There’s an old model, which is retail (offline or on; big chains or indie boutiques), that tries to define this. It’s full of waste and middlemen, where designers make less than you think, and makers make even less.

It is fairy dust and wanderlust that guide our hands to create what our hearts desire.
― Gayle Wray

Then there’s emerging models, where designers go direct and you buy through their stores or more likely online, based on what you’re seeing on Instagram or Snapchat. Then there’s Everlane, where transparency rules and you see what things “truly” cost. Everlane’s model isn’t bad and if what you value over anything else is cost and reasonable quality for basic goods, it’s pretty good.

I gotta say: I have higher standards than anything on offer. Clothes need to need to fit. They need to feel really, really good. They need to transmit who I am (or want to be) because for me and a lot of women, clothing is an extension of my own creativity and ideas. And I need to feel good about them.