Major clothing brands cut corners on quality to limit price hikes
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By Jing Feng
You're not imagining it: Well-made clothing is harder to come by. The U.S. fashion industry is having a hard time maintaining quality standards amid stiff competition from overseas rivals and supply-chain shakeups.
Twenty-seven percent of textile and apparel professionals reported that ensuring consistent quality was "difficult" or "very difficult" over the past year, up from 23% in 2024, according to a recent survey the product auditing firm QIMA provided to NBC News.
"There has been a significant reduction in the quality of the fabric for a number of the major brands and retailers," said Margaret Bishop, a textile development and marketing professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She said the decline intensified during the recovery from the pandemic, when apparel makers scrambled to untangle disrupted supply chains and contended with weak sales during global lockdowns.
The corner-cutting is partly a tradeoff on price — a bet that the fashion industry has placed on inflation-weary shoppers' willingness to accept lower-quality garments that don't break the bank. Since 2019, consumer prices overall have risen 26%, food is up 30% andcars are up 25%, but apparel prices have inched just 6% higher.
There has been a significant reduction in the quality of the fabric for a number of the major brands and retailers.
Margaret Bishop, Fashion Institute of Technology
Clothing retailers "know if they raise the price, they lose consumers," said Sheng Lu, a professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware.
While a basic wardrobe of clothing and shoes is essential, households typically approach such purchases as discretionary — nice-to-haves, at least relative to keeping their cars filled with gas and their fridges stocked with milk and eggs. And over the past year, consumers have repeatedly proved to be laser-focused on value, chasing deals and discounts wherever they can find them.
When it comes to garments and footwear, Americans often find the best prices among sellers overseas, including the China-linked e-commerce giants Shein and Temu. The ultracheap foreign retailers have given domestic rivals such a run for their money that they drew a crackdown from the Biden administration, and the Trump administration's new China tariffs could crimp them further.
China is already the largest exporter of apparel to the United States, and QIMA's factory inspections found the failure rate, or share of textile and apparel products with too many defects for market, rose to 13.7% last year from 12.7% in 2023. As many apparel brands move more production out of China to reduce their labor costs and exposure to tariffs, they're gravitating toward countries with even higher failure rates: India's is 21.2%, Cambodia's is 16.6%, and Indonesia's is 14.2%.
"Someone who's running this factory maybe doesn't have three decades of experience" in many of the emerging garment production markets, said Joseph Ng, CEO of Shift Fashion Group, a consultancy that works with manufacturers. "It takes a long time to get a large enough workforce to the point where they know what to do exactly." Those issues are compounded when workers are pushed to generate quantity over quality, he added.
The silver lining is that overall global quality levels have remained relatively flat in recent years, QIMA said, and failure rates in several key manufacturing countries improved noticeably last year.
Nevertheless, the environment spurred "a race to the bottom," Bishop said, at a time when labor and raw materials costs were rising rapidly.
Demand for both domestic and foreign fast-fashion brands' low-cost apparel has surged. From 2020 to 2024, the top three global fast-fashion retailers — Shein (based in China), Zara (Spain) and H&M (Sweden) — nearly tripled their U.S. market share, according to data from Euromonitor. Many other domestic fashion brands have struggled to compete, resorting to promotions to prop up sales and cost-cutting to offset the impact on their profit margins.
Fabric accounts for 60% of a garment's total production cost, Lu estimated, with labor typically clocking in around 30% and trim — zippers, buttons or decorative details — making up the rest. So when retailers look to save money, fabric is one of the first components to get downgraded.
Quality can vary widely even within a single brand's clothing line, depending on where each of its items is made, Ng said. Large retailers "use buying houses that will actually produce in different regions, producing different products," he said. That's one reason a brand might simultaneously produce high-quality, well-fitting T-shirts and shoddy jeans with haphazard stitching.
The biggest misconception when it comes to fashion is that luxury goods and high-end goods mean quality.
Joseph Ng, CEO of Shift Fashion Group
Julia Hughes, president of the U.S. Fashion Industry Association, acknowledged anecdotal reports of quality concerns in a statement but said that "for our members — well-known brands and retailers — they maintain the same or better quality requirements today."
For shoppers looking for the best bang for their buck, it can make for a frustrating experience. To identify well-made clothing, Bishop recommends taking the time to examine each garment closely in person. Stitching and fabric are two key indicators of overall quality, she said, adding that heavier fabrics tend to be more durable than lightweight ones.
