Hello everyone, this is Sister AU who understands clothing and fashion. I have been talking about how deep the water in the clothing industry is. The original intention is to let everyone know more about this industry, so as to avoid spending more money. But after all, this circle is very big, and what my friends know is just the tip of the iceberg. In the production aspect alone, there are many and cumbersome items.

For example, a mature clothing gathering place will have a press-folding factory, an embroidery factory, a printing factory, a sewing machine shop, a shrinking factory, a beading factory, a special machine, someone who sells linings, someone who cuts binding strips, Thread sellers, pattern makers, etc. There are countless large and small garment factories in an industrial gathering place as well as supporting factories and small workshops in the surrounding areas.

As far as you are looking for fabrics to go to the factory for processing, single yarn, double yarn, refined yarn, plain yarn, recycled yarn, trolley, large garden machine, weight, bleaching and dyeing, setting, nitric acid, washing , ring drying, ribbing, flat knitting... and cutting, sewing, printing, embroidery, trademark accessories and so on. There is a big price gap at every step. If you are familiar with it or not, the price will be heaven and earth!

Maybe if I continue talking, everyone’s head will be dizzy. Considering that most people read Sister AU’s article, they may just want to buy clothes that are good value for money. Therefore, Sister AU will try her best to keep everyone’s immediate interests in mind, and talk more about “clothing water depth” to help you avoid lightning.

I saw an interesting topic a few days ago, saying, "What is the difference between a 100-yuan sweatshirt and a 1,000-yuan sweatshirt?" Thinking that it is already the beginning of spring, the temperature is starting to rise, and sweatshirts are super versatile. This single item is once again taking over the wardrobes of fashionistas. So today let’s talk about, how much does a sweatshirt cost? Is there any difference between cheap sweatshirts and expensive sweatshirts? What's the difference? Is it necessary to buy a particularly expensive sweatshirt?

There are many questions. Sister au will explain them one by one below.

In fact, Sister au has already written an article on this topic before. Friends who have read the article should know that there is really a big difference between expensive clothes and cheap clothes. Otherwise, why can Maxmara’s classic 101801 coat attract countless women to spend money on it? Since its launch in 1981, more than 135,000 pieces have been sold. Even if the domestic cabinet sales are 30,00, it is still sold out? And why is it that Burberry’s classic plaid shirt looks very luxurious when worn on it, but the same style on a certain brand looks very cheap?

So, it makes sense that you get what you pay for. As we all know, the cost of a piece of clothing = the cost of the clothing itself (fabric cost, clothing manufacturing cost) + hidden costs (R&D costs, operating costs, design, inventory). As a clothing person, Sister au can tell you responsibly that inventory is really important. Sometimes the thing that crushes a brand is inventory.

Putting aside the hidden costs, just the cost of the clothes themselves, which of the above two companies is not heavy on manufacturing. 101801 coat, the completion of a finished coat requires factory workers to spend 168 minutes to complete 73 processes, including pattern cutting, hand sewing, ironing, etc., and each process is strictly controlled. Moreover, the high-quality Kashmiri cashmere and wool originating from Italy also need to go through complex manufacturing processes to obtain the water-rippled fleece blended fabric that is ultimately used to make the 101801 coat.

Burberry’s classic plaid shirt, you can switch between different pieces but the plaid pattern in each place will match, commonly known as “matching strips”. To achieve such an effect, there are very high requirements for sewing, so inferior products will not have good results. If it is the dead edge of the car, such as the back panel, sleeves, etc., they will all be aligned. Like the one below, it is completely cut from two pieces of cloth. They are laid together and aligned one by one according to the pattern using a laser light and a positioning pin. The edges of each piece are the same. The manual sewing requirements are also particularly high~

Sister au has been verbose about the above, but she just wants to tell everyone that the reason why some clothes are expensive must be expensive for a reason. This is just an introduction to how exquisite the workmanship of big brands is. Don’t forget that they also pay costs in design, research and development, trial and error, etc.

Now, let’s get back to the business and take a look at the difference between a sweatshirt worth a thousand yuan and a sweatshirt worth hundreds of dollars.

1. Fabric

As a kind of casual clothing, sweatshirts have various styles and fabrics. For example: polyester, cotton, space cotton, chemical fiber, velvet and blended ones. Different fabrics have their own unique characteristics, but as we said before, those made from natural fibers are definitely the best.

Polyester has poor air permeability, easily generates static electricity, and is not warm; space cotton is warm and does not deform, but it does not look good; chemical fiber is not wear-resistant, has poor water absorption and air permeability, and is easy to deform; Chemical fiber and cotton blends are more likely to pill; velvet is prone to static electricity; so overall, Ms. au recommends that everyone buy a 100% cotton sweatshirt.

Pure cotton sweatshirts are not prone to pilling and are very comfortable and breathable to wear.

Xinjiang long-staple cotton has long staple length, high chemical fiber flexibility and good quality. Coupled with combing, shorter cotton fibers are combed out and impurities in the cotton material are removed to produce smooth cotton yarn, making the cotton fibers more flexible and less likely to stick to hair balls.

Let’s talk about the common sweatshirt fabrics on the market-terry cloth and fleece. Even though the sweatshirts look similar on the outside, they are actually very different on the inside.

Terry cloth has a soft feel, thick texture, elasticity, moisture absorption and breathability, so it is very comfortable to wear. Since the terry portion can hold more air, it also provides some warmth. Among them, combed terry cloth is the better fabric among terry cloths. The cloth surface is smooth, skin-friendly and does not pill.

The fleece sweatshirt has a fluffy feel and soft texture. The upper body is lightweight and breathable. It is both warm and fashionable. You can keep out the cold by wearing it alone! The only slight drawback is the slight shedding, but this can be improved by washing it with water a few times.

