Surprising Findings About How People Actually Buy Clothes and Shoes

Re:Surprising Findings About How People Actually Buy Clothes... by mattmanser on Monday June 18, 2018 @09:10AM (#17337933)

I got a pair of clarks desert boots a couple of years ago and they've lasted ages even though I'm tall and heavy. I thought the crepe soles might wear down quickly but they're still good. I usually have real trouble with soles as I walk almost everywhere and they wear down quickly on cheaper shoes.

Here in the UK, CDBs are £80 vs the £200 you're talking about (or $70 vs $170 that I can see on amazon.com).

Basically avoid really cheap, but you don't have to go to $200 though.

Also, we seem to be in a weird spot fashion wise right now. Hipster fashion doesn't seem to be fading. Reddit's MFA (male fashion advice) was recommending chukka boots and white trainers like 6 years ago and we're still there, same with skinny suits, etc.

Fashion, while apparently highly disposable for women, seems to have stabilized for men. MFA talk about "timeless" pieces, but in reality wearing chukkas, white trainers or slim suits in the 90s or early 2000s would have made you look like a plonker. When I was young Doc Martins were cool, then they weren't, now they kinda are again? I also remember Hush Puppies with a particular look were cool that really aren't today.

Same with dress shoes too, black, square fronted dress shoes were considered good, while pointy brown dress shoes were incredibly old fashioned. Now it's the other way around.

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Re:Surprising Findings About How People Actually Buy Clothes... by iamben on Monday June 18, 2018 @09:57AM (#17338262)

CDBs are the only shoes I've ever worn through the sole of. I wore them the great regularity for 2 years. Rest of the shoe is still fine. Clarks are definitely worth the extra cash.

That said, those crepe soles are like ice skates in the wet...

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Re:Surprising Findings About How People Actually Buy Clothes... by mark212 on Monday June 18, 2018 @05:40PM (#17341898)

the D stands for desert after all! :-)

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Re:Surprising Findings About How People Actually Buy Clothes... by mattmanser on Monday June 18, 2018 @10:19AM (#17338425)

Yes, that is their downside!

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Re:Surprising Findings About How People Actually Buy Clothes... by lazerpants on Monday June 18, 2018 @11:27AM (#17338926)

Men's fashion just moves at a much slower pace than women's, and things that are sort of out of style are okay for a much longer period.

CBDs and white shoes are definitely on their way out, but it will take years for that to happen, whereas women's fashion changes very quickly.

Source: wife works in production for both men's and women's fashion.

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Re:Surprising Findings About How People Actually Buy Clothes... by petra on Monday June 18, 2018 @11:58AM (#17339236)

What drives those changes ? And why do they change differently ?

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Re:Surprising Findings About How People Actually Buy Clothes... by lazerpants on Tuesday June 19, 2018 @11:08AM (#17347350)

My wife and I have discussed this before and never come to a satisfying conclusion. Best brief answer I've got is that the phenomena is rooted in historical/cultural uses of clothes, involving practicality/conformity for men, and more ornamentation for women (not drawing a judgement here, just considering the last 100-200 years in Western culture).

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Re:Surprising Findings About How People Actually Buy Clothes... by mark212 on Monday June 18, 2018 @05:42PM (#17341901)

I'm still of the opinion that skinny suits make anyone over the age of 30 look like a plonker. And I'm seeing double-breasted make a come back, paired with pleated trousers. Haven't seen pleats on pants in twenty years. Men's fashion moves really slowly.

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