The problem is that by the time things start getting shabby you all too often find out that the manufacturer is no longer making it any more.

Excellent point. When I buy clothing online (Amazon, Everlane, etc), I try it for a week or two. If I love it, I buy several more (2-6, depending on if its shirts, pants, how much I love it, etc) and put them away in a box to pull out at some future point.

Or you order it and only after it arrives do you realize it's been completely redesigned. Different shade of whatever color it was before, different cut, different materials, etc.