I actually think this is a really interesting topic, since I just finished reading Schor's "The Overspent American". In it she discusses a variety of studies that suggest that people's judgments of quality are hopelessly bad, and most can't tell the difference between items once you switch the name brands around. Indeed, the studies seem to support the view that people substitute name brand for quality, whereas in practice clothes, makeup, food and many other items are manufactured at the same or very similar plants using the same procedures and have no real "quality difference". Indeed, people hide status related preferences under their claims about "quality".
I've been examining my own responses to brand names. With food I've known for years that almost all generics are just brands with a different label slapped on the can or package. It's something of a game with me to figure out which generic is which brand. I've even been told, for example, that virtually all pasta in the US is manufactured at the same few facilities, regardless of brand. But I've also been trying to see if I can detect honest quality differences between cheap and expensive store brand clothes (especially since I know something about sewing). The answer is, for simple items like t-shirts, skirts and sweaters I can tell very little beyond fabric weight, preshrinking and seaming style (seam types; how many seams are properly finished, for example). I couldn't tell much quality difference in construction between clothes bought at say, Kohl's and LL Bean. I've never bought genuinely high end clothes, so I'm not sure what I'd see there. I'd be willing to bet it would be minimal in anything simple and "off the rack", except for clothes that are made of super high end fabrics, e.g. Harris Tweed, and in suits and other harder to construct items or truly bespoke pieces.
If this is the case, then it seems a Mustachian principle must be to make sure that price or brand differences really are quality differences. The quality differences must also be relevant for our purposes (e.g. how important is cut verses longevity in clothes for a Mustachian?)
What constitutes real quality and how is it to be identified? Does anyone here actually know why they think certain products are higher quality? BTW, this is actually a serious question, not an accusation of non-mustachian-ness!
