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Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 22, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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https://www.schottnyc.com/products/steerhide-perfecto.htm

So this is what I was thinking of. 945 between sizes 32 and 46. That's a pretty damn wide material spread! A 46 (xl or XXL?) is probably close to twice as much leather as a 32 (xs). That's a remarkable uniformity in pricing!

I rarely even see sizes above xl stocked at most stores I frequent so you're probably correct. But my point stands: we don't start charging more until you're in truly circus freak size categories and will accept it. For folks in the normal-ish range we just accept that some are paying extra for material and some are getting a bargain on material.

But my point stands: we don't start charging more until you're in truly circus freak size categories and will accept it.

I'm not so sure that is true, in the US at least. A fairly hefty chunk of the population (perhaps most, IDK the statistics) is in the "you pay more" zone. I suspect that it's not about how many people have to pay the increased cost, but how much the increase is. Even if you pay 20% more for a shirt, on a $10 shirt that's only $2 and that's small enough that most people won't notice it.

Many companies discriminate by having separate lines for standard and plus size. The brands I shop from regularly stop at XL or XXL, and people larger than that have to buy from a different brand altogether. When I looked into it, that seems to have as much to do with certain styles not even working as intended on larger figures, as much as amount of fabric used. That makes it hard to compare costs, since many items are simply unavailable in larger sizes, but brands that cater to explicitly carrying all sizes at the same price point, such as Universal Standard, are pretty expensive for what you get.

All of this(the entire comment chain) is pointing to 'a fairly small part of the price of clothes is materials', which I think is actually the correct answer to the original question.