One question we are often asked here at L4M is, 'Why are men's tights more expensive than women's?'. Well, there are a number of reasons. First, men's legwear is more difficult to manufacture, as the 'male' features such as male centre or front panels or fly openings do not lend themselves to automated production like women's hosiery does, so the unit cost at the point of manufacture is higher (they have to be made by real people, not computer-controlled machines, and people are more expensive to employ than machines are!). Plus, men's hosiery is not made in anything like the numbers that women's tights are - there is one Italian manufacturer who makes 200,000 pairs of women's tights PER DAY! I doubt if there has been that many men's tights made ever, so consequently there are no economies of scale to speak of. Also, men demand a more durable product than women; they won't put up with a 'throw away' garment - they require a good few wearings from their legwear, so they tend to be more robustly made, and hence, more expensive again. Plus, frankly, you get what you pay for; there are tights and tights - men's tights are generally better made than many of the cheap women's styles, and they fit men's anatomy better, and consequently are more comfortable, and last longer. Finally, the only way the price of men's tights will go down is if men refuse to buy women's tights and only buy those which are made for men; that way the manufacturers will take notice, and more will begin to produce tights for men, and the price will drop over time. But for the moment I'm afraid, us guys will have to pay a higher price for our legwear.
No comments:
Post a Comment