Bishop also suggests holding garments up to the light to check for small holes or uneven yarn tension. Stitches should be tight, with ideally eight stitches per inch. Avoid garments with loosely sewn buttons and fabrics that lose their shape after they're stretched, she advised.
"There's a myth that if something's made from synthetic, it's bad, it's cheap," Bishop said. Nylon is very durable, for example, and polyester is great at wicking sweat.
Ng said: "It's really about the right application. When it comes to athletic wear, you don't want cotton leggings."
He also cautioned that steep prices don't necessarily signify better craftsmanship.
"The biggest misconception when it comes to fashion is that luxury goods and high-end goods mean quality," Ng said. He added that "there is a movement starting to happen where consumers want higher-quality clothing."
Consumers are increasingly valuing repairability, durability and quality, Euromonitor's market research has found, a trend that coincides with growing interest in secondhand clothing.
The more shoppers are turned off by poorly made, low-cost garments, the more brands have an opportunity to differentiate themselves on "quality and service," said Marguerite LeRolland, an apparel and footwear industry manager at Euromonitor. That, in turn, can help "justify higher prices and fewer promotions," she said.
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Of course the tariffs will add to the cost so the manufacturer may need to use even lower quality materials or pass the increase to the consumer. One good reason why having to buy something of lower quality is still going to increase the cost for the consumer is because it will wear out sooner and thereby require replacement sooner. And this problem is not limited to clothes or other fabric-based items, but also will include the cost of appliances, cars, and many other products.
Means they will all be switching to Chinese shirt sizing.
Sorry Ozzwald, but I can't open the image you posted. If you want me to see it copy it from the internet and paste it to your computer picture library, then copy from there and paste it here.
Well, maybe Ozzwald doesn't want me to see it. LOL
You really have to be careful what you buy on line. Mr. G bought some shirt from Zulilly thinking they were for adult men....they were sized for children
Okay, I clicked your link, and this is what I got:
Can anyone please do as I suggested to Ozzwald so I can see what he sent me?
This is what he sent..
Sorry, I have only had a very very limited amount of time for follow ups this week. Busy busy busy.
don't even bother ...
No problem Ozzwald, shona1 did it. However, I've never seen anyone here dressed so ridiculously.
Try ordering clothing from Wish, Temu, or Aliexpress.
Why would I? There's a huge mall/department store across the road that has everything they provide.
Oh I don't know....maybe prices?
A simple short sleeved shirt from Walmart, Target, Kohls, will cost between $20 - $30 each. Same type of shirt from Wish, Temu, or Aliexpress will cost between $3 - $5 each.
I don't know what Wal Mart you go to, but the majority of their short sleeved shirts run from 8-12 dollars. Kohls, maybe but I don't shop there so not sure. Target is somewhere in the middle of those prices.
As far as Temu, you can order an XL shirt for 5 bucks, but will inevitably receive a small shirt with an XL tag on it.
LOL. Did you know that there is a story, don't know if it's true, that there is a town in China that has a lot of clothes manufacturing, and it changed its name to Italy, so they can label their clothes "Made in Italy". LOL
You are correct and I apologize for not being more specific. I meant button down, short sleeved, shirts. Basically "work casual".
Walmart does have t-shirts and a few polo's for those prices you quoted. However, Wish, Temu, or Aliexpress sell t-shirts and polo's for around $3 each.
I was discussing this on Facebook. It is so true. Stores where I used to be able to get quality clothes no longer carry them. They now sell clothes made from thinner fabrics, lots of synthetics. They don't hold up as well in the wash. I'm generally good at making clothes last. I think I got rid of my last pair of shorts from high school when I was in my 40s, and only because I got paint on them, not because they wore out. But very little that I buy today will be in shape to wear in 20 years, unless I pay exorbitant prices for it.
I noticed when folding laundry that I couldn't get some t-shirts to fold symmetrically. When I laid them out flat, I could see the problem. The side seams were very crooked, and some shirts were longer on one side than the other. You can't neatly fold a sloppily-made shirt. These were mostly my son's clothes, and he didn't really care, but I did.
I'm lucky enough to have a Mom who sews, so she can make some of my clothes, and she likes doing it. But even the fabric that's available to purchase is not as good as it was when I was growing up. It's thinner and frays more easily.
All my good new cotton clothing was getting those fuzzy balls which ruin the look and feel. I complained at a men's store and was told this was caused by dryer sheets. Originally skeptical, I quit them and presto chango the little fuzzy balls were gone after a few additional washes and dries minus the dryer sheets. I would never use them again...
