quality in clothes is really dependent on what you're trying to wear. you can spend ages on getting into eg denim, like people will lose their minds doing this, but that knowledge won't translate to evaluating worsted wool. that said almost all synthetic fabrics are awful, don't breathe, cause excessive sweating, make you smell bad, etc. cotton, wool (incredibly diverse as a fabric), and linen are ideal for different circumstances. quality really matters for leather. this is less about brand and more about leather grade. good stuff is full grain; more exceptional leather might be bridle grade. full grain is the entire skin. below that you get into split grain, where they take skin and cut it in half; the better half is called top grain but it's not as durable as full. "genuine leather" is basically scraps glued together and won't last. sometimes very nice shoes are cordovan, which iirc is made from the skin of a horse's ass. it's beautiful stuff. clothes lasting a long time and ageing gracefully is partly about make quality but a lot of it is about proper care. generally, * you want to be diligent about hanging up suits and shirts * don't wash jeans much, you probably don't need to anyway (some people go overboard on this). there are specific washing/drying methods for getting new denim to fit, recommend reading blog posts about this * learn to occasionally wash and polish leather shoes, and belts if you're a little obsessive. or just have a cobbler do it. you can also get them resoled if they're nice (google goodyear welting, but basically they just replace the sole with a new piece). nice pair of shoes can last decades. * i'm sorry to say this because it's a little tedious but the best way to make washable fabric last is to hang dry. dryers are brutal on fabric and hang drying IME roughly fivefold increases lifespan of fabric. you can get a folding rack on amazon, they're very effective