How To Find High Quality Clothes | Dos & Don'ts

We are all so sick of clothing that is poorly made and does not last. So let's talk about some do's and don'ts to find the best quality clothes. When I was making this video I was very very conscious to not include things that just cannot be found. There are certain things I know about quality, we know about quality, but they just don't make them anymore. It doesn't exist. I want to share a few practical things to look out for and all of these do exist even if we have to dig a little bit more. This video is in partnership with Monica Vinader, so I'm wearing their jewelry pieces throughout and I'll be sharing with you a closer look at my favorites. The first thing you want to do when looking for high quality clothes is to make sure clothing has enough structure and reinforcement in high wear areas. High wear areas can include things like necklines, button bands, and cuffs. We're looking for enough structure and reinforcement here so the clothing does not lose its shape or wear out too quickly. In t-shirts and blouses we're looking for things like additional fabric, thicker fabric, or a binding that looks strong. Let me show you this shirt I own. This pink shirt always looks messy on the neckline and button bands. I think that the material is too soft for this style and they haven't really reinforced it sufficiently on that collar and button band. To add to that, the collar and button band is not even sewn down so it makes it look even messier when worn. The quality is not great, especially when we compare it to this Cezanne white shirt. The interior is beautifully done. The collar and the button band has a really nice structure and this is something that you'll have in your wardrobe for years and years and years. In knitwear, it usually looks like ribbing where it's a little bit thicker, a little bit chunkier to hold the shape of the neckline better. With structure, there's also an aesthetic component to it. When clothing in autumn and winter is more structured, it tends to feel and look a bit more luxurious and a bit higher quality. So a good example is outerwear. Oftentimes at Uniqlo, I'll see a nice jacket but then as I go to try it on, I'll notice that on the inside it's only half lined and because it's only half lined, it doesn't give enough structure to the piece. You'll notice that it wrinkles a lot and shows lumps and bumps from our inside layers which is not what you want in a high quality jacket. I also tried on this upper blazer at Uniqlo and this one is still not ideal but better. The outside shell is thicker so it sits better and drapes nicer but it's ultimately still too light with one thin layer, no lining. My own blazer here is something I adore, well fitting yet relaxed. There's beautiful movement and drape and it's lightly lined. We all know that we should look for clothing made from natural fibers, we should check the fabric tag but while I'm doing that, something I also like to do is to have a look at the inside. I like to check the seams of clothing on the inside. The very best quality clothes look beautiful on the inside and the seams are often enclosed. One surprising example is this lovely Uniqlo blouse. It's so well made and you can see it on the inside. Another example is this Garni dress where the inside looks just as beautiful as the outside. This is something where it not only shows you quality, sometimes it becomes an issue when you're wearing it. I have had pants where on the back pocket or at the back seam, the seams are messy and they do not lie flat so you actually get some lumpiness where you definitely don't want lumpiness and it's not because of like your underwear choice, it's because of the positioning of certain seams. This pant I'm trying on looks okay, however the stitching is so messy on the pockets that you can see lumps from the pocket lining which isn't sewn down so it moves and bunches up. There is a fake back pocket which firstly is a shortcut and then it's also done messily so I can see the outline of the stitching when wearing the pants and then also look for details that don't have to be there. Sometimes you know a nice contrast stitching, sometimes there is a top stitching. If I compare this butter yellow cos pants with this taupe trouser, you'll see that there's an extra top stitch seam at the pocket. This holds the lining down, makes it look sharper, more precise and it's really details like this that separates average and good clothes. Cos clothing in general is done to a very high standard compared to a lot of alternatives out there. I'm working with Monica Vinader in this part of the video and I want to talk about their attention to detail in their designs. So something about Monica Vinader is that they use recycled silver in all of their silver pieces as well as their gold vermet. All of the gemstones and diamonds are ethically sourced and I also love that they have their repair and re-wear program so you feel confident when you shop with them. The pieces come beautifully wrapped and all of this packaging is recyclable. I think their friendship bracelets are my favourite and I'm wearing this brown one made from tiger's eye. I love the clasp on Monica Vinader friendship bracelets and I love the little chain that hangs. It looks pretty no matter where you see it. I'm also wearing one of their cord bracelets with a pear-shaped diamond. I love having textured bracelets and I think this will look really incredible with my everyday bangles as well. One of my jewellery favourites of all time is the beaded necklace. It's kind of a weakness of mine and today I'm wearing this one made from green onyx. So this deeper green shade not only looks good in contrasting lighter colours but of course it'll fit into any autumnal palette. And then for my earrings, I've gone for a very subtle stack for today. All of these pieces are made from 14 karat gold and with the hoops, I adore the fact that they have a very organic shape so it's not like a perfectly round hoop. It's got some texture and detail that I think makes dainty jewellery so much more interesting. If any of these pieces catch your