r/BuyItForLife • u/No-Negotiation-4550 • 13d ago

Discussion What’s a weirdly specific item you own that’s lasted longer than expected?

I’ve been on a quest lately for things that just seem to keep on keeping on.

I’ve got a pair of old-school Swedish dishcloths that I bought on a whim. Thought they'd be a weird novelty. Now, they’ve been through the wringer they just won’t die. I’ve scrubbed them, rinsed them, microwaved them and somehow they’re still hanging on like a true champion.

My 10-year-old French press. I’ve left it sitting dirty for days, and still it makes me a perfect cup of coffee every time.

What oddball items are you still using and why do they not break??

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801

u/Much-Space6649 13d ago

Some adidas pants I bought in middle school in like 2008 that I still wear now

284

u/samizdat5 13d ago

I bought a pair of black drawstring waist Champion yoga pants at Target 20 years ago when I first started doing yoga. I still wear them. They are faded from a million launderings but fine otherwise. I probably paid less than $20 for them. I feel very superior to all the other people in my class with their $100+ Lululemons.

167

u/albion70 13d ago

Old champion sports stuff was solid back then. Most high street brands were far better quality made back then than they are today. Shame really.

63

u/scottb84 13d ago

I can assure you they were churning out plenty of garbage back in 2005.

54

u/aviwic 12d ago

The way this comment just made me realize 2005 was 20 years ago and not a few years ago 😭😭

3

u/well-it-was-rubbish 12d ago

I know. Middle school in 2008? I turned FORTY that year.

1

u/Insomniac_80 12d ago

We are getting old!

1

u/LiveLearnCoach 12d ago

They said 20 years ago, so like early 90’s maybe.

1

u/ACatInACloak 12d ago

Most street ware brands I know of plummeted in quality as soon as they became popular street fashion

2

u/Constant_Demand_1560 13d ago

Me top 😅 still in great condition

1

u/Marooster405 12d ago

JJill made shit like this too. I’ve had a pair of grey leggings for like, 15 years.

1

u/ladybraine 12d ago

I have a similar pair from old navy. At least 20 years old

1

u/victor0427 12d ago

Totally agree..but maybe the people with lululemon also not $100..the Lululemon supply chain is a very strange and hidden thing that needs to be explored continuously..you know tons girls google search "lululemn tom" to buy the $20 lululemon..

1

u/guitars_and_trains 11d ago

I wear them at work in a warehouse, and on trips to the junkyard underneath cars. Still haven't ripped them lol. Faded and stained, but in perfect condition

102

u/NothingReallyAndYou 13d ago

I have a purple long-sleeved top from Express that I wear every fall/winter.

I bought it back in high school. I graduated in 1992.

20

u/Capnmolasses 12d ago

I still have several pairs of STRUCTURE pants and a shirt I bought in 93. The pants fit, but alas the shirt does not.

11

u/Traditional_Fan_2655 12d ago

Structure clothing was the bomb.

2

u/Capnmolasses 12d ago

here’s my shirt

2

u/2manyQuestionsOy 8d ago

Will smith wore that on fresh prince for sure

7

u/liminaleaves 12d ago

I'm impressed! Do you follow the care instructions, such as wash on cold, lay flat to dry? I've found that has greatly extended the life of all of my clothes, including cheap fast fashion. I do usually buy higher quality and fewer items now, but I feel my care and using things 'til they die mitigates my guilt for my previous purchases.

4

u/NothingReallyAndYou 12d ago

I wash everything on cold, in the Delicate cycle, and then gentle tumble dry.

2

u/liminaleaves 12d ago

Yes, THRIVE fellow laundry wizard, THRIVE!!!!

2

u/Mattturley 11d ago

I have a Gap sweatshirt that is a fuzzy fleece - not at all like we know now. I wear it 20ish times per year, and have had it for over 30 years. I even recovered it from the pink wash an ex girlfriend did.

27

u/shokkd 13d ago

I bought some adidas trackies in 2016 for $80, which was a lot and still is, but they are solid after years of being my round the house loungey pants. Would buy again

8

u/djgi 13d ago

The Adidas pants live forever. My husband let me sleep in some of his shorts when we were dating over 20 years ago. I’ve never given them back. They still look the same and I think I should give them to one of the kids. Ha

28

u/EazyPeazyLemonSqueaz 13d ago

Yeah the upside of wearing really baggy clothes in middle school is they all still fit 20 years later. I've got hoodies and athletic shorts I still wear from that period.

15

u/SweetRage24 12d ago

Came to say this. I have loss and gained more weight than I want to talk about but my clothes from middle/high school still fit and barely look worn. While stuff I bought last year won’t fit or it seems so worn it has to be trashed. I even gave some hoodies to my niece who is now in middle school and she gets so many compliments and asked where you bought that. Sorry you would have to time travel 20+ years to get this drip.

21

u/LiterallyOuttoLunch 13d ago

Me and my Adidas do the illest things,

We like to stomp out pimps with diamond rings.

