My Clothing Rant

Today I went shopping with my mother at lunch. We went to the employee store for the company she works for. Both my mother and I got a pretty substantial amount of clothing, so much that we're almost done with shopping for summer clothes, and it was only about $115.00. Back in the day, when clothes were alot cheaper, this would seem like alot, but now, it's a great great bargain!
This thought then brought a question to my mind: Why do clothes cost so much now days? I remember when I was little, my mom wouldn't pay more that $15 for a pair of jeans, and definately not more than $10 for a shirt. Now, even at non-name brand stores that have good sales, I hardly ever pay less than $30 for jeans. And tennis shoes, usually around $60, if you find a really good deal. And these are staples in the average person's wardrobe. I guess they figure we need them so they can charge what they want.
But there is one thing that bothers me about these rising prices. I went to a store recently, one that has reasonably priced clothes, looking for a bathing suit (I did not find any mainly for the fact that I choose not to expose myself like most of the bathing suits sold do, but that's another subject entirely). Most bathing suits were around $25, for each piece. So, if you are planning to be covered, you're looking at a $50 bathing suit. After I left to this store, I went to the mall to look for one. Big mistake. The prices I found there were almost twice as much. In one store, each piece was $48. That is insane!!! It's not alot of cloth, why the high price??
This is also true of shirts, shorts and skirts. Each year there seems to be less and less fabric that makes up the article of clothing, but still the companies feel the need to send the prices through the roof. I do not understand!!! I am just thankful for stores like my mom's employee store, a place where you can still buy a pair of jeans for $15 or a shirt for $8. Other stores should go back to this!