According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices for apparel are 542.10% higher in 2026 versus 1935 (a $2,710,497,038,134,024,192 difference in value).
Between 1935 and 2026:Apparel experienced an average inflation rate of 2.06% per year. This rate of change indicates significant inflation. In other words, apparel costing $500,000,000,000,000,000 in the year 1935 would cost $3,210,497,038,134,024,192 in 2026 for an equivalent purchase. Compared to the overall inflation rate of 3.54% during this same period, inflation for apparel was lower.
In the year 1935: Pricing changed by 1.49%, which is below the average yearly change for apparel during the 1935-2026 time period. Compared to inflation for all items in 1935 (2.55%), inflation for apparel was lower.
Below are calculations of equivalent buying power for Apparel, over time, for $500,000,000,000,000,000 beginning in 1935. Each of the amounts below is equivalent in terms of what it could buy at the time:
| Year | USD Value | Inflation Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1935 | $500,000,000,000,000,000.00 | 1.49% |
| 1936 | $505,568,925,089,472,896.00 | 1.11% |
| 1937 | $528,831,914,105,886,464.00 | 4.60% |
| 1938 | $529,032,457,114,648,896.00 | 0.04% |
| 1939 | $520,409,107,737,874,752.00 | -1.63% |
| 1940 | $524,821,053,930,642,880.00 | 0.85% |
| 1941 | $549,086,757,990,867,520.00 | 4.62% |
| 1942 | $642,539,800,074,046,592.00 | 17.02% |
| 1943 | $670,415,278,291,990,656.00 | 4.34% |
| 1944 | $717,342,342,342,342,272.00 | 7.00% |
| 1945 | $754,242,255,954,584,704.00 | 5.14% |
| 1946 | $827,640,997,161,545,088.00 | 9.73% |
| 1947 | $959,197,210,909,539,584.00 | 15.90% |
| 1948 | $1,022,969,887,695,914,880.00 | 6.65% |
| 1949 | $982,660,742,934,715,392.00 | -3.94% |
| 1950 | $969,424,904,356,411,136.00 | -1.35% |
| 1951 | $1,057,062,199,185,486,976.00 | 9.04% |
| 1952 | $1,045,631,247,686,041,984.00 | -1.08% |
| 1953 | $1,039,013,328,396,890,112.00 | -0.63% |
| 1954 | $1,035,203,011,230,408,320.00 | -0.37% |
| 1955 | $1,031,994,323,090,213,376.00 | -0.31% |
| 1956 | $1,052,850,796,001,480,832.00 | 2.02% |
| 1957 | $1,070,899,666,790,077,568.00 | 1.71% |
| 1958 | $1,075,111,069,974,083,712.00 | 0.39% |
| 1959 | $1,083,533,876,342,095,360.00 | 0.78% |
| 1960 | $1,099,777,860,051,832,320.00 | 1.50% |
| 1961 | $1,108,401,209,428,606,464.00 | 0.78% |
| 1962 | $1,114,618,042,700,234,240.00 | 0.56% |
| 1963 | $1,128,254,967,296,063,104.00 | 1.22% |
| 1964 | $1,137,881,031,716,648,064.00 | 0.85% |
| 1965 | $1,148,710,354,189,805,952.00 | 0.95% |
| 1966 | $1,179,593,977,539,182,848.00 | 2.69% |
| 1967 | $1,227,724,299,642,107,904.00 | 4.08% |
| 1968 | $1,293,301,863,507,342,848.00 | 5.34% |
| 1969 | $1,367,703,319,758,114,048.00 | 5.75% |
| 1970 | $1,424,055,905,220,288,768.00 | 4.12% |
| 1971 | $1,470,180,797,235,591,680.00 | 3.24% |
| 1972 | $1,500,663,334,567,443,712.00 | 2.07% |
| 1973 | $1,555,612,118,968,282,880.00 | 3.66% |
| 1974 | $1,670,924,349,006,540,544.00 | 7.41% |
| 1975 | $1,745,325,805,257,311,744.00 | 4.45% |
| 1976 | $1,810,702,826,113,784,576.00 | 3.75% |
| 1977 | $1,891,722,201,653,708,032.00 | 4.47% |
| 1978 | $1,958,101,937,553,991,936.00 | 3.51% |
| 1979 | $2,043,934,345,304,208,384.00 | 4.38% |
| 1980 | $2,188,525,854,621,744,384.00 | 7.07% |
| 1981 | $2,292,808,219,178,081,536.00 | 4.76% |
| 1982 | $2,352,971,121,806,737,408.00 | 2.62% |
| 1983 | $2,411,128,594,347,771,904.00 | 2.47% |
| 1984 | $2,455,448,599,284,215,808.00 | 1.84% |
