Shopping for Clothing in this new Tariff Era from a NON-FASHION-INSIDER
Explained to you by a normal human, NOT a “fashion insider™️”
Note: We are currently in a tariff pause (thank GOD) but this was written pre-pause. In case things ping pong back into tariffs, I wanted to solidify my thoughts here on [digital] paper. I think the ideas I present are [hopefully] able to stir conversations in a tariff + post-tariff world.
A while back, I wrote an article that picked up some traction about the issue with modern day lookbooks. Some people really love the sentiment, while others pushed at the idea a little bit. One of my favorite comments was how people who are “fashion insiders™️” have a different take on the lookbooks than us regular normies do. And it hit me in that moment that the comment, although genuine, might have been digging at the fact that I myself am not a “fashion insiders™️” — this bothered me for a bit. But I think the truth is that he was entirely right: I am not a fashion Insider, and I will likely never be a fashion Insider. I am a dad who works a job that he likes and owns a home in a trendy, progressive neighborhood, and will more than likely never really step into the fashion world beyond what I do on this website, and yet, I think that means that I have more in common with the viewership of this blog than a “fashion insiders™️” does.
Although we go to fashion insiders for their professional takes on issues, I genuinely think that the most realistic day-to-day discourse come from the normal people like you and me. The conversations that we have are much more closer to home than that of someone who's directly involved in the industry.
What I'm going to try to do over the next few paragraphs is walk the line between giving information to you from “fashion insiders™️” while also bringing in the opinions of a normal 30 year old person who happens to be into clothing and what this next season could look like for me and for you.
Lets begin.
Thought #1: I think that the future of clothing is going to become more expensive (regardless of whether or not you think tariffs are a good idea).
The reality is that everything is going to cost more, for everyone. From “fashion insider™️” Andrew Chen of 3Sixteen, there’s this video that made the rounds on social media explaining how a tariff practically will affect the chain of purchasing.
The additional cost for them to manufacture products will eventually will play into both the wholesale (the cost a shop will pay to stock that item) and the retail price of that item (what it will cost you to buy that item as a customer). I think that’s regardless of whether or not a brand is based out of the USA, they're going to have to raise the prices to balance out the costs of these tariffs, and ultimately, it is very likely that you and I are going to eat that cost hike.
In the case of Andrew's point, he said that brands are going to have to make the decision of who is going to have to pay the price for those tariffs. Will it be the producer (3Sixteen in this case?) Will it be the stockists (any shop that sells 3Sixteen)? Or will it be the customers (you and me)? I think some brands are going to absorb some of the costs, but I think the reality is that most of us are going to get hit with the additional pricing. I'm assuming that most people who read this blog are likely not shopping at fast fashion brands, which means you're probably already spending a little bit more money than you would like to spend on your clothing, and all of this means you’ll have to spend a little bit more. Sure, the price of denim being +$200 is high for most people, but I think a lot of people here have already experienced purchasing a pair of jeans that cost +$200 — the question is whether or not you’ll want to spend $250, or $300 on that same pair of jeans.
And part of it comes down to brands here just not being able to produce goods here at the same quality without involving overseas productions. Look at these screenshots from quotes of an interview Andrew did on TV:
This article from GQ does a great job of explaining how denim, for example, is nearly impossible to produce here anymore. And you don’t have to take my world for it — look at these jeans from Levis that are a replica of their 1954 Original Fit 501 fit that sells for $335. “OH LEVIS IS MADE IN AMERICA RIGHT?” — Wrong. That higher end model? Made in Japan (you can read under the Composition & Care tab), where nearly all good denim is made today. And that’s a real legacy American brand too. Todd Snyder makes a made-in-USA jean but it still costs $268!!! Because manufacturing here is expensive, something that we’re disconnected from in a world where most people don’t want to spend more than $50 on jeans.
To Andrew’s final point above, Americans used to spend 12% of their income on apparel, now it’s 4%. Let’s say you make $60,000, that would have been $7,200 at 12%, or only $2,400 today. In the past, where clothes made in the USA cost more money [relative to income], a pair of $250 jeans might have made sense. But once we moved everything overseas and profit margins grew as prices shrank due to unfair labor practices? American greed formed our brain to believe that cheaper = better.
I have more thoughts to vomit out here but lets move our focus to non-American brands.
Thought #2: There's gonna be scarcity in the marketplace.
Let's say you want to buy a Barbour jacket that is not made in the US. There is a chance that this jacket is now going to cost more than its usual $400 upon entering the United States right out of the gate. Now, I don't necessarily want to spend $400 on a Barbour jacket, but I entirely do understand why people do it. I myself have written about spending a pretty penny on nice jackets, and I do genuinely believe that you get what you pay for, and that a $400 Barbour jacket may last you the rest of your life…but my fear is that the tariffs are going to discourage shops and stockists here in the US from wanting to keep those heavily tariffed items in stock.
