A recent piece by Jessica Kelmon in San Francisco magazine's June issue estimates that a wealthy head of a Bay area household with an after-tax family expense budget of $1.25 million annually spends $15,000 of that amount on his clothes.
Now I am very greatful to San Francisco magazine, which has apparently selected A Suitable Wardrobe as one of its annual Bests of the Bay Area, but I have to wonder where the people that came up with this number are buying their clothing these days. I mean, yes, $15,000 is a lot of money for a working family but we're talking about people who are supposed to be spending $40,000 a year on the wife's wardrobe and $50,000 more for her hairdresser, facials, jewelry, fitness instructor and birthday party. And when a very good but by no means extravagant Oxxford made-to-measure suit costs $4,000, our hypothetical head of household can't buy four of them and have anything left for shirts, shoes and cashmere sweaters.
So this might be one of those how many angels can dance on the head of a pin discussions for many people but I submit that $25,000 is a better (but still not luxurious) number for a millionaire's clothing budget. That buys three bespoke suits from a world class tailor, one odd jacket or overcoat, either one pair of bespoke shoes or a couple pair of very good made to order shoes, and appropriate accessories. And if a man can resist weight gains and get ten years wear from his tailored clothing, he'll have a wardrobe that will offer him more than a California tuxedo for every occasion.
4 comments:
Ouch! Excellent observation... But that figure alone might beg another question. With the number of wealthy individuals in the Bay Area spending "that" amount on average, why the "heck" is a decent tailor so hard to find?! Where's the effect of market theory they rammed into to me at Cal?
Oh..I forgot...a shirt with more than three buttons on it means you must be headed to an interview...
Maybe I'm missing something, if bespoke & made to measure is as hard wearing as you adherents would have as believe that isn't out of line. Especially if he has been a multimillionaire for some time, he should have a nice rotation of all the basics and the splurge purchases. $15,000 could very well be put to a few new acquisitions and to maintain of all his wardrobe.
When I lived in the Bay Area, the people I knew who had the most money either wore t-shirts they picked up at tech conferences or standard business casual; khakis and polos and whatnot. I think the reason there aren't m/any tailors there is that men just don't dress up. If and when they do, they have OTR choices in Union Square.
I now live in New York and, in addition to the old guard, we have all kinds of new school tailors and haberdashers in Nolita (Sew, Lord Willy's, etc.) catering to a younger, hipper crowd. That crowd may be made up of those who are sought out by The Satorialist, and though most of the commenters on this site aren't into that, we care about and are willing to spend money on our clothing.
Will, I'm a huge fan of your blog. Keep up the good work and thank you for all the knowledge you've shared.
Will,
I read the "Best of the Bay Area" piece about your Men's Fashion Blog. Congratulations on a fine blog.
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