Clothing quality is a really interesting topic just like quality is for any type of object. First, what is quality? It’s a lot like properties but it’s not the same. There are some other terms you will want to know about for clothing.

• Quality (noun) – A particular, nameable, and qualitatively or quantitatively measurable effect that a source system produces in relation to a receiving system.
  • e.g. performance, reliability, flavor
• Property (noun) – A qualitatively or quantitatively measurable part of a things form or function that may be given a term to name it.
  • e.g. type 1: color, flexibility, roughness
  • e.g. type 2: mechanical property, chemical property, visual properties
• Attribute (noun) – the specific value, measure, or quantification of the variable for a property
  • e.g. (adjectives) red, rigid, soft
• Feature (noun) – Feature is form, but a special kind of form. They are sub-forms of a greater whole.
  • e.g. holes, tabs, slots

Even something as simple as a tshirt or sock can be very different in feeling and function based on its quality. Quality isn’t just a social status thing, it is a personal experience.

It can be about the material type or just the material construction. For instance a tshirt can be very different with different grades of cotton or with different kinds of material in general.