Reddit reviews Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster
We found 15 Reddit comments about Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Great product!
Reddit reviews Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its LusterWe found 15 Reddit comments about Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
If you want to know the ins and outs of how luxury goods are made today, I highly recommend "Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster" by Dana Thomas. Great examination of the industry, cuts through the mystique of modern "luxury."
Not a proper ELI5 response, but I read this book in college that went in on a lot of stuff about how luxury brands started targeting different audiences and how that affected quality; might be interesting for you as background reading material:
https://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-How-Luxury-Lost-Luster/dp/0143113704
oh yes, absolutely. there's a great book on this from several years back. Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster. The data is a few years old, but it's only gotten worse! https://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-How-Luxury-Lost-Luster/dp/0143113704
Interestingly, the sun protective aspect has not been more challenging - to the naked eye, our fabrics appear to be normal lightweight to midweight knits, and factories have had no trouble accommodating us.
What is challenging about producing in the USA is that costs are higher than they are overseas - much of the money we spend on production funds the salaries of those cutting, sewing, and dyeing our merchandise - and the price of labor in the US is simply higher than it is in Cambodia or Bangladesh (two popular, overseas, low-cost manufacturing markets). We decided to produce in the US because it would allow us to do better quality control, plus we strive to be as sustainable a business as possible. Manufacturing in the US reduces our carbon footprint because we don't have to put our finished goods on an airplane or on a barge, or ship our components around the world.
Beyond just assembling our garments in the US, we also use American-made components; this is another quality control & sustainability effort. It also allows us to turn items more quickly, because lead times are often shorter than ordering from overseas. Some companies buy all of their fabric from markets with less or non-existent testing standards, then cut & sew the item in the US, and call it American made. They aren't violating any rules, but it's just a less supervised and regulated way to produce clothing. This subject itself is worthy of a lengthy discussion; one great resource for more information on this practice is Dana Thomas' Deluxe.
The show is more 'real' than actual real life, where prices are inflated. (that is to say, the target of the irony is reversed for me)
We believe the characters are working/middle class because a t-shirt 'means' a comfy casual thing that costs very little. The "symbol" is more real to us than the "actual thing" itself.
Real life prices that are laughable and subject to imaginary forces of 'brand value.'
Cool sweaters with prints on them are cheap. That specific sweater with that specific print is priced too high because 'specificity' is the only thing boutique or luxury companies can offer. Since luxury brands are now made with the same cheap labor as affordable goods are, the strategy of maintaining 'wealthy' market has changed. (the [the book Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster] (http://amzn.com/0143113704) is a great intro to this idea..)
In the age of H&M practically every single look can be replicated for (american) middle class prices. The chinese teenagers are the last 'working class' in the old sense -- their labor is exploited for fast fashion, we are the beneficiaries of that. That reality is less disturbing to me than the 'lie' of expensive 'designer' stuff. Seems insulting to me to pay even more for the same basic looks.
Which is why the concept of these websites are obnoxious to me. They should be replicate-the-style websites, not buy-the-specific-item sites, but those partnerships/spnsorships is how the sites and the wardrobe departments make/save money.
An Essential Reading List For Designers
Source: www.tomfaulkner.co.uk
All books have been linked to Amazon for review and possible purchase. Remember to support the authors by purchasing their books. If there are any issues with this listing let me know via comments or pm.
Architecture
Communication Design
Fashion Design
Angela ButtolphEditors of Phaidon ?Furniture Design
Game Design
Graphic Design
Information Design
Industrial Design
(cont'd)
Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Luster is incredible and important in today's market that focuses on aspirations towards high end purchases.
Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Fast Fashion is another good one.
Jeebus, that's awful! I'll probably read more about it soon enough, though. I just borrowed the book Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster from the public library.
I guess if I want to buy a Kate Spade bag in the future, I should actually purchase it by walking in a Kate Spade store (and allow both the colors and the price tags blaze into my eyes).
>The main problem is that I feel anxious committing to pieces... my style/taste changes sometimes and I end up not loving pieces nice bought even just months ago.
I think this is something that a lot of people feel, which is the exact feeling fast fashion companies are trying to exploit. They thrive on constantly pushing trends out, selling clothes with weird bells and whistles that go out of style quickly rather than quality basics (ever wonder why there are so many cold-shoulder tops and tissue tees with sayings on them??), making consumers go through the churn of buying so quickly that they never get the chance to be thoughtful about what they buy.
In addition to what everyone's suggested (The True Cost & other educational things), I think a suuuper important thing is to get a handle of what your style really is. Please note that you don't have to limit yourself to one siloed style! But it is important to get a sense of overarching themes of stuff you both love and actually wear. Once you have that down, whatever random trend won't look that appealing anymore when it comes around.
There are lots of ways to do this. Personally, I found starting a pinterest board the easiest--it's pretty passive, you just get on every once in a while, pin some stuff and look through their related pins, but I've learned a LOT about what I love through doing this. Another method people here like is the visual wardrobe, or the curated closet/Into Mind.
Also, to add onto the reading material people have suggested, I highly recommend Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Lusture for anyone curious about how fashion has in modern times become the massive, unsustainable and unethical mass it's become.
There's a really interesting book you could read with Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion that goes into this. It's really eye-opening, and gave me a bigger understanding when the media started focusing on factories in India after that horrible collapse. Another one is Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster that ties into the whole modern phenomena of cheap, "affordable" fashion.
Brand name != Quality. Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster is a good read on this subject.
For a more detailed look at luxury items I highly recommend the book Deluxe.
With the exception of Hermes (which still hand stitches its bags and makes it scarves in France and has a lifetime service on its bags to ensure workmanship) no "luxury" brand is unscathed.
With that said, many brands do adhere to quality craftsmanship--it just may not be from a "fancy" country and many times its workers are not paid appropriately.
LV shoes, for example, are made in Romania with soles attached in Italy so they can carry the "made in Italy" tag. I believe LV sources their bags to France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the USA. Unsure if they are entirely made in China and sourced elsewhere.
Again, it's not like the bags or shoes are shitty in themselves--it's just false advertising because people like your friends won't buy a "made in China" or "made in Romania" product because it carries a stigma.
With that said, 99% of the "luxury" brand products you see--from perfumes to cheap keychains--are poorly made and just carry the "brand." "Luxury" brands no longer mean "quality."
Thanks! It's this book.
read this: http://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-How-Luxury-Lost-Luster/dp/0143113704
DELUXE is a good read.... Less strategy and more history of what luxury was.