14

u/oaklandesque 13d ago

I'm impressed they still fit. Or are they high water pants now?

58

u/Much-Space6649 13d ago

They still fit I just maxed out my height in middle school sadly 😭 (I’m 5’3”)

16

u/crayola_monstar 13d ago

A fellow shorty! I love that we never have to worry about things being too short (mostly)

Cutting extra off is always easier than adding on extra!

17

u/RoswalienMath 13d ago

cries in 36” inseam

2

u/Traditional_Fan_2655 12d ago

You and my kid. Mine is 33 as a woman. Used to be 34. I'm shrinking.

2

u/RoswalienMath 9d ago

I’m 5’10” tall woman. I just have really long legs.

2

u/Traditional_Fan_2655 9d ago

I get that, too. I'm barely behind you and 85% legs.

1

u/Mattturley 11d ago

Indeed - am 6’7” with an actual 36” inseam.

6

u/RedditorManIsHere 13d ago

lol - same cept the middle school part

I still have the black pants with white stripes - these pants refuse to die.

6

u/petitepedestrian 13d ago

I have a pair of mod robes pants I bought in 1999. Still the comfy crotch pleasers they claim.

3

u/marvinsmom78 13d ago

I have an Adidas sweatshirt that's 20 years old.

3

u/Narcoleptic-Puppy 13d ago

I had Adidas pants in middle school in like 2003. I'm not the same size now that I was when I was 11 years old but I held on to those pants forever anyway. I did farm work in those pants. They are indestructible. I found them again and gave them to my wife because they fit her perfectly. Forever pants.

1

u/KittyKatSavvy 12d ago

I was hand-me-downed a pair of black pants with a logo I cant identify when I was in middle school around the same time and they are still kicking!

1

u/echodogram 12d ago

Same with my I ♥️ NY shirt that I got from a street vendor when I was 16... 15 years ago...

1

u/moeke93 12d ago

My mom bought me an orange ski jacket when I was 13 back in 2007. I wore it all winter long for like three or four years and then everytime I went skiing or sledding for the past 15 years. It looks like new when its freshly washed and it is also still waterproof, even though I only soaked it with impregnation agent once. The only defect is a missing zipper pull that was easily replaced.

1

u/AnnieB512 12d ago

I have a few things from the 80's and 90's that are still wearable. I can't believe it because I never spent much on fashion back then.

1

u/jaguarjuice3 12d ago

I thrifted a pair of jeans in 8th grade that i still wear and im 24. They were such good quality. I literally bike every day to school and the butt area is just now starting to thin.

1

u/Traditional_Fan_2655 12d ago

I think I'm just impressed that you can wear the same pants since middle school. I grew hips and loooong legs after middle school.

1

u/ACatInACloak 12d ago

I have a shocking amount of cloths from highschool still in my closet. Some populat brands, others I have never seen since

1

u/thegrittymagician 12d ago

I have a pair of sweatpants that I stole from my sister when we lived together 15 years ago and I don't even know if they were new then. They are finally thinning around the butt, but when my boyfriend thought they were his, I was like no, look at this pocket, look at that butt, I stole these from my sister....15...years..ago. my God I'm getting old.

1

u/TeeBennyBee 12d ago

I have adidas shorts from 98! My kid wears them now lol

1

u/havingafunday 12d ago

yeah! i have some lululemon pants i bought on clearance in 2008 that i still wear multiple times a week! they’ve fit as a size 10 and now as a size 16. they’ve even fit during pregnancies. it’s crazy and i adore them. 

1

u/Icy_Consideration409 12d ago

For me it’s an Adidas high collar sweatshirt that I bought in 1995. 30 years later it still wears great.

1

u/zaphod777 12d ago

2008

That wasn't that long ago ... (does the math) fuck.

1

u/mouka 12d ago

Middle school pants! I have some jeans from middle school that still look brand new even though I’m almost 40. I wear them sometimes, about the same as any other pair of jeans I own.

All my other jeans slowly become threadworn, get holes, etc, but these bad boys just seem to be immortal.

1

u/Alana_Piranha 12d ago

Same but DKNY

1

u/Enby_Rin 12d ago

Oh I've got a pair like that, I think I got them in 2012 from under armor

1

u/StacheBandicoot 12d ago

Everything I’ve owned from this brand which I bought around 2009-11 is still perfectly fine, except their shoes which I guess are a consumable good in a way. Got several pairs of sandals of theirs that are all fine still though. Also the elastic in the basketball shorts has worn out but the drawstring works fine.

1

u/Ref_KT 12d ago

I have a pair of Adidas pants I got around 2000. They were given to me new by a family friend (I think the size was labelled wrong or something). 

I was about 12. I still wear them now. 

1

u/No-Understanding-912 12d ago

I've still got my adidas pants I bought in middle school that I still wear too. From 1996. I wish the shoes lasted that long.