Why your clothes cost so much

1970s, airbrushing, biba, cosmopolitan, Illustrations, philip castle
“We all know prices are spiralling. You don’t need to study statistics to realise that your winter coat has cost you more, that sweaters, skirts, shoes and bags are now major investments. But why? And why so suddenly? “I remember when you could buy…” is no longer the prerogative of the middle aged reminiscing on lost youth. I remember when you could still buy a dress in Biba for just over £2, and, what’s more, I still wear it.”

A typically brilliant Philip Castle illustration to accompany an article by Shirley Flack on inflation and the effect on clothes prices at the time. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Although I would kill for the quality you were getting for your inflated prices in 1974. And, naturally, I always recommend shopping second hand anyway!

Illustration by Philip Castle.

Scanned from Cosmopolitan, January 1974.

One thought on “Why your clothes cost so much”

  1. Gabrielle Anais's avatar

    Depressing that nothing changes but, in fact, got worse.
    Price increases back in the early 1970s were small & slow compared to today!
    Average wage back then was about £10/15 pw so buying from a designer was unaffordable BUT there were cheaper alternatives.
    Not so today.
    Corporates took over & destroyed talent.

    Love your website.

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