Anonymous wrote:Yes, there’s absolutely been a decline. I’ve been searching for some specific items that should be high enough quality to last a decade (wool coat, thick wool sweater, solid boots that can withstand resoling) even without costing many multiple hundreds. I’ve been feeling like I’ve somehow gotten priced out of the high quality items that used to be available at mid-range prices. I’m 49 if that matters. And despise fast fashion for the waste it promotes.
There is no reliable midrange anymore. The brands that used to be midrange are mostly crap now because most consumers don't value quality, just the price. I graduated from college in 1995, and when I was buying suits to start working, the low end but still decently made suits in Macy's, Lord and Taylor, etc. were about $120-150 for women. Given the inflation, the starting point should have been somewhere in $300 range now, but Macy's is full of $100 suits and the quality us atrocious.