How do I tell if clothes are well made before I buy them?
Eight checks you can do in a shop in under a minute — composition, weight, grain, seam allowance, stitch density, pattern match, buttonholes and interfacing — that predict how a garment will look in two years.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 10 min
- Read
- 5 min
Short answer
Read the composition first, then feel the weight, then hold the garment by the shoulders and see whether the side seams hang plumb or spiral. Turn it inside out and look at the seam allowance width, the stitch density and whether the seams are finished or just overlocked raw. Check that a check or stripe runs on across the seams, and that the collar interfacing is smooth rather than bubbled.
Price is a poor proxy for construction, and brand is worse. Everything that determines whether a garment survives is physically visible, and none of it requires expertise — it requires knowing which eight places to look and what the bad version looks like.
Step by step
- Read the composition label before anything else.It tells you what the garment is and how it will age. Long-staple cotton, wool, linen and lyocell wear well. Acrylic and heavily blended knits pill and go shapeless. A small percentage of elastane in a woven is fine; a large percentage in a knit means the garment has a limited life.
- Feel the weight and hold it to the light.Weight and density are the strongest quick predictors. Hold a knit up to a window: if you can see clearly through the stitches, the fabric is thin and will pill and lose shape. On a woven, a fabric you can see the room through will be transparent in daylight and will not wear.
- Hang it from the shoulders and look at the side seams.Hold the garment by both shoulder points and let it drop. The side seams should fall straight down. If they spiral around the body, the fabric was cut off-grain, and no amount of washing or pressing corrects it. This is a fatal fault and it is very common in cheap jersey.
- Turn it inside out and measure the seam allowance by eye.A generous allowance — a centimetre or more — means the garment can be altered and that the maker was not squeezing the pattern. A three-millimetre overlocked edge cannot be let out and frays when the overlocking breaks.
- Look at the stitch density and the stress points.Stitches should be small, even and consistent. Long, loose stitches pull open. Pockets, belt loops, the base of a placket and the crotch seam should be bar-tacked or reinforced.
- Check the pattern match.On a check or a stripe, follow the line across the side seam, the front placket and any pocket. A continuous match means the maker used extra fabric to align it, which nobody does on a garment built to a minimum cost.
- Check the buttons and buttonholes.Buttonholes should be densely stitched with no gaps, and cleanly cut. Buttons on thick fabric should be sewn with a shank so the garment can close without straining. A spare button attached is a small sign of a maker who expects the garment to last.
- Feel the collar, cuffs and waistband for interfacing.The stiffening inside should feel smooth and integral. If it ripples, bubbles or feels like a separate sheet of plastic, the fusing has failed or will, and it gets worse in the wash. On a jacket, a lapel that rolls softly usually indicates a canvassed rather than a fused front.
- Look at the lining last.A lining should be slightly loose with a pleat at the centre back so it does not restrict the outer fabric, and its hem should be free rather than stitched hard to the outer. A tight lining tears at the armhole within a year.
Tips
- GSM — grams per square metre — is the honest way to compare t-shirts. Roughly, under 150 gsm is lightweight and will be see-through and short-lived; 180 to 220 is a solid everyday weight; over 240 is heavyweight.
- Cotton grade terms that mean something: long-staple varieties such as Egyptian, pima and Supima, and combed rather than carded cotton. Terms that mean nothing on their own: premium, luxury, superior.
- Cheap cotton feels scratchy because short fibre ends stick out of the yarn. It softens somewhat with washing, but it will also pill, because those same ends are what form pills.
- French seams, flat-felled seams and bound edges are all signs of a maker spending time. A raw overlocked edge on everything is the fastest possible finish.
- Try the garment on and raise both arms. A well-cut armhole lets you lift your arms without the whole body of the garment rising with them.
Common mistakes
- Judging by how soft something feels in the shop — Softness is often a finish that washes out, or short fibre that will pill. Weight, density and fibre tell you far more.
- Ignoring a twisted side seam because it looks minor — It is the one fault that cannot be fixed by anybody at any price, and it gets more obvious with every wash.
- Assuming an expensive brand means better construction — The checks above are visible regardless of the label, and a mid-price garment that passes them will outlast an expensive one that does not.
Checklist
- Composition read and understood
- Fabric weight and opacity checked against the light
- Side seams hang plumb from the shoulders
- Seam allowances generous enough to alter
- Stitching even and dense, stress points reinforced
- Pattern matched across seams
- Buttonholes tight and cleanly cut, buttons shanked where needed
- Interfacing smooth, not bubbled
- Lining loose with a centre-back pleat
- Arms can be raised without the body lifting
Questions people ask
Which single check is most useful if I only do one?
Hold it by the shoulders and look at the side seams. Off-grain cutting cannot be fixed and it tells you a great deal about how the garment was made.
Does a higher price guarantee any of this?
No. Price correlates with fabric quality more than with construction, and with brand more than with either. The checks are free.
How do I judge a knitted jumper specifically?
Density above all — hold it to the light. Then look at how the ribbing at the cuffs and hem recovers when stretched, and whether the seams are linked or overlocked. Linked seams are flat and are a sign of a better garment.