I rarely use dryer sheets. Only when I have a real static problem. I use dryer balls.
I thought he was full of it, but it turned out to be 100% true...
They invented those little fuzzy ball removers about the same time dryer sheets because ubiquitous (1970's). I don't remember fuzzy balls ever even being a problem in the liquid softener era...
Morning... don't own a dryer never have..still shove all my clothes our on the clothes line as most Aussies still do..
Use to find one in every Aussies backyard years ago...
Aren't you worried you'll be carried off by a drop bear, or that some spider as big as your foot will be hiding in your pants?
I have group pictures from my parents's and grandparent's 25th and 50th wedding anniversaries where Mom and my Grandmother posed with their close personal friends...
So, all the women in the groups are all appropriately 45 in the earlier photos and about 70 in the later ones. Understand, these are all rural farm women. Let me tell you what, modern conveniences and home appliances have made a huge difference in aging. The younger women looked a whole generation younger than the older groups. My Grandmother's generation were ragged by 45 and ancient by 70. Mom's generation are all still put together beautiful at 45 and look vital at 75. In hotass western Oklahoma air conditioning also helped a lot. No doubt life became less physically hard on homemakers...
Arvo...yeah nah .. it's all good..they may come in on the laundry but they don't eat much..
In China, for most people, the balcony serves as the clothes dryer - for us as well. We're lucky in that our main balcony gets the sun for most of the day (that's not our balcony).
Oh...and I strongly suggest you turn the dunny (toilet) light on at night..you might get more than you bargained for..
Gotta love the great Sandbar in the Pacific..certainly not my photo...
You Aussies are either extremely mentally hardy, or nuts.
I think he's cute
Morning fishy...I rather thought the same... Harry's profile I think is very becoming and he has a very cute face...and the legs just set him off nicely...
Morning Sandy...
Probably a bit of both to be honest...
We do tend to under state things..have an attitude of well it could have been worse, it'll be right or just bloody get on with it and stop ya sooking...
I bet you wouldn't if he appeared while you were sitting on the dunny with your pants around your ankles.
When I was a kid we had one of those (in the U.S.).
Nah they don't bother me now..I had one in my bedroom the other week... caught him and put him outside...
Used a 4 litre ice cream container have to use the biggest so as not to hurt his legs and slid a piece of cardboard under it and trapped him...they are harmless and good fly catchers...
You don't know me. I once saved a tarantula from my cat.
I like spiders
get a salt gun and blast those flies.
they've bitten me before, so I kill them on sight ...
what bit you? Black widow? Brown recluse?
both, when I worked in telecommunications. I still have the scar on my forearm from the fangs of the brown recluse, after 40+ years ...
Oh shit. Did you get really sick from either of them? I know someone who died of a secondary infection from a brown recluse bite
More like that the spider will be walking around wearing your clothes and pissed of that they are so tight.
Mhhh you are still breathing and alive... here well depending on what it was that bit you could be cactus in no time..
Freddy funnel web loves ya..
Not my photo..never in a million years would I get near him..
bloody hell, that's big enough to track around with the bottoms of my nike's for a few days I reckon ...
Funnels have been known to bite through shoes etc so wouldn't want to stand on it...
Is he a bad spider?
Morning...no not a bad spider just a deadly one..can kill you in about 15 minutes...
But since we created an anti venom you usually survive..
you can develop gangrene from an untreated brown recluse bite. their venom attacks the tissue around the bite.
HOLY SHIT !!
haven't seen a spider yet that can lift over 1 pound, so I'm safe ...
They're just hiding their abilities, lulling you into complacency...
their multiple eyes will be blinded by the noxious fumes of bacteria from my nike's ...
Morning fine...what? He is ok just sitting quietly on your hand enjoying life..
Perfectly harmless and he won't eat much...gotta luv Harry the Huntsman...all his rellies can move in to...a real family affair in your home..see lots of little Harry's...
Ahh life is good on my sand bar in the middle of the ocean...
Not my photo...
Thanks for the nightmare, shona.
Morning...no worries us Aussies are always happy to help...
They say if a Huntsman comes inside it is a sign of rain...must have been a bloody big flood where this photo was taken..
they're just hanging out, waiting for you to fall asleep ...
Morning..they actually do drop on you from the ceiling..some people have woken up and there has been one covering their face..
One dropped on our cat once landed on its back..the cat took off with the Huntsman hanging on like a jockey...
