The Horror At Redbook

[filkertom]

I can definitely say that I agree with the general points made in this article at Redbook Magazine, i.e., I vastly prefer a simple and sexy dress, I love sweats and a tee, and a white tank top and jeans is one of my core images of a sexy woman.

But those prices!

I don't care how frickin' designer they are. Any "casual" ensemble that costs more than your mortgage is not casual.

What's the most expensive clothing you have? I've got a leather jacket that was about $200.

Comments

[wednes]

My wedding dress was $130, and I once bought a winter dress-up coat for about $200--but this was 15 years ago.

[filkertom]

See, I can understand a pricey wedding dress... although some of the prices they command are ludicrous, some are quite reasonable for a few hundred bucks. Same with a really good coat. But I'm trying to wrap my brain around the $300 lace tunic -- or the $70 jeans, for that matter. I know no one who will pay that much for jeans, and that includes some pretty well-off folks.

[mythochromos]

I get it for a cashmere sweater; there's nothing like it. But the rest? No. Not even if it's handmade, and I'll pay handmade prices.

The most expensive purchase I've made was probably an underbust corset and skirt. On the other hand, at a decent hourly wage, some of the things I've knitted for myself would probably "cost" even more. The lace wrap that took 6 months because I didn't pick an easy pattern to start learning lace...that thing probably ate a piece of my soul too.

[filkertom]

Nah. You donated it. Sympathetic magic. :)

[technoshaman]

Lessee. Shoei Multitech flip-face helmet, somewhere north of $400 list. Firstgear Kilimanjaro touring jacket, $260 list. (I did NOT pay that for either. :) Eagle Leather overpants, somewhere in the low three figures. Alpinestars Alpha touring boots, $160?

Knowing I'm reasonably well kitted out should, Lady forbid, I hit something? Priceless.

As far as mundane, non-moto clothing? I tend to hit triple digits with shoes (I'm rough on them; cheap ones don't stand a chance), but not much else. Well, ok, the Seattle-proof Eddie Bauer rain jacket...

Best bang for buck I ever spent on something expensive was $125 for a Drizabone Aussie duster. Kept me warm and dry both on top of Grandfather mountain (well layered under :) and during the infamous Hanukkah Eve storm of '06... I miss that jacket.

[filkertom]

Best two pairs of shoes I've ever owned were a set of $90 Rockports that outlasted everything I ever owned collectively to that point in my life, and my $130-ish Ecco sandals, which likely should be replaced soon but they really are still in pretty good shape after 3-1/2 years.

[lilfluff]

As a guy I don't have much in the way of expensive clothes. I do have a $75-80 (in 2003ish dollars) pair of flat front black slacks. Most utterly comfortable pants I have. But it isn't the price that keeps me from wearing them but the "dry clean only" label.

My current preferred pants are around $65 but I wait for sales to buy them. So far, other than the back pocket buttons, they're lasting longer than the old cheap store label Mervyn's stuff I used to buy.

I've been trying to find that balance point between cheap & cheaply made and "Half the price is for the label" where stuff actually lasts long enough to be worth it.

[http://users.livejournal.com/__kat__/]

My most expensive clothing comes from the Renaissance Faire. I've got a corset that ran me about $300 but I've had it for over 5 years and I build costumes around it. And last year I custom ordered a pair of 5 button Catskill Mountain Moccasins that cost a little over $500 but they were worth it. I wear them nearly daily and they are the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned and if I take care of them they could last up to 20 years.

Other than that I pick up most everything else at Goodwill. I am rarely willing to pay much more than $30 for any single item of clothing.

[pyffe.livejournal.com]

I've always wanted a pair of their moccasins!

[kshandra]

My made-to-measure Xcentricities corset (as seen in the icon) was somewhere between $375-400. (Now I just need to drop about 75lbs. so it fits me like that again....)

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

I have several gorgeous dresses that were all about $100 each, purchased by a particular woman's thrice-annual boutique. (Hey, when you find outfits that make a 220-lb woman look stunning, you BUY 'em.)

My $95 bra is a close second. (It's had a cameo appearance on YouTube during a Consonance stage production. Not ME, mind you - just my bra. Story provided on request.)

[bayushisan.livejournal.com]

I think that the most expensive thing I have is a duster that cost $300. Beyond that I don't think that I have anything that cost over $25-$30.

[arensb.livejournal.com]

A $300 duster? For that kind of money, you could buy several vacuum cleaners.

[ruisseau.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I think my leather corset was about $75. And I have a dress or two that ran $50 or so. I try to buy on sale when I can.

[catnip13.livejournal.com]

Excluding my wedding dress (which was a little under 300), my peacoat, which was I think a little less than 200.
My everyday clothes are jeans (which I pay about $50 for - I wear a Lane Bryant 18 extra curvy, and while their jeans are kind of expensive, the fit is worth it), a tank top (Old Navy, $4.50-$10 depending on color and sales) and an organic cotton/hemp hoodie ($40 http://www.greenboatstuff.com/allnaheorcou.html I have 3). Shoes are either $95 Keen sandals or $40 Converse hi-tops.

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

Bah! I wear the same jeans and shoes as you!

