Great thread! Quality is a reflection of the ingredients that go into a garment and the time/labor required to craft it.
Fabric and the cutting: One can create a garment in about 30 seconds by cutting a hole in the center of a piece of burlap and pulling it on. When the fabric becomes cotton, the price goes up. When it becomes 100% Pima extra long-staple cotton, the price goes up again. When the Pima is woven in a high thread count so it feels silky and has a beautiful sheen, the price goes up again. At this point, even with just a hole cut in the center, the garment is going to be more comfortable and attractive.
Next is the cut. Cutting a garment is like doing a puzzle. Puzzles with lots of small pieces take more time to finish than puzzles with fewer, larger pieces. Again, time=money. If you want your garment to keep its shape for a long time, you'll want to cut some facings and interfacings. Facings are small pieces of fabric inside a garment opening that enclose the raw edge of the fabric, and interfacings and interlinings are extra little pieces of fabric that go between the outside and the lining. You should find facings around sleeves and necklines, interfacings and facings around waistbands of high quality pants, and lots of interfacing/lining in the shoulders and lapels of high quality jackets. This takes more time and fabric to cut and sew, and requires a better seamstress, so manufacturers of cheap clothes will often leave out facings and interfacings/interlinings altogether. Or instead of hand-sewing them in, they will use weird fusible interfacing that puckers when the garment is cleaned. Jacket collars should lie flat and lapels roll softly and gradually, not pressed sharply. Again, the result of hand-sewn interfacing. Thats why cheap clothes may look okay on the hanger, but don't wear or clean well. Quality jacket shoulders lie flat and sleeves hang straight, without that odd dip between shoulder and upper arm that you see a lot. Bias cutting (cutting the fabric on the diagonal) is sometimes used to control how a garment falls and moves.
A high quality shirt does not hang from the shoulder seam, it has a yoke at the back of the shoulders that is either split into two pieces with a seam in the middle, or cut on the bias. At the base of the yoke should be a gather of fabric or preferably one over each shoulder blade, so the shirt feels more comfortable. Shirt sleeves may have a tiny gather at the top of each sleeve where they are set into the shoulder.
Now that you have this nicely shaped, increasingly comfortable garment you'll want it not to become baggy in key areas of movement like elbows, knees, hips and derriere. Linings make garments hang better, move better, and protect the outside fabric from skin oils. Full linings follow the shape of the garment and essentially require two versions of the garment, the inside and the outside. Up goes the price. High quality linings use high quality fabric and have french seams. In the highest quality garments, you could (not that you would) actually wear the thing inside out.
Next comes sewing. Patterns are matched. Quality hems are rolled and basted, and/or bound in bias tape. They are stitched so the thread is invisible from the outside. Quality seams are straight and french, and have absolutely no bumps, pulls or puckers. They are flat, flat, flat! Belt loops are sewn straight and have no raw edges. Pockets have gussets or reinforced edges. Check where the waistband meets the pant or skirt, it should have zero puckers. Sheer garments and silks have hand-rolled hems. More time, more labor, more fabric=higher cost.
Quality tops and jackets have a back seam. Cheap manufacturers skip as many steps as possible, and this is one of them. A back seam or two, will allow the garment to follow the curves of your body, as will darts anywhere the garment is expected to curve. Button holes are clean (no loose threads or gaps), strong and look like a keyhole. Buttons on quality garments are not cheap plastic, and always button-through. Never faux.
Tailoring is art and science. I've always felt the best way to understand quality, is to look at, feel, and try on expensive, well-tailored garments.
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