It is really hard. IME the tactic with the highest success rate is buying older luxury goods - something from the 70s or earlier. Obviously this doesn’t work for clothing, but for things like furniture it’s great, or even houses themselves; those built before the 90s are enormously higher quality than modern “luxury” houses made of OSB and gray-painted cardboard. Clothing is much more difficult, especially outside of Europe, where they still have companies making things with care using high-quality fabric.
I guess the crux of the issue is that luxury used to mean quality, not ostentation. A Mercedes from the 70s doesn’t “seem” luxurious to the modern eye until you start interacting with the switchgear or opening and closing doors. Same thing for the sofa framed with real wood and metal springs and upholstered in outstanding fabric - you can’t tell why it’s better than IKEA by looking at a photo.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Going for less known names can also help, as they are trying to build/maintain a reputation in addition to sales.
IKEA is an interesting brand because it spans from incredibly cheap to nice quality, and personally, I find the cheapness is more in the material selection than the design. Like the furniture I got from them at my last place all survived the move to my current place, even the one I got frustrated with and stopped caring if it made it when taking it apart, it still stands solid today. They are one of the few that has decent value, though their prices can get pretty high at the high end.