Are Expensive Clothes Worth It?

A Closet Cleanout and an Expensive Reminder

Once again, my closet is bursting at the seams (pun intended), and it has become clear that it’s time to clean a few things out.

Two likely candidates for another life are sitting right in front of me: two pairs of trousers. They also happen to be the reason I started asking myself a question: are expensive clothes actually worth it?

They’ve been in my closet for years.

I have barely worn them.

And every time I see them, I get annoyed — because each of them cost €250.

The “smart purchase” that went wrong

At the time, I was working on my graduate degree and needed proper business attire for job fairs and scientific conferences.

I kept hearing the same advice:

“Invest in a good suit. Quality matters.”

So I followed it.

I went to a large department store known for excellent customer service. The sales staff were incredibly helpful. They brought me dozens of options, discussed fabrics and cuts, and helped me assemble what was supposed to be the perfect professional wardrobe.

That’s how I ended up owning two pairs of “business trousers”, each costing about €250.

From experience, I knew cheap clothes can sometimes be uncomfortable, poorly fitting, or difficult to maintain. I thought paying for quality would protect me from those problems.

How wrong I was still stings today.

One of those trousers I have literally never worn.

The fabric is wool — and not the soft kind. It is the scratchiest fabric I have ever touched.

I cannot wear it directly on my skin.
I cannot wear it over leggings either — it still scratches through the fabric.

The cut also isn’t particularly flattering when actually walking or sitting.

The second pair is… barely tolerable.

I can wear it only with leggings underneath, which makes the whole outfit bulky and uncomfortable. And after a few washes it started pilling like crazy (and now looks the opposite of "professional").

Every time I look at them I think the same thing:

If I’m going to be uncomfortable, I might as well do so without paying a premium for the experience.

The uncomfortable truth about expensive clothes

I knew cheap clothes can have problems.

So I assumed the solution was simple: buy expensive clothes instead.

And I’m not alone in thinking this. According to Lifestyle Monitor ™: more than three quarters of consumers believe that in clothing “you get what you pay for”.

But research suggests something surprising:

Price and quality are often only weakly correlated in clothing.

A durability study conducted by researchers at the University of Leeds and WRAP tested dozens of garments including T-shirts, jeans, and hoodies.

They found no reliable correlation between price and durability.

In some cases, inexpensive garments performed just as well — or even better — than much more expensive ones in washing and wear tests.

Other research on garment longevity has reached similar conclusions: price alone is not a reliable indicator of durability or performance.

This doesn’t mean expensive clothing is always bad.

And it certainly doesn’t mean cheap clothing is automatically good.

High-quality fabrics, careful construction, and ethical production do cost money. Paying workers fairly and using durable materials cannot happen at ultra-fast-fashion prices.

But it does mean something important:

Price alone tells you very little about whether a garment will actually work in real life.

What expensive clothing actually pays for

When we pay more for clothing, we are often paying for things like:

• brand reputation

• store location

• marketing

• design and branding

• retail margins

All of these things have value. They are necessary for brands to exist and operate.

But they do not automatically translate into comfort or usability.

A garment may be:

• stylish

• prestigious

• expensive

…and still be uncomfortable, impractical, or rarely worn.

Have you ever bought a beautiful piece of clothing only to discover at home that it’s hand-wash only?

The fabric may drape like something worthy of Aphrodite herself.

But if you can’t put it in the washing machine, you may end up wearing it far less than you imagined.

Why so many wardrobes contain unworn clothes

In the end, the real value of clothing isn’t its price — it’s whether you actually want to wear it.

The fashion industry is optimized for something very specific:

how clothes look on the rack — and for the minute you spend standing in front of the mirror in the store.

Not necessarily how they feel after eight hours of wear.

Not necessarily how they behave after washing.

Not necessarily how comfortable they are on sensitive skin.

For many people — especially those with sensory sensitivities, skin conditions, or simply a strong preference for comfort — this creates a frustrating pattern.

You buy something that looks great.

And then… you never wear it.

A different approach to clothing

This realization is exactly what pushed us to rethink clothing from the ground up at AYAMI.

Instead of designing garments around trends or prestige pricing, we focus on something much simpler:

how clothing feels and performs in real life.

That means thinking carefully about things like:

• fabric softness and sensory comfort

• seams and irritation points

• ease of care (washing, drying, maintenance)

• durability over repeated use

• versatility across different situations

Because the goal of clothing should not just be to look good for a moment.

It should be to work reliably every day — and look good while doing it :)

AYAMI clothes cost what they cost to make this happen.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

And ideally, they should feel a little like a hug while doing it.