In a tariff-world, if you want to go find a Barbour, you're going to be met with a few different options.
It's very likely that you're going to have to spend more money to acquire that same piece of clothing. Lord knows what a tariffed Barbour would be, but knowing that you’ll be paying $450-500 for something that usually costs $400 is nuts.
If you don't want to do that, you're going to have to go on a resale site. And that resale site is probably not going to be as cheap as it once was. Peep this GQ article where they spoke to vintage deluder about the tariffs. I mean, if you're unable to get something new and your only option is to get something used, over time, supply and demand takes its toll, and suddenly these $200 Barbours that exist all over Grailed and eBay will now become $300 or $400 Barbours. This is actually super frustrating, because we're gonna really lose out on the ability to find really well made, relatively-cheap goods. Everything is going to become more expensive.
Your only other option is to go and buy something that is made in America, like a Filson jacket, which I believe is just as good as a Barbour, even if the style is entirely different. The problem there is…going back to point number one, even IF all Filson coats are made in America, a lot of the parts that go on the jacket, maybe the buttons or the zipper or even the fabric, might be from overseas. Look at this denim jacket from Filson that is in their Made-In-USA section. Scroll down to manufacturing and look what it says: Made in USA with imported material. So even a Made in America jacket is going to cost more money, because the materials aren’t coming from within the USA!!!
You can see how this becomes very frustrating, because even if you try to shop within the United States, you're still going to be met with the cost of raised prices. And if you don't want to go buy something new because the price is higher and you opt to go for the resale or vintage route, those prices will be just as high. All of this means that more money is going to be spent.
Thought #3: I genuinely believe that a lot of these smaller brands are going to suffer.
I don't think that the bigger companies are super worried, or at least not yet, but we have heard quite a bit of other brands that are anticipating this, causing some issues for them down the road. I've linked another GQ article here where they spoke to a few small business owners about this. Part of why I think this sucks so much is that I really do love brands & shops that are on the smaller side of things, and it does make me upset to know that there is a reality where, if this situation lasts too long, it could do long term damage to these companies.
Will it mean that they'll shut down? Maybe not, but they might have to close locations, or they might have to stop producing certain items. We have to really put ourselves in the place of these owners too, that all these additional costs are going to cost them something. Does it mean that they're unable to hire someone new? Does it mean that they have to let go employees to balance out their costs of running a business? I don't really know. I don't think anyone really knows what will happen, but I know that there is a real sense of worry amongst people who run the companies that you and I really do hold dear and love.
Taking into account the previous points…I also think that, if we're being super honest, if things keep going this way, and the general cost of living gets higher…are we gonna want to spend that much money on clothing? Like is there going to be a period of time where we shop less because our eggs are more expensive and our gas is more expensive and our insurance is more expensive, and literally everything else around this becomes more expensive? I think so. And although we might be saving a little bit of money, we're also then not putting money back into the system that we love so much.
I do genuinely worry about this, because I think that for so many people there's a big disconnect between the brands / products and the people that run them and work for them. Like I can love a product and not realize that this product was made by people who have mortgages and bills and mouths to feed as well. I do think there is this genuine and realistic fear that, depending on how long this goes, it is going to make life difficult for those brands, and by extension, their employees. My biggest hope is that everything will go back to normal and everyone will be able to keep operating as if nothing happened.
Thought #4: There is going to be a temptation to buy cheaper things, and I believe that we have an obligation to resist that at all costs.
I don't think that our response to things getting more expensive in the clothing industry should be to go buy cheaper things from fast fashion brands. A lot of those fast fashion brands are genuinely abusing their workforce. They're exploiting their workers. They're not paying livable wages, and if they have to raise their prices because of the tariffs, that additional money is not going to go to make the life better of the people that are employed by those companies at the lowest level! It's just going to go back into the pockets of the people at the top.
There is a selfishness that we have to consider (and combat) that is if we are going to spend money during this difficult time, we should really stop and think about where our money is going. One of the things that I'm most passionate about is stewarding my finances well, and part of that means that I care about where my money goes, and I also care about what my money supports. I recently picked up a jacket from Paynter that I absolutely love, and I'm extremely excited to do a write up on that jacket ASAP. Now, the jacket cost more than I was willing to spend on a coat this winter, and yet I'm able to swallow the cost, because it is extremely clear to me that that brand not only cares about its product, but it also cares about its employees. And yes, that brand is much smaller than other brands, and so for them to operate at the level that they're operating at oftentimes means that their costs will be higher because they aren't making millions of items, they might only be making a few hundred. I know that the money I spent was money well spent because it went back into a brand that is taking care of its people in the right way. I think if you genuinely care about clothing, it means not just caring about what you wear, but caring about how it's made, where it's made and by who it's made, I think we have a moral obligation to consider those things in light of the tariffs, and not give in to the idea that it's time to cheapen out on things.
