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Comment by sotojuan | Hacker News Reader

This opened my eyes because the Chinese international students in my university (the only contact I have with people from that country) buy the most extravagant stuff. I'm somewhat knowledgeable about fashion brands, and I see them wear what would amount to $1000+ in outfits daily. And that's just clothing I recognize. "Wanting to own everything" (that is trendy!) is a common stereotype of them in my university. That said, in general they're humble and nice.

Guess I'm only getting exposed to the Chinese 1%, so thanks for this article.

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> Guess I'm only getting exposed to the Chinese 1%

That's probably part of it. Of course, to extrapolate large trends such as 'China's Millennials are happy to own nothing' based on 5000 or so people without looking into their ability to own things would be just as silly an sweeping generalization to make.

Eh, while it's true that most Chinese students who study abroad have wealthy parents, I think the article vastly overstates the prevalence of the "You+ attitude". I think the majority of Chinese would still like to own nice things if they could. My cousins on my mother's side of the family live in Shanghai, and they definitely like to buy designer and name brand goods.

I always figured that China's consumerism itself is a fashion trend. After a generation of deprivation, all this branding and the social status they promise are attractive simply it's so novel. It will hopefully get old soon, as it has for the people in the article.

$1000 outfit is standard. Boots that don't suck, jeans, jackets, sweaters, watches, accessories add up super quickly.

Maybe for someone with a job, but not for the average US college student. Here I'd argue most people wear at most $100-500, depending on how much they care. This is for guys by the way. And like I said, 18-25 year olds without jobs or part time jobs.

I originally typed $1500-2000... I see a lot of Thom Browne stuff here, and that means $350 for a button up, $1000 for shoes. But it's probably a minority still, and you can't tell how much shoes/boots cost without knowing the brand (though I've seen some Rick Owens sneakers).

Edit: Saw you mentioned winter. Yeah that drives my number up. My $1000 was based on fall/spring type of stuff.

It’s obvious he’s far above any normal person, part of the rich. His "friends" buy bags for $2k each, according to this post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10673865

I don’t think the struggles of normal people, or the fact that people have to save money, are understood by someone like him.

EDIT: I don’t usually read through comment histories, but here it’s to provide a context, not to judge the person, and these earlier comments from him, a few weeks ago, harden my belief: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10288459 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10124135 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10049439 although this comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9195212 goes in the other direction.

Eh, I’m German upper middle class, and a woman, so outfits can get expensive.

Still, you can get a good outfit for below 200€. Watch not included, as everyone has a smart phone anyway.

Summer or Winter? My argument is about Winter because it's Winter where I am.

My current winter outfit, yes. It’s most definitely in the 200-250 range.

I bought my winter jacket, from the 2014 collection, in April 2015. Factory sale at Elkline.

Jeans are normal price, boots, same – bought in march 2015 – again saving a lot.

You are just wasting money by not taking advantage of seasonal sales.

Standard where, and in what cultural context?

I'm sure I've never worn a $1000 outfit in my life, and that includes a made-to-measure three-piece suit.

I asked him the same question in this thread, here his answer:

"Honestly, [$1000] is cheap as fuck. Have you met a regular person? Regular people go shopping every week for different shit, its unbelievable. I have friends that buy bags for $2k each, hats for $200, etc. Just because I literally only bought a few sweaters, a jacket, and boots a decade ago does not in any way make me inefficient. I am also not burning money by buying $50 sweaters." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10673865

wow, $1000 for an outfit? Mine costs less than 100$, including shoes and a jacket for the cold. What "accessories" are we talking about? Unless it is an iPhone, one can very comfortably dress in 100$ (and much less in summer)

My boots were $250 that I've had for 7 years now. Jacket $600 (going on 8 years), sweater 50, glasses 500 (going on 5 years), pants 50, other random shit. I rather buy super expensive quality items every decade than constantly shopping for small crap.

Only stuff I've bought in the past half decade is maybe like a few t shirts and socks/underwear. Everything else lasts.

Absolutely no clue what you wear for $100 in the Winter. Summer I can understand. I guess it's the boots/jackets that really change the price as 3 piece summer outfits I agree should be below 100.

That’s seriously overpriced.

You need to wait for special deals.

A 400$ jacked can go for as low as 90$ if the season is over and you buy a winter jacket of last years collection in april.

Glasses are cheaper to buy 10$ a year insurance that replace at any physical damage than to buy expensive – 190$ once, plus 10$ a year. (but I won’t count glasses for outfit, as that’s stupid – glasses are a disability tool, and I say that as someone who is short sighted).

Sweater for 50 is far overpriced, look more in the direction of 10. Pants are normal, though. I’d even say a good jeans is more like 80$.

I like to look fashionable though. I already went through my $3/shirt, $35/outfit phase and it was great, but I've moved past it now.

Those prices already are cheap. That's a $40/year jacket. I mean I guess I could hunt and wait for deals but I don't have the brainpower to track yet another "thing" you know? I only spent a few hundred on clothing in the past decade with the majority of my main purchases being at the start of the decade. Shaving off $50 here and there from that would do virtually nothing for me. If you shop frequently then by all means hunt for deals but I wear the exact same thing every single day (this is where I makeup the money I lost on expensive items by not getting them on sale).

Please don't pretend like the prices that you are posting are in any way normal. Fit, quality, and style are greatly sacrificed for price. I can't even remember the last time I saw a $10 t-shirt that wasn't on sale or clearance.

Sorry, I just look at it from a viewpoint of efficiency.

And, even when dressing with style, you are just burning money.

With that mentality, I should just stay home in the fetal position because it's better than anything since I won't be spending a dime. Honestly, it's cheap as fuck. Have you met a regular person? Regular people go shopping every week for different shit, its unbelievable. I have friends that buy bags for $2k each, hats for $200, etc. Just because I literally only bought a few sweaters, a jacket, and boots a decade ago does not in any way make me inefficient. I am also not burning money by buying $50 sweaters.

Where do you live? There's no way you live in the modern world if you think $10/sweater is a regular price for something because that's absolutely insane. Do you only wear 90's crewnecks? I can see those being $10 at the local goodwill. If you do then why are you trying so extremely hard to find the lowest prices possible? Are you living in poverty?

Oh, it’s pretty simple.

Buy during sale at H&M, C&A, Vero Moda, etc. Normal clothes.

Normal people don’t have money to buy bags for $2k. Normal people are struggling to pay their bills while being a single mom with kids. Normal people can be lucky if they can afford clothes from ALDI, and don’t have to go to the Red Cross. That’s the reality for most of the former middle class.

My family luckily doesn’t have to live like that, but you are seriously not "normal person". You’re rich. Your friends are rich.

When your friends buy bags that are over twice the monthly salary of some people, bags that cost more than a vacation for 4 people in another country, then you are rich.

World GDP per capita (PPP) is about $13,100 a year. The median is probably lower than that. I doubt "regular people" buy $1-2K outfits, considering they might still need to pay for food and living space. Perhaps it is you who have not met "a regular person".

Some people, living on uncommonly-high tech salaries in the bay area and similar locations, might indeed spend $1K on a change of clothes. I imagine some other highly-educated professionals in expensive cities might do as well. There is nothing wrong or unreasonable with that, per se. But "$1000 outfit is standard" is a statement that applies to very few people, and implying that it should be the norm is absurd under present world economics.

For the record, in my experience, most people I meet in tech and in the bay area, still won't often get close to wearing $1k. Those who do is often only when you include things like prescription glasses, leather jackets and wearable gadgets ;)

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