Cheap clothes in physical stores: Primark, Kiabi and El Corte Inglés outlets

Primark, Kiabi or El Corte Inglés outlets: where to buy cheap clothes without going online

A pair of jeans from Primark costs less than a pair of Levi's. And it lasts considerably less. That is the paradox running through the whole debate about where to buy cheap clothes without going online: the price on the tag lies if you don't divide it by the months the garment holds up. Measured that way, the map of brick-and-mortar stores shifts.

The starting point comes from whoever peine the topic: clothes without paying Zara, Mango, H&M or Springfield prices, and on the condition of trying the garment on before handing over the money. No online shopping, no size hassles or returns. The first answer is almost unanimous: Primark. Low prices and quality that isn't too bad, people sum up. But the consensus breaks as soon as the stopwatch comes out.

Primark: cheap at the till, expensive in the wardrobe

The most detailed account in the thread points in the opposite direction to the Irish chain's fruta. Someone who buys jeans there out of necessity —it's the item they wear eighty percent of the time— reports that in a year and a half they've had to replace them three times: the legs fray, the fabric turns translucent and the pockets don't last a month. By contrast, a pair of trousers from another Spanish brand brought back from abroad are still as good as new. That user's conclusion is that cost per wear is the only metric that matters.

The calculation extends to branded jeans. New Levi's run around 90 euros, but they often show up in online outlet promotions for 40 or 45 euros, and second-hand for about 25 with shipping included. The added advantage, people point out, is that once you know your size you can order them remotely with no risk. That clashes with the initial premise of buying only in physical stores, though the argument has its logic: if the trousers last a decade, size is no longer a mystery.

Kiabi, Lefties and neighbourhood shops

Outside the radar of the big chains, Kiabi comes up as a discovery: rock-bottom prices and a catalogue you can browse online before heading to the store. A haul of tank tops and summer shorts for pocket change, according to one account. Lefties, the low-cost brand of the Inditex group, also gets a mention, along with neighbourhood shops with prices in the window: jeans for 15 or 20 euros, though first-hand experience corrects that figure: they don't go below 30 euros.

Flea markets appear and disappear from the equation. Attractive on price, awkward because of the lack of fitting rooms. And the local bazaar, with the usual warning: you need to know how to dig.

El Corte Inglés outlet: the find of the thread

The most profitable vein to surface is El Corte Inglés's bargain centres. One concrete case: Puma leather trainers for 12 euros, a kids' hoodie for 3, flip-flops with insoles for 6. Another: Geox trainers for a girl for 4 euros, mountain trousers for 6 and boots with a waterproof membrane for 9. The key, people say, is patience with the crammed racks and the clearance bins, where nobody bothers to look.

Not everyone shares the enthusiasm. Some have been into several of these outlets and didn't buy so much as a pair of socks: the clothes that arrive are the ones nobody wanted, uglier than a hypermarket's. The disagreement is real and depends on the day.

The posh boundary: 40 euros

The conversation drifts into a semantic debate that captures the times: whether Zara, Mango or H&M count as posh clothing. The definition that wins out in the thread: any shirt, T-shirt or trousers costing more than 40 euros is posh. Others raise the threshold to 100 and list brands —Levi's, Gant, Ralph Lauren, Timberland— that, with a hundred-euro polo shirt, already play in a different league.

Supermarkets complete the list: end-of-season sales at Carrefour or Eroski with wellington boots for 2 euros, flip-flops for 1 and T-shirts for 3. The problem, people warn, is that at the end of the season only the sizes and models nobody wants are left.

Is it worth paying double for a garment that lasts four times as long? The arithmetic says yes. This month's wallet, sometimes, doesn't leave you the choice.