When I was a kid, Diesel, Lois, Mustang and Levi’s were top shelf brand but they were affordable. I could go into a store and buy a pair of these brand’s jeans for around €50, which adding inflation rounds up to about €90. People would buy a pair or two of these jeans, even saving up a bit for it if necessary, just to not break the bank one month, because they would last a long time. I was gifted a pair of jeans that lasted for nearly six years.
The buying power then was a lot better; those €50 were around a sixth of a minimum wage but cost of life was incredibly low and very few would earn a minimum wage. Today, €175 is about 1/4 of the minimum wage, cost of life is high and a large portion of the population earns minimum wage.
Maybe your description is more accurate yeah. Top shelf but not completely unaffordable. They were definitely a trend brand those days though and an “it crowd” signifier were I grew up. But maybe they weren’t expensive expensive those days, you’re right.
Just visited the Diesel shop and the prices are horrendous. Those jeans used to be affordable.
Were they? Even as a kid these were brand jeans that the rich kids were buying to show off. At least in my neighbourhood.
When I was a kid, Diesel, Lois, Mustang and Levi’s were top shelf brand but they were affordable. I could go into a store and buy a pair of these brand’s jeans for around €50, which adding inflation rounds up to about €90. People would buy a pair or two of these jeans, even saving up a bit for it if necessary, just to not break the bank one month, because they would last a long time. I was gifted a pair of jeans that lasted for nearly six years.
The buying power then was a lot better; those €50 were around a sixth of a minimum wage but cost of life was incredibly low and very few would earn a minimum wage. Today, €175 is about 1/4 of the minimum wage, cost of life is high and a large portion of the population earns minimum wage.
So, affordable. Not cheap.
Maybe your description is more accurate yeah. Top shelf but not completely unaffordable. They were definitely a trend brand those days though and an “it crowd” signifier were I grew up. But maybe they weren’t expensive expensive those days, you’re right.