Like the two sweatshirts that Sister AU has, the ones on the left are big-name ones, and the ones on the right are priced at a bargain price. Although both are mainly made of cotton, with a little blended terry fabric added, the feel of the two pieces of clothing is obviously different. One is light and the other is quite thick. After careful comparison, it is easy to find that the fabric surface of big-name sweatshirts is smooth and the loops are arranged very neatly, while the loops of cheap sweatshirts are much sparse. Since everyone can tell at a glance who is expensive and who is cheap, then stop thinking that "there is not much difference between expensive clothes and cheap clothes."

2. Cutting and pattern

As a clothing person engaged in foreign trade, Sister au has seen not only tens of thousands but also millions of pieces of clothing. I still understand the version. Remember, a good pattern is always three-dimensional.

Why are there so many people wearing sweatshirts on the street, some of them look very delicate, and some of them look "crotch-stretching"?

For example, the sweatshirt on the left sits flat on the back. Even if it is an oversize version, there will be no unnecessary bagginess. On the other hand, the sweatshirt on the right is baggy and not very stylish, as if it is wearing two pieces of cloth.

And when buying a sweatshirt, it is really important that it does not shrink after washing. You may not know that shrinkage is actually a condition that occurs in most fibers, but the degree of shrinkage is different. It is normal for cotton sweatshirts to shrink, but high-quality ones will be shrunk, while low-quality ones are hard to say.

Then there is tailoring. If you are interested in the tailoring line of clothes, you might as well read the article that au wrote before. I won’t go into details here. As far as sweatshirts are concerned, whether the cut is good or not depends on the hat and collar.

The collar of the Qianyuan sweatshirt has a small overlap, and the seams are also fixed very firmly. The exit of the drawstring hood also has stitched round holes of the same color, which is a perfect detail. The necklines of cheap sweatshirts do not overlap, the seams are thin, and there are threads at the hood cord opening.

Friends who have worn sweatshirts worth less than 100 yuan may know that the hats of those sweatshirts are often pointed and soft when worn, looking very much like Ultraman? But the sweatshirts of better quality will not. The details are well handled, comfortable and good-looking.

3. Workmanship (i.e. details)

Why should we look at the details of clothes? Because the details represent what kind of craftsmanship is used and whether the craftsmanship of the workers is fine.

Everything from linings and zippers to hemming and stitching all determine the cost of making a piece of clothing. Here are the details of sweatshirts in two price ranges.

Take this kind of cotton 420g double-ply sweatshirt fabric as an example. The price is about 50 meters per kilogram. It takes about one kilogram of material to make a men's sweatshirt. Then the cost of the fabric is It’s almost 50 yuan. As for CVC fabrics of the same specification, the price may be 15 per kilogram, and the cost difference is very different. Of course this is a very rough example. In fact, the cost difference between fabrics is much greater than the example. (I won’t talk to you about cooperation with manufacturers, order volume, etc.)

This does not include the labor cost. If the labor cost is calculated as 20, and if the printing is more complicated, add 20, and the whole thing will be fine. It cannot exceed 100. An ordinary sweatshirt only costs around 60. With that said, does anyone have an idea of ??the cost of sweatshirts?

Sister au would like to add something about the weight here. The higher the weight of the sweater, the more expensive the unit price will be. Because it uses more cotton on the same square meter of cloth, its count will be higher, resulting in a longer machine operation time. Therefore, both material and time costs are increasing at the same time.

If you also need to consider the added value of sweatshirts, such as brand culture, etc., then this question is difficult to answer. After all, everyone’s needs are different. Take Maslow's "Needs Theory" as an example. Most people buy clothes to satisfy their physiological needs, but the wealthy people go there to respect their needs. Whether it is necessary to buy high-priced sweatshirts depends on your needs.

But value added aside, it’s much simpler. The quality of 5k and 50 is definitely different, but the quality of 5k and 500 may be the same, or even 500 is better. Why do you say that? Again, Sister AU believes that there are no technical barriers to the garment industry, and quality can be guaranteed as long as heavy work is required.

As we all know, Supreme sweatshirts are very popular, and sometimes you can’t get them even if you have money. The brand was established in 1994 and has a history of 27 years. To be honest, the research and development cost of Supreme sweatshirts is not that high, and is even getting lower. After all, they have too many graphic design inventories. The styles basically don’t change much, but the fabrics change a little.

Most sweatshirts have simple lines, with several pieces sewn together. The processing fee is actually not expensive. The only more expensive part is probably the embroidery pattern. Don't underestimate embroidery, because this kind of embroidery itself has a very high density and a relatively large area, so the requirements for embroidery machines are relatively high. A rough estimate shows that the cost of such a sweatshirt is about 130, but its official selling price is 168 US dollars, which is about 1100 meters, and the market price is 5000.

It can be seen that a small sweatshirt is actually very profitable. So the question is, will everyone pay for a thousand-yuan sweatshirt whose price has increased 25 times or more? Sister au still says the same thing, it depends on personal needs. If you particularly like street culture like Supreme, then just wear it. But if you feel it’s not worth it, you can choose one with higher cost performance. For example, the niche Korean sweatshirts that are loved by celebrities are both affordable and good-looking. Sometimes when they are on sale, you can even get the same style from celebrities for 100-200 yuan. Isn’t it delicious?

The one worn by Baby is a big cherry sweatshirt from Kirsh’s family, while the one worn by Yi Yang Qianxi is from we11done and was worn in the variety show "Listen Up, Friends". Of course, in addition to brands like 87MM, kirsh, and we11done, there are many more niche fashion brands in Korea. If you are interested, you can read Sister au’s previous articles~