The real price of a Barbour; why it is in fact a poor-mans jacket

Believe it or not, I came from rather modest beginnings. Though I should add some context to that statement, please don't misunderstand me. There was always food on the table, but we frequently lived with other families, renting a few rooms rather than having a home of our own.

Consequently, throughout my childhood I wore exclusively second-hand clothing, right up until I was able to earn my own money at around fifteen years of age.

Everything second-hand

I distinctly remember the guilt I felt whenever I'd outgrown yet another winter jacket, pair of shoes or a jeans and had to ask my mom for second-hand replacements. The most significant impact this 'lack of money' had on me was that long-term planning played virtually no role in my thinking, that is, until I was eighteen and happened upon an economics book about the genuine cost of things. I began to realise how, up until that point, I'd been making all manner of cognitive errors that were making my life unnecessarily expensive, even though my costs were low already.

Initially, this revelation centred around clothing, which is naturally of paramount importance when you're a young teenager preoccupied with your image. I came to understand that rather than frequently spending money on trendy garments with a short lifespan, I'd be far better served investing in pieces I knew I'd wear year after year. Armed with this newfound awareness, I purchased a beautifully made cotton shirt. And believe it or not, I'm now 38 years old, and I still have that very same shirt. Naturally, there's visible wear around the collar and cuffs, but it remains perfectly wearable. And that gives me a tremendous sense of satisfaction. I believe that shirt cost me €50 at the time. Per year, then, that shirt has cost me just €2,50, and that price only continues to decrease the longer I keep it.

The price of a Barbour; $10 dollars per year

It's but a small leap from there to where I now spend the majority of my spare time: maintaining waxed jackets. The waxed jacket is perhaps the garment that best lends itself to the thought experiment I've just outlined. I once sat down to work it out properly. There's one particular Barbour wax jacket I've owned for approximately 3 years now, which I wear regularly. And I fully intend to keep it for at least another thirty years. This jacket cost me roughly $400, which sounds like quite a substantial sum, particularly if I'd told my eighteen-year-old self. $400 for a jacket? Have you taken leave of your senses?

When properly maintained, a waxed jacket may last a lifetime

But imagine if I'd understood back then that I'd likely own such a jacket for the rest of my life. I would have spent $400 at age eighteen, and perhaps not needed to purchase a replacement until I was 58 years old. That jacket would have cost me just $10 per year, a negligible amount. That's about the price for a cappuccino and a cinnamon bun. And you probably purchase around thirty of either of those annually, meaning you're potentially spending $120 a year on cappuccinos and bakery-nonsense alone. So where do the real costs lie? I can hear you wondering.

Make consious choices, for yourself and for the planet

What I'm advocating for is making conscious, considered choices rather than thoughtlessly acquiring all manner of things that lose virtually all their value immediately. Let's return to that shirt. It has gained tremendous value over time, whilst its cost has decreased dramatically. This is precisely why I've become so utterly enamoured with waxed jackets. The cost is relatively modest, and the longer you own one, the lower that cost becomes and the more its value appreciates. This sounds perfectly logical, yet I do wonder whether people actually think in these terms. I think they don't. Rather buy something new and flashy, instead of thinking long term. We're simple beings, aren't we.

If you're hesitating over purchasing a beautiful Barbour, Belstaff, or Dubarry jacket, don't simply look at the price tag. Instead, ask yourself whether you'll still be wearing that jacket in ten, twenty, or thirty years' time. Only then should you glance at the price tag and calculate what the jacket will actually cost you per year. When viewed through this lens, quality becomes not an extravagance, but rather the most economical choice one can make. And that's exactly what I meant with that title.