Hence I catch them and throw them back outside...
And dev,
Not helping the nightmare situation. At all.
I speak from personal experience. it seems that I get most of the nuisance spider bites when I'm sleeping. face it, when it gets cold outside, you've got room mates. sweet dreams ...
Do the spiders survive after they have bitten you?
Asking for a friend..🤣
meh, who knows, I could sleep thru a nuclear blast ...
Mr G and my daughter would have heart attacks
Good to know...the anti-venom that is
the ex preferred blood curdling screams whenever she was surprised by spiders and large insects ...
Morning...hmmm screaming human banshees do not help..Harry would get quite agitated with that..
That's when the trouble really starts..they usually drop to the ground and then take off...and geez can they run..they also flatten themselves out so they can get into tiny crevices...
Poor Harry not to mention the headache...
she was eventually cured, once she understood the spider killer didn't clean up the mess ...
I can understand that .
i have some 20-30 year old Carhartt clothes that though looking rather shabby dirt wise , some things just dont come out in the wash , they can still be worn for outside work just as they have for as long as i have owned them , i got a new set of coveralls a couple years ago , and they just fell apart in the same use conditions . i catch myself saying , they just dont make them like they use to.
from Appliances to Zamboni's i would agree, and Y is no longer just because it comes after X, and a special reference to the present President as in Politicians these daze, cause wrote off is the Phat Phrase that Wee still can't unsee, as TrumP, gets Prostituted P, and unless he he does the big Russian favor for the Putin him in office the first time on his shot at country crime Prime time, he did just fines, but if he doesn't come through for the big Russian Putin might feel obligated to share those Pee taPes galore for sure, and they don't make entertaintmeant for the Peepulls like that no more for sure. Pee u all later
PSS: ore, Perhaps they are only interested in short term gain, and have no regard for the unwashable stain that will remain, cause either way, i'd say, both are aPPlicable in a whirled uP world
today , and if in violation , you can Piss this Post away, even if unAmerican and EuroPean, it be a sight worth unseein
I have some wool sweaters and a wool scarf I bought in Ireland 12 years ago. They were very reasonably priced, and look the same now as they did when I bought them. And the scarf regularly gets tossed in the back seat of the car to be forgotten for weeks until it's cold enough that I need a scarf. I do take better care of the sweaters. I've rarely seen sweaters like that available for purchase at any price here in the US.
two things i was always fond of , ragg wool sweaters , and levi corduroys for semi casual dress, when i was young and single , but after marriage , the sweaters remained because they were actually functional in cold climates, ex wife forbid the wearing of the levi cords , something about the cut and style. said she . so wranglers it was, baggy wranglers . and thats all i will say about that .
Ireland has high quality wool from high quality sheep
I had been thinking of that brand--they have a reputation for being resistant to wear and lasting a long time.
Recently I've noticed that although they're designed to be work clothes, their beanies have become very fashionable with younger people-- quite the style item.
Great reviews on Amazon. And the winter weather seems to be unpredictably crazy this year. So I bought one. Seems to be excellent quality.
Arvo...if you want quality wool go for Merino... can't beat it.. considered the best in the World...
Not my photo...
Are these raised in Australia?
they look like maga senators to me ...
Years ago, where I live there were many textile, knitting, sewing and blue jean factories. The biggest one employed over 1,000 people and ran 24/7 another had over 500 people with 3 shifts 5 days a week. All gone. Lots of empty factories or they were tore down
Those are the jobs that need to come back. Last time I bought an outfit at Dillard's it was no better quality than an outfit I could buy at Walmart and would have been a lot cheaper.
both of my son's in-laws from south america work at walmart, which might as well be like tiffany's to them ...
One thing about Walmart is you can go there for groceries and pick up a prom dress at the same time
... a prom dress and a pregnancy test.
I worked at walmart for 2 years, literally the worst job I ever had.
walmart isn't interested in retaining long term employees, but here they have to pay the CO minimum wage of $14.81, which is cost of living adjusted every year. my SIL worked there for 16+ years, until she got injured and they got rid of her. her husband still works there. something wrong with a company whose owners have more money they can ever spend, and got it thru the efforts of their employees that have to buy the basics at a small discount there, just to survive.
Or you can go to Amazon (online) and buy a car...or even a house!
Quite a variety of:
Prefab Houses on Amazon
(Some with Free delivery!!!)
Ever heard: they don’t make things like they used to.
This is nothing new. Lowering quality has been around for a long time.
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