over the years the cheaper stuff has been rotated out and replaced at least three times while the better stuff is still like new. Been able to compare those side by side really helps put it into perspective.

It's very easy to be in the "beggars cant be choosers" mindset, and it does work in the short term if you truely have no other options (been there, had to completely replace my wardrobe after water damage/mould outbreak).

Fast fashion preys on that mindset of FOMO the most, it's designed to build anxiety and destroy your self esteem. Putting together a more sturdy, long lasting wardrobe is a lot of work, but does WONDERS for the mental health. 100% the best thing I've done for my peace of mind.

[HondaAccord_]

10:54 i mean if those pants are just a waste of space for you i would gladly take them of your hand, btw great video like always