Thought #5: Maybe it's time to slow down on the purchases.
I think if you're given an option between buying something that is cheaper at an H&M or ASOS, and just withholding your purchase until you've saved a little bit more money to do so at a brand that supports ethical processes, I think it's worth waiting and supporting the right people.
If there's anything to learn from this season, it's that you don't need the newest thing right now. If you think back to the sneaker / loafer / mule article I wrote a few weeks ago, that's one of those items that I don't believe is going to last past the tariffs. This is a season where people are gonna buy things that have longevity, and if you're someone who hops from trend to trend, you're really gonna lose yourself over these next few months when things get more expensive and you can't buy the newest shiny thing.
Who are we at the end of this? I think this is a really good moment for people to practice self restraint, to fight off the over-consumption that we glorify in this country, and to spend time trying to make sense of what their personal style is (barffffff) and how what they buy can better suit them. I think if you're going to make a purchase, it should be something that you genuinely believe you will wear for a long time, and even if it is more expensive you can rationalize it by understanding that you will wear it for the years to come, and not just for the next few months.
Thought #6: I think that in spite of the costs increasing, there are things that we can still do to support the brands that we genuinely love in this trying season.
Something that I've considered is the idea of going to get myself a really good pair of selvedge denim jeans once I'm done with this marathon training. I don't actually know when these tariffs are going to lift, and how long the effects will last, so I don't know if come November I'm going to be in a place where I want to spend over $300 for a pair of jeans. But what I do know is that I really hope that when the time comes to get those jeans, I'm still able to walk into a brick and mortar store because they were able to get through all this.
I think something we can do in this season is support brands we like via gift cards. Like I'm not going to go spend $300 on a gift card, but I might go spend $100 and save it so that come November, I'm able to offset the price of those jeans that puts money back into the company without having to pay additional fees for tariffs.
Maybe it means buying something that you really, genuinely love from the brand itself and not from a secondary site. I know that there's nothing wrong with shopping at those other sites, but realistically, why would I go buy jeans from 3Sixteen from anywhere other than 3Sixteen itself? There's something really beautiful about being able to support those brands directly and make sure that that money is going back into their pocket.
One final I also believe, and I have a conviction for although I can't prove it, is that if these tariffs are rolled back, I do believe that some brands are going to honor that roll back and adjust their prices.
My biggest fear is that some of these bigger companies that don't really care about us as people are going to raise their prices now, and if the tariffs do get pulled, they're going to keep their prices high, because at the end of the day those companies only care about profit margins, not about their products or us as people. But I have to believe that certain brands, even like a 3Sixteen might raise their prices during the tariffs, and yet (hopefully) drop them back down to a pre-tariff price once all of that is done.
Now, realistically, like I had mentioned before, I am not a “fashion insider™️”, so what do I know about all this? For all intents and purposes, I might be wrong about everything…but I hope that this starts a dialog that normal people feel like they can be a part of.
When I've read some of the articles that I've linked up here before, it doesn't feel like I'm at a place where I can make a comment on the state of the industry, because I'm not in the industry, but what I can do is make a point on the state of my life in view of what's happening around me. My hope is that this is a conversational piece, something that allows you to consider what the next few months are going to look like, something that allows you to consider what your wardrobe is going to look like for the summer and the fall.
And hopefully, once we come out of this, we all come out of this dressing a little bit better and with a little more restraint.
Some additional videos / articles worth looking at that I will update in real time:
Marcus from Minted NY posted a super transparent video where you can see in real time how these tariffs may affect the bottom line for a brand & for us. Great watch with clear math.
Blamo! posted a clip from their pod with Derek Guy talking through the costs of a brand just putting out simple single print t-shirts. As the cost to produce gets higher, the cost to sell will also get higher as well.
Justin Alexander from the bridal brand…well, Justin Alexander, posted a video about Liberation Day and how it’ll affect the bridal industry since the manufacturing processes are currently impossible in the US, and how it will require some shifting to new countries (depending on the tariff process and how it plays out). I will note, my wife works for this company and I’m proud of them for their stance on this.
This article is not perfect, but it’s as much as my brain can process as a normal human. Would love to hear your thoughts on this, your criticisms and insights that might make this better for all of us.
Love the thought about slowing down on purchases, especially right now. I’m guilty of always wanting to immediately purchase the next big release that comes out from whatever brand and I definitely need to be more conscientious about that. I think right now it really is worth it to wait and save your money if you really want something from a brand you love, instead of getting a cheap copy somewhere else now. In this era of instant gratification that’s definitely easier said than done.