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.
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.