eye, everything will be linked down below. I have a discount code with them if you'd like to save a little for your next order. Thank you so much and let's get back into the video. When we're talking about building a high quality wardrobe, let's talk about what to look for in handbags. I've been having a think lately about what makes a good quality bag and this brand comes to mind. So this is a very small French brand and there are a few things that they do that makes me feel like it's a very high quality piece. So firstly, classic heritage designs. A lot of their bags are adapted from old styles like a fisherman bag, a postman bag and then they modernize it but these designs have been around for decades. The material often used for really nice quality bags is vegetable tan leather. This is one of those materials that is popular because not only is it high quality but it also, I think, shows the natural beauty of leather. It's not heavily treated. You can see the wear and tear of the leather. Scratches, marks, patina, they all develop over time. If you get a treated leather, it will not necessarily show that wear over time. You need the natural leather to be able to see all of those details. In high quality bag brands, I always see noticeable neat stitching. The stitching is both aesthetic as well as, of course, for the functioning of the bag. Not gonna lie, I do love like a fashion brand handbag sometimes but this is where you're gonna get the best quality and the best, I guess, value for money. Probably the thing that I get the most questions about is wool and how to spot high quality wool pieces in autumn, winter. The first thing to do is to have a look at traditional knitwear pieces and brands that do it really, really well. I'm gonna reference Toast here because I think their knitwear is very classic and is designed to last literally decades. They often use natural colors. The wool is often denser and more coarse. These are not gonna be your fluffy, soft sweaters. These are gonna be your slightly structured, slightly coarse wool. The reason they use this wool is because it holds its shape, it lasts forever and it's the most durable. It's also more natural and hasn't been treated as much as softer alternatives. Just to clarify, when I say coarse, I don't mean very itchy, rough or uncomfortable but I'm just trying to acknowledge the fact that wool has a natural texture that can feel slightly rough. I noticed this when knitting that things like Irish soniguls, Scottish wool and more rustic yarn tends to wear and last better than more processed but slightly smoother feeling yarns. So when I knit, I always prefer the rustic options. An exception to everything is that merino wool always feels soft and always lasts pretty well in my wardrobe. This is a fiber that I've had really good luck with in both knitwear I've purchased as well as knitwear I've made. The pieces I come across made from merino are super soft on skin, it lasts well and while everything is case by case, merino is always a good starting point. I might be the exception here but I also love the feeling of softish, natural wool as opposed to overly processed wool. My preference is always going a little bit more natural, little more structured, little bit more coarse versus the super super fluffy, soft versions. A pet peeve of mine is when you're trying something on and the stitching is so flimsy that you can actually hear rips happening somewhere on the clothing. This is a sign that the thread used was really poor quality. One example is this Uniqlo top. I feel like the t-shirts are good but this one just looks a little flimsy in certain parts of the stitching and something I didn't know that I only found out when sewing is that thread can actually be rather expensive and there is such a thing as low and high quality thread. It makes a huge difference to how strong your clothing is going to be. As I was making this video, there are so many items where you can see messy, tangled thread and obviously this is also something to avoid. It's usually coupled with other things, for example, loose stitches, messy sewing and just a general sign of poor craftsmanship. If you're looking at the thread and it's looking a little bit thin, it's probably a bit delicate. If you're looking at the stitches and they're placed really far apart, you also want to skip that item because it's gonna break with some wear. This is a really easy thing to spot either in the change room or just visually looking at an item, you'll be able to see. Bonus tip! If you're shopping in person, check all the versions of the item you're interested in. So if you're interested in this pant, for example, and there's a rack of the same pants, take a quick look at the others. In this case, I saw the same pant I was trying on with the worst peeling I've ever seen in the new garments. This is a sign to put this item back immediately or it's literally money down the drain. I was chatting with my mom the other day and we were talking about how a lot of shoes just don't last as well as they used to. The thing about shoes is that sometimes as you wear them down, you'll notice that pieces literally fall off and it reveals the inside. If a shoe is made from really low quality leather, it's actually not a single piece of leather, but it's bonded leather. So little pieces glued together. And these are the shoes and these are the leathers that are not gonna wear well over time. Whereas if you have a high quality leather that's like a piece of leather, it's gonna wear a lot more elegantly over time. And certain shoes, you get marks on them, but they never look terrible. You just need to polish them, you need to maintain them. Whereas other leather shoes literally start flaking and it's because of whether they use bonded leather or like a real piece of leather that's higher quality. The bonded leather is still technically leather, but it doesn't wear the same as a nicer quality single piece of leather. Both my mom and I have had experiences where we've worn a shoe literally twice and already like pieces are falling off the front because it impacted or it hit something or scraped against