When I was a young professional in the early 2000s, it was still possible to walk into a department store in a small town like Chillicothe, Ohio and buy clothes that were decently made.

My first real job was as a newspaper reporter. This was a time when professionals were still expected to dress like professionals so I commonly wore pantsuits or sweater sets with dress pants. Sometimes I would wear khaki pants with a polo if the day was expected to be casual but this wasn’t common. After all, the world of a small town newspaper reporter was predictably unpredictable.

At that time I would go to Sears or JC Penney on payday and write a check (yes, we still wrote checks in stores back then) to purchase a new outfit, slowly building a wardrobe that wouldn’t be out of style in a year.

Sears was the best deal for my money because they sold a line of clothes that came with a few pieces. For about $40 I could get a pant suit with a coordinating floral skirt and scarf. Four pieces that could be worn as separates or as outfits. My favorite was a gray pantsuit with a burgundy floral skirt and scarf.

I got a lot of wear out of that set.

In 2013, Kohls partnered with Dana Buchman on a luxury line of professional separates at a bargain price. There were basic skirts, sheath dresses, and jackets in basic grey, black, blue, etc. alongside some bold floral and geometric patterns in blouses and sweaters. Most everything mixed and matched. It was all well made and versatile.

I actually interviewed for my current employer in a grey suit from there and vividly remember asking a woman in the accessories department for help picking out a necklace.

I still have that necklace, the suit, and several other items from that collection because they are well made, classic, and timeless.

Fast forward to today and it’s increasingly difficult to find clothes that will survive a trip through the laundry, much less a decade of use. I actually had to return a Michael Kors sweater to the store last winter because the arm started to fall off while I was wearing it for the first time.

As I was trying to weed out some things in my perpetually messy closet this week, it occurred to me that I still own a couple of Faded Glory brand flannel shirts from Walmart, circa 2004, that are better made than anything you can buy in stores today. The fabric shows no signs of wear and there’s nary a loose thread or button anywhere. Similarly, I have a couple of sweaters from Kmart that I keep to wear around the house that are showing their age but certainly aren’t losing any arms.

And don’t even get me started on how we have to take what we can get in this fast fashion environment. You see a lot of articles talking about avoiding fast fashion or embracing colors that complement your complexion. What they don’t tell you is where to shop.

I own a lot of black. Black pants, black dresses, black shirts, black shoes. No, I’m not preparing for a Wednesday Adams convention but that’s often the only color available in office appropriate clothing.

I own one dress in three colors because I needed summer dresses for the office and TJ Maxx and Marshall’s sold one kind of basic looking dress in black, royal blue, and red. Everything else looked more appropriate for a bachelorette party or maybe a beach vacation. Oh, and I went to three stores to find those three dresses because each store was shipped a different color.

And that Sears pantsuit I loved so much? The jacket was short sleeved. When was the last time you found a short sleeved suit jacket?

They are rare.

I would like to say this is all caused by societal decline into a stage so casual that no one dresses up for anything anymore. But these problems are found in the world of casual clothing too. The colors are either bland and ugly or bright and ugly. There’s no variety or the designer’s choices aren’t flattering to any human form. I picked up a top at T J Maxx this week that had basic buttons and a collar, tricking me into thinking I had found a nice professional blouse.

It was cropped short with a fashionably frayed hem.

Curses!

It makes me wonder where people shop for clothes these days. Plus, the prices have gone up making the poor construction, cheap material, and strange design choices truly not worthy. As brick and mortar stores pack up and leave American towns, it requires a special trip to Dayton, Cincinnati, or Columbus to even find a store like Macy’s which, frankly, isn’t affordable for a lot of people despite their marketing efforts to convince us otherwise.

Online ordering is a crap shoot with inconsistent sizing of women’s clothes, poor quality, and unrealistic pictures to guide the shopper.

I’ve been in a number of small boutique stores but their embrace of casual looks is off putting when you just need a dress for a job that doesn’t require resort wear or looking like Holly Hobby.

My closet is like a strange archaeological dig with Duck Head brand jeans from Goody’s (remember them?), jackets and coordinating shells from Dress Barn (oh, how I miss Dress Barn stores), and the occasional Ohio University sweatshirt from my actual university days that will likely outlive me.

All of that stuff is timeless and well cared for so why would I want to weed it out just because it’s a little older and I’m short on space? The kids today are all thrifting this stuff because they’ve figured out buying second hand is the only way to have well made clothes.

So, I pulled out some things that I just don’t like or that no longer look nice but the closet is still pretty full.

And I’m ok with that.

But I do wonder when exactly we all agreed to accept shoddy work and ugly clothes for these prices. And, truly that question could apply to all kinds of things – televisions, furniture, luggage, shoes, small and large appliances….. even the covers of some paperback books are so thin they feel like they could be torn with absolutely no effort.

My washer and dryer are over thirty years old, remnants from another time and place when machines were metal and computer chips were only used in computers. They aren’t in the best shape anymore but they get the job done. When these things die, I will weep because I know people who need repairmen for three week old appliances that will need replaced in three years or less.

When did we agree to this? Is there a way out?

Probably not.

But I’m seeing a trend among people on social media and hearing stories from people who are thrifting and up cycling old furniture. They’re learning to sew, making it possible to alter old and outdated clothes into imaginative new outfits. They’re learning to repair things with help from YouTube.

They’re proving that well made old stuff beats the new crap. They’re showing us the quiet luxury that comes with having real wood furniture, and not something that is assembled with an allen wrench and a prayer. They’re choosing to bypass what companies have decided to offer and saying they aren’t about to settle for something that isn’t good enough.

And I’m here for it.

I may be wearing a 25 year old Walmart flannel but I’m here for it.