You’re walking around in your favourite shop, glancing at all the lovely clothes, then you stop in your tracks and see your dream dress, perfect colour, style and price. You pick it up and go and try it on just to make sure this apparently perfect dress is as perfect as it seems, and it is… or is it?
At this point you should already be catching yourself getting carried away, and getting yourself to a well lit area to properly look over the dress because it may not well be as perfect as it seems. We’ve all been there. You spend hours shopping for the perfect piece, you finally find it and snap it up before anyone else gets it, then when you get home you realise it is actually badly made, with cheap material, weak points and poor sewing. You might even wash it once or wear it once only to be subjected to it ripping or falling apart in your hands.
If you’re not fortunate enough to know about what makes a well constructed garment, don’t worry, we’ve got some great tips to help you:
Price Does Not Necessarily Indicate Quality – Always Check The Garment Whatever The Price
Price is not a guarantee of quality, and unfortunately a lot of people find this out the hard way. No matter how well known the brand or how expensive the clothing is, you must check it over. Sometimes even the most respected brands will cut corners to get a better margin, and someone has to pay for that cutback. Sometimes it is the consumer who suffers with these cut backs by paying more for a lower quality piece.
What Is It Made Of?
If you have the product in your hand, check the label to see what the product is actually made out of. If you are viewing the article online, the materials should be listed along with the product and if they aren’t, just email the company and ask them to start doing this explaining that you would find it really helpful.
Usually, natural fibres mean better quality and synthetics mean lower quality. However, some newer synthetic blends are the exception to this but you might need to do a bit of research to get in the know. You are also likely to find that a lot of clothing isn’t 100% one natural material or another, but you can try to get the highest possible percentage for your budget.
How Does It Feel?
If you have the garment in your hand, touch will tell you a lot. If you are ordering online, then you will have to wait until it gets delivered to feel it.
You can usually easily feel the difference between a really good quality garment and a lower quality garment. To get used to feeling the difference touch and feel natural fibre garments and man made garments and you will see there is a difference.
Heavier Is Better
Although thin fabric is becoming increasingly trendy, it is still worth finding thicker fabric still as and when you can. Clearly thicker does not always mean higher quality, but if you look at a jumper 50 years ago and a jumper now, it’s easy to see that thinner fabric has become a part of fast fashion.
Construction Matters
The construction of the garment makes a massive difference when it comes to quality. The material should be cut along the fabric grain (most of the time). The fabric should bounce back when you scrunch it up in your hand. Any fussy details might cost you more money or time in the long run when it comes to garment care or getting it repaired. You should also consider:
- The quality of the stitching – when you gently pull at a seam and you see light shining through, the garment is poorly stitched and won’t last long. The better quality the garment, the more stitches per inch can be found. Stitching should also be straight.
- Pattern match – the pattern of the material should match up at the seams
- Zippers – should always be covered and lie flat unless the zip is a feature
Remember….
You don’t have to be a fashion expert to get it right when it comes to buying high quality garments. Buy from reputable retailers like www.bellafashionqueen.co.uk, always check the garments closely and don’t be afraid to walk away from something that seems perfect, but you know isn’t worth the money.