Stylefan, did it impact the quality/extent of people's work - for good or bad?

Sorry Kari to veer off; very interested, especially in light of people like Andrew Yang pitching universal basic income and similar concepts ...

TG, the short answer is no. I don't know how long the model lasted but people knew this was the situation. I don't want to go on about this on Kari's thread and I honestly don't have all the information but I do have a lot of thoughts about it.

I’d be curious to know your thoughts, Style Fan. An Off Topic thread? I didn’t stay at that restaurant that I worked at for other reasons - the business itself was extremely successful.

Agreeing it seems to be more of a middle class thing, as the very poorest seem to thrift or buy clothes at Walmart- at least around here. Most of the stuff at thrift ends up being last years fast fashion :/
The thing is though, there's this huge churn of merchandise, and all the gimmics. New stuff every couple weeks, low prices, credit cards, loyalty points, but retail is still failing. Maybe we just want nice quality/durability, pieces comfortable and appropriate for our lives, at prices (even if higher than fast fashion) that allow us to still pay our bills and buy the things we truly need.

Wow, Style Fan and Rachy, those are intriguing experiments.

Yes, Suntiger: “The thing is though, there's this huge churn of merchandise, and all the gimmics. New stuff every couple weeks, low prices, credit cards, loyalty points, but retail is still failing. Maybe we just want nice quality/durability, pieces comfortable and appropriate for our lives, at prices (even if higher than fast fashion) that allow us to still pay our bills and buy the things we truly need.“

And RE: quality/durability, for stuff to be constructed to last rather than planned obsolescence. (I’m remembering when I scandalized a mobile phone rep because I didn’t want to sign up for a plan where I’d be able to get a new phone each time a new model came out.)

The thing is, stuff built to last generally costs more. And most consumers have shown an adverse reaction to paying more. What we say, and what we do are not always aligned

That’s an interesting point, kkards... because, yes, we know we suck at predicting the future... that is, delaying immediate gratification for future gains. They always talk about the candy experiment with kids, but there’s a myriad of ways this tendency plays out that never come to mind. And this gain of longer lasting goods is about avoiding various future costs... a little mind bendy.

I’m struck by all the thoughtful and articulate comments. Kudos Kari on starting an interesting thread! And what a special place, the YLF forum!

Chiming in again to say that I think part of the reason people don't want to pay more for clothes that will last is that, well, it's very easy to pay more and find that the clothes wear out just as quickly as much cheaper ones. In my wardrobe cost isn't much of a predictor of lasting power, except for the vintage pieces I have which were made in the 40s and 50s.

I think I would shell out more for a retailer who, say, gave advice about durability, would guarantee the piece for a particular period of time, could provide detailed information about how to maximise the garment's lifespan, offered in-house mending, etc.

Perhaps people would move beyond consume-and-discard if retailers would start to do the same.

I agree, avicennia, YLF is a very special place. Rachy, I have been thinking about the work issue a lot during the last few days. I need to get my thoughts together. Unfortunately, I have also been sick (not serious) since September. I have almost no energy.