Coming back to this conversation. You all gave me so much food for thought I can't deal with it all lol (does anyone else experience this?). I'm gonna try.
Beth Ann - I greatly appreciate your point about quality varying across lines and price points. I too am thinking of stepping up the brick-and-mortar shopping this year and cutting down the online.
Deborah, thanks for your experience - I generally hear good things about Target Australia's quality. And this experience wouldn't put me off all Target stuff, although I think Taylor's and Nicole's point about Target is worth weighing up. I'm more intrigued by the question of whether there is an inverse relationship between items being more eyecatching and/or fashion-forward (taking risks with colour and silhouette) and the quality fabrication and control invested in them by their makers. I.e. fashion-forward is made with a throwaway mentality. Or the market is regarded as less picky/spendy so corners are cut.
Una, Sole Femme Trader, Rita, Stringy and Shipskitty, you are right that boring can be found at all price points and that different locations offer more. When I went into the city with Laurel I found a much greater range of the same brands, and some of it was in beautiful bright colours and interesting cuts. And I am happy to seek this stuff out. That said, the plethora of bright fun stuff found at lower quality points was undeniable. I do think I am onto something with my little theory
Of course, it may be different in Australia, For example, even our Fluevog stockist carried the Mirella line in only red. black, and a small amount of yellow apparently, while in the US it came in a greater number of colours. I do appreciate some of you experienced the higher quality/less risk-taking phenomenon elsewhere too (Jen, Manidipa, Beth Ann, and Claire).
Manidipa, you raise excellent points about apples-with-apples being the problem. That makes total sense. Of course most people from a similar demographic choosing between similar items would pick the cheaper one and not think too much about quality. And if they were thinking about quality, they'd be thinking in terms of longevity, as you say, thus wanting to play it safe. I like that you loosely define "our kind of buyers" as a market ^_^ - and I too hope they cater to us more.
Lastly I'm heartened by those of you who say pursuing quality, and the shift in mindset that entails, is worth it. One day I might even be shopping on Yoox with IK and Laura (hey, I already stalk Coclicos - it's gotta be a slippery, if uphill, slope from there, right?)
^_^
