Gender and Social Change

The Cost of Formal Attire

Cost of Clothes By Brand

This graph depicts the cost of women's clothes compared to men's clothes for different high-end retailers. 

            Just like with casual clothes, the pricing of women’s formal attire is also more expensive for many of the same reasons. Retailers may argue that the difference in price is because of the extra costs of the materials used and the workmanship required, and although this may be true in some cases, it is only one factor.[1] A study was done to test the validity of this explanation and found that when comparing a man’s and woman’s sweater from Saint Laurent that was practically identical, the man’s sweater sold for $240 less.[2] With this in mind, there could be a few things that are influencing this major discrepancy in price. 

            The first argument is similar to the casual clothes in that women are simply willing to pay more for clothes.[3] Another argument is that there are hidden costs when selling to women so retailers charge more to offset those costs.[4] Women’s clothes often come in more sizes and colors so retailers charge more. Due to the higher tariff rates on women’s manufactured goods, retailers also impact the pricing of women’s clothes. 

            On top of all this, there are other hidden costs that men don’t even have to worry about. The best example is that due to the lack of pockets in women’s formal attire, women must carry their belongings in a purse.[5] A purse from a brand like Coach can cost thousands of dollars, whereas a men’s wallet is much less expensive.