something when we were walking. I will say once again, like handbags, heritage brands are really good at this. There are a lot of brands I know of, for example, Thursday Boot Company. My partner has a lot of their shoes, they last really well. For me personally, I have a pair of Iron William boots. Expensive, but they last literally forever. If you're getting like a classic autumn winter shoe, this is an area where it feels worth it to have something that's gonna last you many, many years. If you're trying to build a really high quality wardrobe, and you like the work wear aesthetic, these are pieces that are literally designed to last. I think historically, they were extremely durable. And to this day, there are a lot of brands making it using more traditional techniques. And there's still materials that generally wear well, no matter whether you buy it from a fashion brand or a heritage brand. They generally just last better. I'm talking about corduroy, corduroy pieces. I'm thinking about like cotton canvas work wear jackets, denim, of course. All of these things, if it is your aesthetic, tend to hold up for a long time. They tend to wash easily and wash well over time. And are pieces that just feel indestructible. Next up, you can't have good quality without good design. So going back to this Uniqlo jacket, I like this jacket. It's nice in both the fabric and the quality is technically good. However, a chore jacket or a bond jacket has a long history in work wear and the design is meant to be practical. This is clearly a fashion piece because it does not have proper functional pockets on the jacket. Well, lower on the jacket. Good quality always includes and retains good design. Let's talk specifically about coats for a moment. Because a coat is something you'll wear every single day, autumn and winter. This is a very hard wearing piece in a wardrobe. So here are some things I'm always looking for. Firstly, drape. Not all fabrics drape well. There are certain wools that just don't drape very nicely, whereas other wools just have the most beautiful movement when we're wearing them. The tippy coat, the reason I like it so much is because it drapes really well and the way it just kind of fours feels really elegant. Something to look out for, something quite noticeable is any puckering of seams, especially when they're in very visible spots. Along the sleeve, on the shoulder. If the seam puckers, it tends to look a little poorly made. Sometimes there's puckering of fabric in the shoulder area, which can be due to messy linings again. It can mean the shoulder area is a bit tight after layering or the fabric once again is too light and shows the inner layers of our clothing. I always feel like it's a bit of a shame when you get a really nice coat and it's lined in polyester or it's lined in a cheap stuffy fabric. So this is a combination that I'm always looking at, whether the lining makes sense for the piece. If a wool is not very coarse, sometimes it doesn't even have to be lined. A double face wool coat is one of the most luxurious things ever. And I think the benefit is that it's very warm and you get to, I guess, enjoy the wool on the inside as well as the outside. Sometimes a coat is lined in the synthetic but they've done it really well and the lining is very, very thin. So then it doesn't feel crunchy and very stuffy. It actually feels comfortable despite it being not a natural fiber. So there are cases for that but it's just something you want to check for a coat. Whether a coat needs to be lined really depends on the style. But I would say I noticed that more formal coats, more structured coats, they tend to be lined, I think, for drape and for the structure. Whereas really casual loose styles of coats often have that double face non-lined interior and that's actually the kind of style I prefer. This jacket I'm trying on is not for my body type really but just a moment to appreciate the craftsmanship. It's structured but sits elegantly. It's well lined. There's clean stitching and seams. You'll see this on the pocket stitching and the top stitching as well as in the interior where seams are cleanly done and they're also enclosed. The final thing I always do is I always try to shop at specialty brands when I can. When I was visiting Japan, something I noticed is that they have a shop for everything. They have a brand for everything. If a brand makes knives, they will often only make knives. If a brand makes something, they will often stick to it. And I think in fashion, a lot of brands make a bit of everything. If I'm buying jeans, I still feel like the best brand is like Levi's or if I want to go higher end, Rag & Bone. Places that specialize in jeans. If I want to get black boots, going to certain brands that specialize in shoes and in boots. When a brand doesn't make everything, if they're still in business, chances are they're doing a pretty good job at making the thing that they're making. Uniqlo, even though they make everything, I think their core piece is probably their cotton t-shirts and they never stray far from this. They always have 101 styles and Uniqlo, I honestly kind of link to t-shirts. For handbags, I always feel like a handbag brand is superior than a fashion brand. Sometimes a fashion brand will create a design that we fall in love with but in terms of quality and like the best pricing, handbag brands always usually wins. When I think of linen, I always think of this Etsy shop. They do incredible natural linen pieces, they do it in a range of styles all focused on this material. As I was making this video, it was clear why fashion brands love oversized. It's a lot more forgiving on craftsmanship. This is something that's changing the way I see oversized clothing. I think oversized should always be intentional and still well-fitting even if it's looser and more dramatic in silhouettes. That's everything I wanted to cover in today's video. Thank you so much for watching. If any of the Monica Vinader pieces caught your eye, everything will be linked down below and also my discount code there as well. Have an incredible week and I'll see you next one. Bye!