If you’ve been shelling out for designer clothing in the hopes that it will be more durable than cheaper options, you might want to reconsider.

A new study from the University of Leeds suggests that low-cost clothing might actually outlast pricier pieces.

The study was led by Mark Sumner, a lecturer in fashion and sustainability. Using samples of T-shirts and jeans from a variety of brands and price points, researchers measured factors such as seam strength, colorfastness, and how long it took for the fabric of each piece to develop rips or tears.

Despite the popular notion that designer clothes are more sturdily constructed than off-the-rack items, the study found that fast-fashion shirts and jeans usually outperformed their luxury counterparts.

“Some of the garments performed very well across a wide range of tests — more often than not, the best products were ‘fast-fashion’ products,” Sumner said.

“Jeans from one fashion brand lasted twice as long as a designer label jeans, but cost one-tenth of the price of the designer jeans,” he said.

According to Sumner, designer label T-shirts were “the worst performing” in all of the tests. Surprisingly, T-shirts from an online fast-fashion brand held up the best.

Of course, price isn’t the only thing to consider when shopping for new threads. The fashion industry is a huge source of environmental pollution, with low-cost clothing contributing heavily to landfill waste and carbon gas emissions.

According to the EPA Office of Solid Waste, Americans throw away more than 30.8 kilograms of clothing and textiles per person per year. With trends appearing and vanishing in the blink of an eye, the average number of times a garment is worn before it is disposed of has decreased 36 percent over the past 15 years, according to a 2017 report.

Although some clothing items are estimated to be trashed after just seven wears, less than 1 percent of clothing is recycled to create new clothing. So, keeping those bargain jeans in your wardrobe rotation could be good for your budget and the environment — and chances are they can last just as long as the designer pair you’ve been eyeing.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【可持续发展】kěchíxù fāzhǎn sustainability the quality of not being harmful to the environment, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance

【现成的】xiànchéng de off-the-rack of, relating to, or being merchandise, especially clothing made in standard sizes; ready-made

如果你花大把钱买名牌衣服，期望它们比平价衣服更耐穿，你可能需要重新考虑一下了。

利兹大学的一项新研究指出，廉价的衣服事实上可能比昂贵的衣服更耐穿。

带头开展这项研究的马克·萨姆纳博士是时尚和可持续性专业的讲师。研究人员采用了多个品牌和价位的T恤和牛仔裤作为样本，衡量了接缝强力、色牢度等因素，以及面料多长时间会发生撕裂。

尽管大众普遍认为，名牌衣服比平价衣服制作得更结实，但是研究发现，快时尚品牌的T恤和牛仔裤通常都比名牌衣服更耐穿。

萨姆纳说：“其中一些衣服在大范围测试中表现很出色——这些衣服多半是快时尚产品。”

他说：“快时尚品牌牛仔裤的寿命是名牌牛仔裤的两倍，但是价格却只有名牌牛仔裤的十分之一。”

萨姆纳说，名牌T恤在所有测试中的“表现是最差的”。令人惊讶的是，质量最好的T恤来自一家线上快时尚品牌。

当然，在购置新衣服时，价格并不是唯一要考虑的因素。时装行业是造成环境污染的一大源头，低成本服装严重加剧了垃圾填埋和二氧化碳排放。

根据美国环境保护署固体废物办公室的数据，美国人每人每年扔掉超30.8公斤的衣服和纺织品。服装潮流瞬息万变，根据2017年的报告，一件衣服在被丢弃前的平均穿着次数在过去15年间下降了36%。

尽管有些衣服只穿了7次就被丢弃，但被回收用来制作新衣服的却不到1%。

所以，继续穿你的廉价牛仔裤对你的财政状况和环境都有好处，而且，它们很可能和你看中的那条名牌牛仔裤一样耐穿。

(Chinadaily.com.cn)