I buy New York & Co tank tops with built-in bras and most of my over-layers are sweaters bought secondhand on eBay.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

The garments in my closet that I paid the most for (as opposed to original retail value, since I shop second-hand stores) would be uniforms. Military officer's uniforms are expensive buggers, and since they have to be tailored to form-fitting exactness, there's really not much of a secondary market for the used ones.

My formal wear cost someone a lot, but not me. I got it used. The only part of it that I've had to get new are the shirts.

[gorgeousgary]

One of my suits would have been ~$800 full price. Thanks to 40%- or 50%-off sale (I forget which) and gift certificate, I got it for ~$400.

[judifilksign.livejournal.com]

Like many before me, my most expensive clothing purchase was a $375 corset, worn for several years at cons.

Next most expensive was my winter cloak, materials $90, which I sewed myself, with mother's help when I was a teen. Still use it to this day with formal wear in winter.

I could never afford to dress "casually" for as much as those Redbook costs. My local charity shops are my main shopping recourse for both me, and my children. If I could diet down to size four to six, then I could buy designer duds there for less than ten dollars an outfit.

[droewyn.livejournal.com]

I've got a wool traveling cloak from Halfmoon... they used to do the Michigan renfaire. It was $400. It's two pieces, and I pretty much use it Fall - Spring as my primary coat.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

I've got a full-length openwork-crochet dress in black that cost me $250 when I bought it back in the 80s; a similar item these days would probably run $600 or more.

I have a formal salwar kameez, dark green with gold bead-and-sequin trim, that also cost about $250.

I have a couple of velvet ruanas with bead-and-sequin decoration that cost around $200 each.

I have a lovely Celtic-design coat that was on sale for half price at $150.

The single most expensive item I own isn't clothing, it's a piece of jewelry. It cost $700, but the artist let me buy it on layaway; it took me most of a year to pay for it. It's a large hand-cast sterling pendant set with a beautiful piece of white quartz with magnesite matrix and vintage Hungarian garnets.

I'm willing to spend significant money on good clothes -- and even with those, I know where to look to find them significantly cheaper (usually down on Harwin in the import stores). For casual wear, I shop Target and thrift stores. I never buy jeans anywhere but Goodwill, because I hate breaking them in!

[wingus.livejournal.com]

Probably my high school letterman jacket that I have no chance in hell of fitting in ever again...

[james-the-evil1.livejournal.com]

$50 for SWEATPANTS? You could get 5 pair for that at Target.

And guys may take the girl in the mid length skirt home to Mama, but they'll cheat on her with the girl in the mini. It's the whole Madonna/whore thing.

[james-the-evil1.livejournal.com]

Oh, my most expensive is my fancy full length trench-duster probably, or my business suit-coat. Both of which are classically styled & will be good for ages.

[jocosa]

I have a pair of Reef flip flops I paid $30 for 2 years back. Most expensive clothing item I own. Sad, but true. *grin*

(Drive by from the "friends of friends" page view)

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

I'd also like to point out that anybody with eyes and a brain can look at any of the outfits in that article and find cheap knockoffs to re-create the image at a fraction of the price. There was nothing pictured that I couldn't find something similar from my usual sources for a LOT less, except perhaps the cashmere cardigan -- and that's because it's cashmere, which is never cheap. If I were going for that look, I'd choose a different fabric for my wrap.

[jenrose]

Cashmere is such a fussy, overrated fabric. Give me washable silk any day.

[ttamsen.livejournal.com]

Hmm.. My Utilikilt was $300, which amortizes fairly well over the 4-5 years they tend to last. My Scott-E-Vest fleece and jacket *would* have been over $300, but I got them during a 50% off sale. I guess the only other place the money goes is for good quality Birkenstocks every couple of years. Everything else is vendorware or thrift store findings.

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

I gave my Utilikilt to my baby brother for Christmas. I've gained weight and he looks far better in it than I do!

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

I have a few coats that were in the $150-200 range. Two are leather jackets (a biker jacket and a duster, both from Jammin' Leather), one is a stunning velvet opera coat I found at a secondhand store.

[jenrose]

I think my biker jacket was close to $200 in 1991. Everything else that you'd think would be expensive was probably made by my mom or me, (wedding garb, etc.)

I spent a LOT of money on my shoes, but when you have a wonky size, one does.

Most of my clothes cost less than $25. I occasionally splurge on an item, and spend as much as $60, but that's pretty rare.

But i have mad shopping mojo.

[madrona.livejournal.com]

Except I think the jacket was less "What guys wish you'd wear" and more "What you wear when you wish guys would fuck off".

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

My wedding dress was, I think 250$. I had the seamstress make it to my design, with removable long sleeves under a cap sleeve, handmade lace (come to think of it, it probably came to 300$ with the lace), and pockets. It is my Very Best Dress: I wear it to the GaFilk banquet, to my husband's college's Christmas Dinner, and sometimes on our anniversary or Valentines Day outings.

[sillyfox.livejournal.com]

The most expensive item in my wardrobe is a yukata that my husband bought for me while we were in Japan - that, plus the geta and the obi and the various undergarments/things-that-hold-it-together came out to about $400 US. Now if only I had more opportunities to wear it...

[pyffe.livejournal.com]

I'll chime in too with 'my wedding dress'. About $200. The garb I have is mostly handmade or around $100 or so.