I buy a fair amount of my clothes here, including clothes I take back to the USA and wear when I am there.
I buy my underwear and t shirts and tank tops in Once, once you meet the minimum, the wholesale price kicks in, and they are not expensive. Most of what I have bought there lasts as long as medium quality stuff from chain stores in the USA.
I buy work clothes here- which, for me, means long sleeved cotton shirts like the encargados wear. They are well made, long lasting, and tough, and, even with inflation, still cheaper than the work shirts from companies like Carhartt I sometimes buy in the states.
I buy a fair amount of nice shoes here- but unlike most men, I dont wear tennis or running shoes, so I am talking about argentine made leather dress type shoes. Again, quality is great, prices are rising, but for years have been much cheaper than equivalent US stuff.
I think the main point is- in the USA and Britain, you can buy extremely cheap, cheaply made Bangladeshi, Vietnamese, and Chinese mass market clothing. This is somewhat morally questionable, as the wages and working conditions are terrible, but made in such huge quantities, and, often, subsidized by the home governments, to the point that the prices are just below belief. Jeans for ten bucks at H&M, 3 packs of white t shirts for ten dollars.
Obviously, Argentine tariffs and importation costs, which are often 100%, mean the prices for that same generic cheap bangladeshi stuff is much higher here.
If that is what you buy, you are absolutely right- its much cheaper abroad.
However, I find that if you wear medium quality clothes- not high fashion stuff, but small run designer clothes, which I often do, the prices and quality in Argentina are both good. I have bought leather here that is a fraction of equivalent US stuff. Shoes that are handmade here, quite reasonable. Real bespoke shoes in the UK are literally 2000 pounds and up. Here, a few hundred dollars.
The first rule of any shopping in Argentina is- Dont buy anything imported. Industria Argentina is cheaper, and usually, better designed, if you take the time to look.
there are more and more young designers here making interesting clothes- never as cheap as asian sweatshops, but cheaper than small local designed clothing is in europe or the USA.