| 1985 | $2,527,443,539,429,839,872.00 | 2.93% |
| 1986 | $2,548,901,641,367,394,816.00 | 0.85% |
| 1987 | $2,661,005,183,265,457,152.00 | 4.40% |
| 1988 | $2,776,517,956,312,476,672.00 | 4.34% |
| 1989 | $2,853,727,014,685,917,696.00 | 2.78% |
| 1990 | $2,986,085,400,468,961,792.00 | 4.64% |
| 1991 | $3,097,386,770,331,975,680.00 | 3.73% |
| 1992 | $3,173,593,113,661,606,400.00 | 2.46% |
| 1993 | $3,216,509,317,536,713,728.00 | 1.35% |
| 1994 | $3,210,292,484,265,086,976.00 | -0.19% |
| 1995 | $3,175,598,543,749,228,544.00 | -1.08% |
| 1996 | $3,169,381,710,477,600,768.00 | -0.20% |
| 1997 | $3,197,056,645,686,781,952.00 | 0.87% |
| 1998 | $3,201,268,048,870,788,096.00 | 0.13% |
| 1999 | $3,159,555,103,048,252,928.00 | -1.30% |
| 2000 | $3,118,243,243,243,243,008.00 | -1.31% |
| 2001 | $3,062,692,829,816,117,248.00 | -1.78% |
| 2002 | $2,984,681,599,407,626,240.00 | -2.55% |
| 2003 | $2,908,876,342,095,520,256.00 | -2.54% |
| 2004 | $2,898,247,562,631,123,968.00 | -0.37% |
| 2005 | $2,876,789,460,693,570,048.00 | -0.74% |
| 2006 | $2,874,583,487,597,186,048.00 | -0.08% |
| 2007 | $2,863,712,051,092,187,648.00 | -0.38% |
| 2008 | $2,861,514,099,716,154,368.00 | -0.08% |
| 2009 | $2,889,700,419,597,679,616.00 | 0.99% |
| 2010 | $2,875,860,946,563,000,832.00 | -0.48% |
| 2011 | $2,938,612,859,434,776,576.00 | 2.18% |
| 2012 | $3,038,577,533,012,464,128.00 | 3.40% |
| 2013 | $3,066,174,256,448,228,352.00 | 0.91% |
| 2014 | $3,068,650,962,606,441,984.00 | 0.08% |
| 2015 | $3,029,863,939,281,747,456.00 | -1.26% |
| 2016 | $3,033,301,246,451,931,136.00 | 0.11% |
| 2017 | $3,022,873,009,996,297,728.00 | -0.34% |
| 2018 | $3,023,893,773,910,896,640.00 | 0.03% |
| 2019 | $2,985,323,337,035,665,408.00 | -1.28% |
| 2020 | $2,841,582,130,075,280,384.00 | -4.81% |
| 2021 | $2,911,708,009,379,241,984.00 | 2.47% |
| 2022 | $3,058,218,715,290,632,704.00 | 5.03% |
| 2023 | $3,142,396,643,218,561,024.00 | 2.75% |
| 2024 | $3,164,151,548,809,082,368.00 | 0.69% |
| 2025 | $3,168,264,685,918,795,264.00 | 0.13% |
| 2026 | $3,210,497,038,134,024,192.00 | 1.33%* |
* Not final. See inflation summary for latest details.
** Extended periods of 0% inflation usually indicate incomplete underlying data. This can manifest as a sharp increase in inflation later on.
Raw Consumer Price Index data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for Apparel:
| Year | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| CPI | 15.000 | 15.050 | 15.792 | 18.258 | 23.000 | 34.000 | 43.608 | 34.883 | 27.158 | 27.000 | 26.883 | 26.383 | 26.008 | 25.500 | 25.033 | 24.775 | 24.458 | 22.608 | 19.883 | 18.533 | 20.473 | 20.777 | 21.008 | 21.975 | 21.983 | 21.625 | 21.808 | 22.817 | 26.700 | 27.858 | 29.808 | 31.342 | 34.392 | 39.858 | 42.508 | 40.833 | 40.283 | 43.925 | 43.450 | 43.175 | 43.017 | 42.883 | 43.750 | 44.500 | 44.675 | 45.025 | 45.700 | 46.058 | 46.317 | 46.883 | 47.283 | 47.733 | 49.017 | 51.017 | 53.742 | 56.833 | 59.175 | 61.092 | 62.358 | 64.642 | 69.433 | 72.525 | 75.242 | 78.608 | 81.367 | 84.933 | 90.942 | 95.275 | 97.775 | 100.192 | 102.033 | 105.025 | 105.917 | 110.575 | 115.375 | 118.583 | 124.083 | 128.708 | 131.875 | 133.658 | 133.400 | 131.958 | 131.700 | 132.850 | 133.025 | 131.292 | 129.575 | 127.267 | 124.025 | 120.875 | 120.433 | 119.542 | 119.450 | 118.998 | 118.907 | 120.078 | 119.503 | 122.111 | 126.265 | 127.411 | 127.514 | 125.902 | 126.045 | 125.612 | 125.654 | 124.052 | 118.079 | 120.993 | 127.081 | 130.579 | 131.483 | 131.654 | 133.409 |