Shirty reactions to fashion unfairness
Why do women pay so much more than men for identical clothing? Susan Edmunds reports.
Paula Prouse of Feilding was shopping at her local Postie+ when she made an alarming discovery. ‘‘I found two hoodies, identical in colour (black), composition (60 per cent cotton, 40 per cent polyester), zip, style, feel and fit. The only difference was one ‘men’s’ was $15 and the other, ‘women’s’, was $20. Given the men’s hoodies had more fabric, I’m paying more for less?’’
She asked a shop assistant what was going on and was told the items were identical but women’s clothing was ‘‘always more expensive’’.
‘‘It had never occurred to me before that this could be an issue as there are always glaring differences between women’s and men’s clothing,’’ Prouse said.
‘‘But having seen the generic brand of hoodies at Postie+, with no obvious differences at all in colour, composition, and style, I was quite shocked at the higher price for the women’s item.
‘‘I also felt really disappointed when the salesperson confirmed that they were identical, but women’s clothing is generally more expensive.’’
Another shopper, Andrea Neilsen-Vold, discovered a similar situation at The Warehouse. She found a women’s flannel shirt she wanted to buy for $25, and a men’s one for $10.
‘‘There was an article about a woman who undertook an experiment of wearing men’s clothes for a certain amount of time and she wrote about her experience. So I decided, seeing as I had been struggling for a few years to find a decent flannel shirt, I’d delve into the men’s section. I couldn’t believe it was only $10. Everything I had seen in women’s was around $30 and not very robust-looking.’’
The retailers rejected the suggestion they were pricing differently.
A spokeswoman for The Warehouse said the shirt that Neilsen-Vold had spotted was ‘‘a one-off trend item which is unique to this season’s women’s fashion of oversized shirts’’.
‘‘The shirt has a drop shoulder detail and cuffed sleeves which the Basics shirt does not.’’
At Postie, merchandise director Linda Leonard said it did not charge more for women’s clothes.
‘‘Typically you would find that the fabric consumption is higher on a men’s garment than a women’s garment of the same construction, simply as a result of the larger sizing. Therefore the cost of a men’s garment is generally higher, unless the women’s garment is of a more complex construction, in which case they may be on a par, or possibly even more expensive.’’
But Auckland University marketing lecturer Mike Lee said there was clearly a ‘‘pink tax’’ that hit female shoppers in the pocket.
‘‘My hunch would be that women are charged more for stuff because they have been willing to pay more for the said stuff. Razor blades at the supermarket are usually a good example of the pink tax,’’ he said.
‘‘It could also be that women might be perceived as more brand loyal and therefore more likely to stick to the same brand even if it means paying slightly more.
‘‘In some cases, the products are slightly different, and so could legitimately warrant a higher price point. And in other cases, if the female market is smaller, then economic theory would dictate that they need to pay more for a product until the market grows big enough to benefit from economies of scale. But usually, it happens because the retailers can get away with it.’’
He said if women believed the products were identical, they should buy the men’s version because it would force retailers to reassess their tactics.
His colleague, Bodo Lang, said businesses were cashing in on the fact that women were generally more interested in fashion.
‘‘The key reason why femaleoriented fashion products can be more expensive is because they place a higher value on this compared to their male counterparts,’’ he said.
‘‘It’s not all bad for women because compared to men they tend to have far more fashion choice. So both genders have a relative fashion disadvantage: Women may pay more for it, men have less choice.’’
‘‘It’s not all bad for women because compared to men they tend to have far more fashion choice. So both genders have a relative fashion disadvantage: Women may pay more for it, men have less choice.’’ Bodo Lang, University of Auckland business school