I have a Roxy makeup case from the late 90s that’s still going strong. That stuff from their early days was built well!

If you want to get super technical, when you buy clothes, wherever they’re from, if you get a fabric loupe your can look up close at the yarn twist and weave. If it already looks “fuzzy” and a low yarn twist, that’s not going to last you. The more it’s washed, the more that fabric is going to lose fiber and cause holes or pilling.

Also look at stitch length. The smaller the stitch length, the better survival rate for seams not popping. If a seam is only overlocked together on a woven fabric it’s not as strong as something that’s machine stitched AND overlocked.

If it doesn’t meet expectations I’ll usually send it back.

It’s not really brand specific, but I think it’s important to keep in mind. I thrift all the time, and I’ll tell you things made even ten years ago are usually far superior in construction and textile than what we have now.

What happens is- the lower twist and shorter fiber in fabric, the cheaper and faster the textile production. Likewise, the longer stitch length, the shorter sewing time. These factors are what really make cheap clothing, regardless of what the label says.

And I do agree but don’t always practice it- wash less, on cold, and hang dry to keep your clothes lasting longer. Dryers are especially hard on the fabrics that make up our clothes

Not life, but I thought my Land’s End flannel sheets would last at a lot longer than they did. After the first season they looked pretty ragged.

I’m sorry I thought I replied to my original comment! Still learning Reddit.

The one listed above was the first one I thought of. There’s also this one: https://directory.remake.world/

This is a really tricky question. Most companies have multiple supply sources, and even if the garment is made in-house, in a controlled environment, you may not be able to source where the components that went into the objects were acquired or how they were made. For example, even if the shirt you bought was made by a local artisan, you don’t know if the fabric they sourced was from a sustainable source or if it was made where there’s no workers rights for textile production. And often time small biz artisans are working for less than minimum wage, but your purchase help them grow towards a real income. So you’ve got to choose your battles. Big box shops will often contract labor to a particular factory, but that factory might sub-contract to other factories without the original businesses knowledge. This is particularly the case when a company sends production to another country but doesn’t have a local representative to check on the production process. It’s much more complex and often almost impossible to know, in most cases. We just have to do the best we can, and there’s some sites that have good information out there (though they still won’t know everything). Alternately, you can buy second hand, which often is of better quality than most goods manufactured today.