Dry clean only clothes are a double edged sword: you tend to pay more up front when you purchase the clothes and then you have to pay a lot of money over the life of the item in order to keep it clean.
For example, this past Christmas I received a very nice pair of dry clean only black dress pants, which I know cost well over $100. Now, every time I want to have them cleaned, I have to take the pants down to my local dry cleaner and pay them $4.
Not to sound ungrateful, but I would have much rather received two or three pairs of regular “throw ’em in the washer and dryer” pants that probably look just as nice, last just as long, but don’t cost me $4 to clean.
So, when you’re shopping for clothes and it comes time to choose between “dry clean only” and “throw ’em in the washer and dryer” clothes, go with the clothes you can clean yourself.