Going back a decade, the 1976 children's book "Benny Uncovers a Mystery" from the Boxcar Children series takes place in a department store, with this scene at https://archive.org/details/bennyuncoversmys00gert/page/52/m...
> "No, don't buy that blouse either," said the small woman, who stepped between Violet and the salesclerk. "Not that blouse," she repeated. "Look at those seams — that blouse won't last more than a few washings." ...
> I'm surprised that Furman's has been selling blouses that are so poor. I will have to talk to the manager about this."
The author, Gertrude Warner, born 1890 so in her 80s when she wrote that, was already complaining about the lower quality of clothing available in department stores.
In the story (spoiler!) the small woman ends up being the new owner of the store, who plans to put in higher quality goods.
In real life, we know that store would have gone out of business, as we moved to the era of "it's so cheap I don't care if it falls apart after a few washings".
I could see spending ~$1000 for several wardrobe items, but only because I don't face much social pressure to change my wardrobe to reflect changing styles, and even then, I don't know how to judge clothing quality to know if it's $1000 for clothes that will last for decades, or will fall apart after a couple of years.