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(and the person not smart enough to work on industrial machines exits the labor force)

I have a pair of boots that can be, and have been resoled, but I'll be surprised if I can find a resoling facility next time it comes up. The people who run shoe resoling shops are generally senior citizens.

But as a consumer you don't know if a higher price also equals higher quality. You can spend much more money on shoes and they come out of the same factory than cheaper shows.

They've been made by NPS in Northamptonshire for years and their Solovair range is functionally identical and much cheaper, fyi.

How can someone say finding quality is not *possible*? What a weird and false thing to say.

Absolutely insane take to argue it’s not possible to buy good long lasting clothes. At this moment I’m wearing $35 pants that I bought 4 years ago and wear all the time and they’re fine. What is this obsessive need to insist the world is 100% horrible and there is no escape?

The same issue arises where a lot of fashion houses have their "diffusion" line, a la Armani Exchange or Canali Proposta

And you can consult an inflation calculator and see that the English doc martens cost twice as much as they did the 80s, accounting for inflation!!

You know where customers are getting consistently higher than inflation product improvements? Advertising.

When I was in the Lodge store, I was told by the staff that the Lodge products sold in Target and other big retailers are what are sold in the Lodge Store as factory seconds - still made by Lodge in the US, but not quite the quality that qualifies for the regular full Lodge price.

Yes, you can buy high quality denim, made on american machines that were sold to Japanese companies when private equity gutted their American owners. I think you should investigate these dynamics a bit further in general.

Yeah, boots and denim are extremely complex technologies akin to a silicon fab and that knowledge is now lost to humanity forever. There’s not a single person left on the planet who understands either boots or denim. It’s very sad.

I graduated high school in 1996 and grew up listening to KROQ.

I’d you’re buying a new pair of doc martens you’re already spending over a hundred dollars for a fashionable set of boots, something you can also buy for $20 at a used store. Anyone who is income strapped will do research on that purchase.

Err my friend, the GINI curve wants a word with you, we're at inequality levels not seen since the 1920s

Sorry, my American-centric bias fucked me up there. Americans are poorer than in living memory. Wages haven't meaningfully increased in over half a century while the prices of essentials have increased by *checks again* at least 100-200% in just the past couple of decades.

Do they sell these at regular shoe stores? or do I have to know about this from digging online? because if it's the latter, that's a really wack thing to assume that people should do this

Yup, I’m buying what survives in people’s closets My 13 year old self bought a made-in-the-USA guess jeans jacket for $25 (new!) in the basement of some store in NYC many decades ago It was a treasured possession for a few years; my mom might still have it 🤣

True… In the 1990’s my mom got lots of silk shirts there… still has some! They don’t offer those anymore 🤣🤣🤣

There was a period where they used better materials (linings/cushions), but they certainly have never been a pair of New Rocks. Want the same look as DrM but better quality, just buy Grinders.

Onitsuka Tiger also sells higher quality, made in Japan shoes that showcase craftsmanship. Of course, their cheaper mass produced shoes are more popular.

Like we actually are seeing the revealed preferences of "the customer", the issue is that you and me shopping in the stores aren't *customers*, we're *users*. The actual *customer* is the investment banks and mutual-fund managers that only care about Line Go Up...

It's not that I won't pay more for quality, but I don't want to pay more for the same quality as the other stuff, and anywhere I try to figure out which is which has at least even odds of being ad copy, and in 2026 it's likely the ad copy was written by nobody.

For sure sometimes you have to pay for quality, but other times you have to pay for a "Limited Release" gimmick or a label sewn onto the lining and it can be hard to tell the one from the other.

This is a great illustration of the problem that the person you quoted has: you thought your superior knowledge of market conditions was enough to avoid degraded products, only to find that you actually needed to know about a third shoe brand that you can pay $60 extra for them to not fall apart

Besides, I personally haven't noticed any decline in the quality of Levi's jeans, and I've been wearing them since the '90s. I wonder if I've just been lucky? So I haven't even looked for higher-quality Levi's.

But you just said we can't tell without hours of research!

“People must like poverty, because otherwise they would choose to be rich. The idea that there are external forces creating this scenario is just cope.”

posts *my most genuinely unpopular take* ...wELL thAt wAs uNPoPulAr 🥴

Terry Pratchett wrote the Vimes 'Boots' theory of economics literally decades ago, and morons like you are still waffling like anyone actually believes you

People take cheap over the perceived quality promise of US-made. Manufacturers moved their factories overseas both because consumers wanted cheaper goods, And because shareholders demanded better returns on their investments.

It turns out that the Internet and e-commerce did away with all of the gatekeeping roles *except* for the ones where you decide who gets to speak for the people.

Any theory that takes blame and agency away from people with actual power will anger people, as it should.

The irony of this is very funny.

My sister is this person, so no I'm not lol

this is because social media users prefer cheap, low-quality

because it's incorrect

I think there’s a conflation between quality in general, as an immediate experience, and quality as durability specifically. Not only is it the hardest to get reliable info on, but to be someone who won’t pay more for a durable product is seen as personally shameful. Airline comfort ≠ sturdy boots.

I strongly agree but there is no reason for me to reply at you to yell at you. Hold the line!

It’s almost like you do this intentionally

They are very mad.

Trading price for quality is literally @dieworkwear.bsky.social’s entire thing, what is that person talking about

www.aliexpress.us

speedqueen has leaned in fully to "we last effing forever" and their basic entry-level front-load washer (though they're all basic) is $2400 bucks. for half that price i got an LG wash/dryer combo tower and it's reliability is "good enough" on top of more features speedqueen.com/products/fro...

In general I try to buy things that will last, because I hate to shop. But there are a few cases where I just like the cheap thing better.

hmmm, I think my issue w your position is that it puts "blame" on individuals, many of them yes ... when the issues are truly systemic in nature and *by design.*

This is a very thoughtful critique:

I mostly agree, but I do think that price is an 'easy' signal, whereas 'quality' can be more difficult for people to figure out. Especially if they are new to the product

I agree with you

Are they less popular due to more limited availability? Or is this just Sam Vimes 'Boots' Theory of Socio-Economic Unfairness in action?

You can get good (not the Japanese stuff) 501s for about $90. I have seven pair. I love them! So much better than the base, cheap versions. That's not even mentioning all the niche brands. You can just go to the Levi's website and order them with free shipping.

Reader: experts (on reddit) tell me they've never had one. Which makes sense and is likely a source, for many, in believing them more comfortable.

Hard to take serious the socio-economical takes of someone who falls for marketing like this.

Amen!

Honestly even the vintage designs were never good. The design of the sole was always a gimmick, just buy real boots if you're spending that much.

Rose Anvil is great

Yes, solovairs are great! I love mine

yep bought 2 pairs of Solovair 8 years ago, still wearing them

Damn I should cop a pair of Solovairs, they’re slick

Although I will say the Derby Boot was always kinda garbage

Price is a number but quality is nearly unquantifiable. If you know little or nothing about a product or industry, and most consumers do especially online when you can’t even hold it, it just makes sense to buy cheapest. Because too often things are expensive crap.

I honestly just don't trust a lot of semi-consumable stuff like clothes and shoes to last long enough to justify the premium price.