When I was younger, my mother always used to take me to buy new clothes for whenever I started a new year at school, or just whenever I needed new clothing. And although I didn’t notice it at the time, I now realize that a lot of what my mother bought me was from stores such as Gap, or Ross. Now I do not want to go mouthing off about these stores, as there is certainly a place for these stores in the overall clothing market – i.e. for families who absolutely cannot afford to buy from anywhere else. But over the years, I realized that such clothing from these types of stores, which are undeniably cheap by nature, are not as worth it as higher quality of clothing.

Some people will definitely be quick to jump at me on this seemingly hot take, but for anyone who has bought their own clothes, they at least have general idea on how often you buy clothing. And if you are like the millions of Americans who buy clothing at places like Gap or Ross, there is a very good chance that you recognize the frequency that you need to replace your clothing. Unfortunately, although such clothing can definitely be cheap and thus less of a strain on your wallet, it comes at the cost of having them break down much faster than you expect.

Part of this has to do with how abrasive washing machines can be nowadays, but regardless of this fact, if you purchase cheaper clothes, they will inevitably fade or break down faster than more expensive clothing. And the unfortunate part of this fact is that many people do not realize this is happening, since they have always bought cheap clothing for as long as they have been buying clothes for themselves. With clothing constantly needing to be replaced, they simply assume that is the norm, regardless of what where the clothing is bought.

If you still aren’t sure what I am talking about, then I implore you to go out to a high-quality clothing store to buy anything that you currently need right now. Not only will the clothing last a very long time, but it also won’t show any signs of fading or stretching for basically the entire lifetime of the article of clothing. And you can even do the math yourself on just how much you are saving by not going for the cheap clothing – even though that first article of high-quality clothing will cost a big more than your standard cheap piece of clothing, it will not be replaced until that other piece of clothing has likely been replaced several times, which obviously shows that you are saving money by spending more upfront. Another way that you can look at it is as an investment rather than just something you need in the short-term – spending more upfront will definitely save you more in the long-term.

Another benefit of higher-quality clothing is that they typically fit a lot better than cheap clothing. As I already mentioned, cheap clothing is a lot more prone to stretching compared to more expensive clothing, but the actual fit when you actually receive the clothing for the first time is also markedly different between the two. For more expensive clothing, this is not just due to the higher quality ensuring a more uniform fit (especially applicable if you buy clothing online and can’t try them out for yourself before buying them), but also due to the fact that they simply have a lot more “fits” to choose from. Rather than just choosing between small, medium and large for example, there will be other options such as “slim fit” for shirts as an example, that allow you to find the perfect shirt that will fit you just right. And because you know that shirt will last you a long time, you can rest assured knowing that your investment will prove to be quite fruitful over the lifetime of your piece of clothing.

As I mentioned before, if you really are strapped for cash, there is nothing wrong with buying cheaper clothing to help you get by. But as soon as you are able to, I would strongly recommend “upgrading” to higher-quality clothing, even if it might be a bit more expensive upfront – they won’t just last longer, but they will likely fit much better too!