Clothing: What's the most you've ever spent? (POLL)

[martyp]

I bought a leather jacket for $450 over 5 years ago. It's a beautiful jacket and will last for decades. My leather motorcycle jacket was probably in the range of $300 too and I've worn that for 15 yrs with no regrets.

When I was w*rking I bought a lot of shoes. It seemed like the only type of clothing that a guy in his 50's could have some fun with without looking like I was trying to dress "to young". As soon as I ER'd I had too many shoes. My clothing expenses were close to zero in the first year of ER. Now in year 3 I'm finally buying some stuff. Not as frugal as most people here but far less than my w*rking days.

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

Back in the 80's, I wanted to be Mr. Motorcycle, and bought a Hein Gericke leather motorcycle jacket for $375.00. I've had numerous bad back, knee, and joint problems through the years. That jacket must have weighed 15 lbs., and I could never get comfortable wearing it--still hangs in the closet today and only worn twice. On a lighter note, about 10 years ago at Christmas, bought 3 cheap ($19 ea.) Chinese leather-patch jackets so 2 sons-in-law and I could do a Blues Brothers thing. I wear that jacket all the time when it's cold and I'm out stacking wood, shoveling snow, etc., and it's super warm and has never had any problems (zippers, rips, etc.)-- go figure.

 

[Walt34]

Just a huge reminder that everything is relative and we Americans often forget when arguing about the gap between the $30K/yr blue collar guy and the mid six figure banker or entrepreneur that both of those folks are at the very top of the income scale when compared on a global scale.

I've seen this link posted before by me and others. It's a good reminder that on a global scale that $30k/year guy is is doing pretty well for himself:

Global Rich List

If one is ever feeling "Woe, I'm so poor..." this will make you feel better. It won't change the facts any of course but you'll feel better.

 

[iam21177]

The most I've spent on one article of clothing was about $159. It was for a technical ski jacket (ski pants were about the same $). All of my other clothing is pretty much second hand items. But outdoor technical gear I try to buy new and on sale!

That said jacket which is 5 years old and recently had some zipper issues. Outdoor Research just credited me $270 with their store so I can buy myself a new jacket. I did not even pay that much back when I bought it! Infinite Guarantee rocks. I have not spent it yet.

I am eyeing some Fry leather boots, but cannot bring myself to spend that much so I'm checking out eBay instead.

2012 we spent $1200 on clothing/shoes together, and it was $2000 in 2013.

 

[braumeister]

When I saw the title of this thread, I immediately thought of the old adage that an ounce of gold has always been about the price of a good men's suit. So I imagine clothing expenditures have always varied a lot.

 

[aja8888]

No jewelry, just clothes in this thread, correct?
MRG

Correct, no musical instruments or sports cars either...

 

[Helen]

Around 1990 I transferred from Boston, MA to Portland, OR. My job went from an engineering environment to a pre-sales and consulting job. I went to Nordstrom's and bought 2 suits for probably a total of $450. I was quite upset to have spent so much money, but they were a traditional cut so I vowed to wear them until they fell apart. I switched jobs butcontinued to wear those suits all the time. I was still determined to wear those two suits out. Finally everyone started dressing casual. I held out for a while but went back to jeans and tennis shoes at work. I was teased about wearing those suits for the next 15 years.

Last year I scored a pass to the Columbia Sportswear/ Mountain Hardware employee store. I decided to buy a really good rain jacket since I walked a lot. I found one for $440 so it cost me $220. It still feels like a lot to spend on a jacket, but it works really well. We get a LOT of wet weather and the jacket keeps me dry. I am hoping to get five years of steady wear out of it.

Last Saturday I went to the Columbia Sportswear outlet store and found winter jackets (for next year) for my great nieces. They each cost $150 and I paid $31 and $38. I love a good deal!!!

 

[brewer12345]

Like $400 for a suit when I was interviewing, or thereabouts? I never much cared about clothes and only bought what I was required to wear to keep the job. Now that I am out of the cube I have had to buy some clothes since I tossed all of the work clothes (which were well past the "donate" point) and did not have enough casual clothes to get through the week. I've successfully shopped mostly at Goodwill, but I did find a top shelf pair of hiking pants in the Cabela's "bargain cave" for $15 and last week I scored a beautiful $300 suede jacket for $40 on a clearance rack.

I was single-handedly the cause of the imposition of a dress code at one of my employers. This was a small shop (a dozen people) which rarely saw clients face to face. They told me there was no dress code so I took them at their word. Whatever I grabbed out of the drawer when I got dressed at 4:45AM was what I showed up in. Apparently the last straw was when I showed up in a pair of stained shorts and a t shirt developing small holes that had a picture of fishing gear with the caption "The Way To a Fisherman's Heart Is Through His Fly." The next day we had a dress code that amounted to business casual.

 

[photoguy]

I like technical clothing and wear a lot of nylon, so when I buy something it tends to be $$, but I don't buy very often and they last forever. We have limited closet space, so we don't have a huge amount of clothes.

+1

I have two pairs of REI brand synthetic pants that I got ten years ago for a trip to peru. I've been wearing these daily and they are still going strong (with the exception of a paint stain and jammed pocket zipper).

I also got an arcteryx jacket free from work, but haven't started to wear it because my old jacket is still good (not sure how old it is but my niece was a little girl when I bought it and now she's almost done college).

 

[HFWR]

About $400 for a suit. Twenty plus years later, it's still like new, but it seems to have shrunk!

Spend $200-300/yr on clothes, shoes.

 

[Walt34]

I was single-handedly the cause of the imposition of a dress code at one of my employers. This was a small shop (a dozen people) which rarely saw clients face to face. They told me there was no dress code so I took them at their word. Whatever I grabbed out of the drawer when I got dressed at 4:45AM was what I showed up in. Apparently the last straw was when I showed up in a pair of stained shorts and a t shirt developing small holes that had a picture of fishing gear with the caption "The Way To a Fisherman's Heart Is Through His Fly." The next day we had a dress code that amounted to business casual.

It's always gratifying when you know you've had an influence on the bureaucracy.

This thread reminds me - I need to buy some short sleeve pullover shirts, often referred to as "golf shirts" since I'm down to three that are barely suitable for wear in public. They are clearly not new. The problem is that I insist on a shirt pocket and for some reason those are sometimes hard to find at a reasonable price.

 

[someguy]

For a pocket protector?

The problem is that I insist on a shirt pocket and for some reason those are sometimes hard to find at a reasonable price.

 

[W2R]

It's always gratifying when you know you've had an influence on the bureaucracy.

This thread reminds me - I need to buy some short sleeve pullover shirts, often referred to as "golf shirts" since I'm down to three that are barely suitable for wear in public. They are clearly not new. The problem is that I insist on a shirt pocket and for some reason those are sometimes hard to find at a reasonable price.

Shortly before I retired in 2009, Academy had a sale on my favorite men's polo shirts at $1.44 or $2.88 each. I scored at that sale, and I probably have 20-30 polo shirts in a rainbow of colors, some of which I can't imagine most guys ever wearing. Some have stripes and some are in solid colors. None have pockets, though.

 

[aja8888]

Some have stripes and some are in solid colors. None have pockets, though.

If you are handy..

Oh the lovely things: 10 Minutes DIY: No Sew Pocket T-Shirt