Shout out to American Giant. I have like 15 t-shirts from them, some are ten years old and they look new. Buying good stuff saves money in the long run!

Same here.. i bulk buy tons of AG t-shirts (Premium Slub Crew Tee is awesome) and tons of their jeans too.

Interesting. Hadn't heard of American Giant. I buy AG Jeans and Robert Barakett shirts, and this is my usual outfit. However, AG Jeans (https://www.agjeans.com/) is distinct from American Giant jeans (https://www.american-giant.com/collections/mens-bottoms).

I also struggle to identify quality brands. Generally just shop at Nordstorm.

I meant American Giant jeans https://www.american-giant.com/collections/mens-bottoms :)

How can a t-shirt possibly be worth $100? Is that truly better than alternatives?

It’s a cost I’m willing to pay. You’re paying for a fully domestic supply chain. The cotton is grown in the U.S., then cleaned, spun into yarn, made into fabric, dyed, and finally cut and sewn in Los Angeles. Every step happens in the United States, supporting local farming, manufacturing, and labor.

the Robert Barakett shirt? i don't know – often on sale for $50. how are they worth $50? well… there's no logo on them and they fit well.

And, before major purchases, check to make sure that private equity firm has not bought them.

I can confidently say I use and enjoy almost all of those brands. A great litmus test for whether a company makes good products is whether they make them locally enough for the CEO to regularly visit the factory.

A somewhat humorous example is System76, where their US built stuff (cases, keyboards) are made with relatively thick aluminum and are surprisingly sturdy, while their laptops can be flimsy and are less ruggidly build. I think it's easier to say "good enough" when your laptop ships from clevo and you don't have a real choice in the build quality

You can notice the quality difference when things are actually built to last. I work a lot with electronics and need good work-holding tools. I didn't use to focus on that and just bought cheap crap. I then heard of PanaVise (made in Reno, NV) and got their tools, absolutely SOLID. Over-built, heavy and built to LAST!

Wasn't System76 working on a laptop? Whatever happened to that?

I remember that! They posted it in 2023 (https://x.com/carlrichell/status/1643260524841566211) and haven't really updated since. I've messaged system76 a few times and not gotten a response.

I do hope they build it though, I own their keyboard/desktop and would love to round out my collection with a laptop.

I still use my System76 Gazelle Pro laptop I bought in 2014. The battery lasts for barely an hour but the machine still works great and is still my daily driver for my personal use. The plastic feels a bit cheap but it has held up just fine.

+1 on Origin. 100% of their good are built from American-grown/made materials, built by American hands. It's wayyyy more expensive than most common brands ($99 for a pair of jeans), but if you compare them to "luxury" brands like Lululemon, it's comparable and wasn't manufactured using slave labor.

Personally, I love using Origin for everything I can afford to use them for. I acknowledge not everyone has the privilege to spend $99 on a pair of jeans, but if you find yourself able, I think it's worthy to support American manufacturing.

>I acknowledge not everyone has the privilege to spend $99 on a pair of jeans, but if you find yourself able, I think it's worthy to support American manufacturing.

I feel like I'm in a parallel universe. What year is it? Base Levis are more than that... We're also on a site filled with well off tech workers. $99 jeans aren't exactly a luxury.

https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/clothing/men/501-original-mens...

The contrast of your two perspectives kind of illustrates the information void (of quality vs price) in the article.

At Walmart it's common to get jeans (including Levi jeans) for < $20. But how long will they last? I honestly don't know, and even more I don't know how to definitely pay more for better quality.

So long as I'm fortunate enough to be able to clothe and feed my family, I'm not giving Walmart -- probably the most destructive company of all time -- any of my dollars and I don't care how cheap the shit is there.

And? I'm not advocating for buying jeans at Walmart. I'm using it as an illustration of the lower bounds of jeans pricing.

Yeah I get that but it's not as though we're on a forum for foodstamps recipients. The median income on HN is no doubt top 10% in the nation and often far higher. Talking about $99 jeans as some great luxury is literally from a different universe.

Man, I have no idea what is going on here, but your link takes me to a page for 501's for $110, yet just clicking around I found this page [0] that lists what to me looks like exactly the same jeans for $85 and with an option to "Buy 2+, For $55 Each". I'm still moderately convinced that $99 is ~double the actual market rate for a pair of Levi's and even Levi's are upper middle-end in my mind. Wranglers don't look as good but they're just has hard wearing and cheaper in my experience. (For what it's worth I've worn everything from $25 Wranglers to $300 selvedge denim and my conclusion is that ~$50 Levi's are sweet spot of price/comfort/looks)

0: https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/clothing/men/jeans/straight/50...

Yeah I have no idea whats up with their pricing. My main point was that $99 jeans is not some insane luxury only a select few can afford.

Is there any reason to believe that the same carpet-pull won't occur with those brands?

I thought the whole trick was arbitrage on the delayed awareness of reduced quality.

> Is there any reason to believe that the same carpet-pull won't occur with those brands?

No, but nothing's forever. The important piece of information is "is this brand good, right now, when I'm looking to make a purchase."

> The important piece of information is "is this brand good, right now, when I'm looking to make a purchase."

Right, which is the very thing that makes branding less than useful. You have to research everything before every purchase regardless of the brand precisely because the brand is no longer a good indicator of quality. That means that the brand doesn't mean much. Just because a brand signified high-quality goods yesterday doesn't mean it signifies the same today.

We need a curated directory of brands, like Yahoo of old, but for brands instead of websites. With information on who they are ultimately owned by, i.e., PE, public company, private enterprise, where they do their manufacturing, how they source their materials.

Yeah, I know that would be a lot of work, especially to keep it updated, but a valuable resource in this day an age. Because ownership changes as the article points out. I thought my local grocery store was local (because it looks/feels/acts very local), but it turns out they're now owned by a Korean conglomerate.

There's one linked from the article: https://ledger.worseonpurpose.com/

I don't agree with all their recommendations. Tom Bihn should be put on the watch list. Goruck, Bellroy and Barbour are all avoid now.