Last night, I pulled out a wool-lined jacket I've had since 1988...

[NewWaveChick1981]

...and it was made in the United States of America. This jacket has been through all kinds of abuse, but it's still intact and has held up remarkably well over the 18 years I've had it. It's never been out of style. Meanwhile, the winter coat I bought two years ago is showing signs of wear and the hem needs repair. Guess where it was made? :grr:

[LanternWaste]

1. I'll go ya one better...

I'll go ya one better...

My MembersOnly jacket (circa 1984) is to this day in pristine condition (other than the wrist bands having lost elasticity because I was so cool wearing the sleeves pushed up to my forearms).


I know, I know-- this is at best only indirectly tied to your premise, but it's lunchtime and I'm bored.

[Hugin]

3. I wonder how much 'MembersOnly' lurks in...

closets across America?

:scared:

[NewWaveChick1981]

5. So do you still wear it?

:P

[LanternWaste]

8. I'm ashamed to say this, but...

Never in public. But there are times when my pals from HS come over (I've had the same dysfunctional group of friends for 25 years), we drink a few beers and, well... y'know.

[Hugin]

11. Yeah... Yeah... Out comes the 'MembersOnly' and Sunglasses.

Been there... Been there...

I've heard there are support groups available.

[LanternWaste]

21. I admit it, I'm a sappy dork when it comes to the early 80's.

Couple more beers and chances are we'd've been bee-bopping around the apartment to the strains of Synchronicity.

I admit it, I'm still a sappy dork when it comes to the early 80's.

[Hugin]

25. I always wanted the black 'MembersOnly' jacket...

Could never find one.

Had to settle for the grey...

The good news is my black parachute pants still fit, tho.

:thumbsup:

[ghostsofgiants]

2. Won't somebody PLEASE think of the profit margins?

:P

[NewWaveChick1981]

4. Because those profit margins are so vulnerable...

Who cares about quality anyway? :P

[ghostsofgiants]

15. You've got to ake sacrifices if corporate executives are going to have their coke and hooker parties

[Taverner]

6. THIS THREAD IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PICS!!!

Please, show us you in the sweater...and nothing else please

[NewWaveChick1981]

7. With or without a bra?

:P :hi:

[Taverner]

12. I did say nothing else ;)

[NewWaveChick1981]

13. Not even a smile?

:hi:

[billyskank]

9. I was just reading how Burberry are about to close a textile factory in Wales

and move production to China. They say the existing factory is "unviable," but the cost of production is about £5 per shirt (which retail for 12 times that). How can it not be profitable? The cost of production of the same item in China would be about £3 which is not a huge difference. It's fucking sick.

[NewWaveChick1981]

10. Yes indeed.

:hug: My mother just gave me a Burberry trenchcoat she had bought a long, long time ago (made in the UK), and she wore it all the time. It's still in great condition, and I'm happy to have it.

It must be marginally more profitable or they wouldn't move it. Anything for a buck (or a pound). :cry:

[billyskank]

14. Yes, it's more profitable

but their stated reason is the factory is "unviable." I call bullshit on that. My definition of "viable" is that the factory can remain in business and turn a healthy profit.

And when companies say they need to relocate in order to be competitive, that's bullshit too. Which company, on offshoring its production to the third world, ever dropped its prices to match? They simply pocket the difference. That's not being competitive - that's just greed.

:hug:

[Flaxbee]

16. that sucks. I have an old Burberry, and have wanted to

get a new one one of these days (it's a swing-coat raincoat and I want(ed) a traditional cut). Guess I won't be doing that!

On the flip side, there was a company built around "Project Alabama" where local women in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, etc., hand made women's clothing. The items were nice, but the company closed its doors because of pricing. A blazer was $2,000; a skirt was $1,000+.

Can anyone grasp the concept of MIDDLE CLASS? I don't want cheap shit, I want well-made products that don't cost thousands of dollars. When I saw those prices for Project Alabama, my first thought was just "oh, fuck off. you deserved to go under". Not terribly charitable, but...

[billyskank]

18. I think the higher-value products are (for the moment) still made in Britain

They have two other factories in the UK. It is the one in the Rhondda Valley that is scheduled for closure, and there they just make shirts. Probably only a matter of time, though.

This will hit Rhondda really hard. That place used to be a heavy industrial centre, now everything is gone. This textile mill is the last factory left in the place. They are so stuffed.

That company you talked about deserved to die. $1000 for a skirt? That's absurd.

[Spider Jerusalem]

30. Their outerwear's still made in the UK, as far as I know...

I have a Burberry trench coat, and the label says "Made In England" (not Wales).

And it wouldn't make sense for them to offshore production of those items, anyway, since their competitors in the same price bracket are still domestically manufactured...kind of hard to imagine someone justifying spending $950-1500 on a coat made in China because of the Burberry name when you could spend the same amount of nomey on an Aquascutum or Brooks Brothers made in England or the USA.

[Reverend_Smitty]

19. I'm still pissed that Doc Marten's moved their operations to China...

I have several pairs of Docs that were made in England and have held up quite well over the years and a pair of the Chinese made ones that just feel cheaper. I think they are using lesser quality leather or something, but I'm certainly not going to shell out $100+ dollars for another pair of them again. I'll find another boot company.

[billyskank]

20. That's what bothers me

The cheap shit, the £5 tee-shirt, obviously that's made in the developing world, and you know it'll be fucked after a few washes. But if you buy the expensive stuff instead (like, as you said, a pair of Doc Martens) you find that shit is made in the same place! And with the same quality! The only difference is that they making about 1000% profit on it!

:grr:

[Reverend_Smitty]

24. it's hard to find any shoe that is not made in SE Asia...

and I wouldn't have a problem with it except the quality of the goods are usually crap. You'd think that a company would spring for higher quality materials because they are paying their workers pennies, or another novel idea, actually pay the workers a decent wage. But they do neither and everybody except the CEO loses

[bullwinkle428]

23. Totally agree on the Doc Marten's!! I've been wearing their steel-

toed shoes for years on the job, and really noticed the difference when production went to China from the U.K. Not that the Chinese shoes are necessarily BAD, but there's something intangible that seems different and inferior to the old ones. In fact, I'm wearing my last U.K.-made pair right now...they're totally scuffed and look like crap cosmetically, but feel great! My Chinese shoes are used for non-work purposes because they're in better shape, but don't feel quite as nice.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

17. I've still got a set of Martex bath towels that I got as a gift

at my bridal shower 26 years ago. I don't use them very often, but they're still in pretty decent shape and I'm guessing they were made at a mill in North Carolina or someplace like that.

[NewWaveChick1981]

26. Sadly, those Martex plants closed several years ago.

:( I dare you to find towels of that quality now. :cry:

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

29. You can't, unless you want to literally pay for them with an arm

and a leg.

When we got married in 1980 the in-laws come over here for our wedding. His mother and his sisters were amazed at the quality of "American" towels and bed linens and their reasonable prices.

Whenever myself or Mr. Wonderful would take a trip "home" we always brought towels and bed linens for his mother and his sisters. We don't bother anymore because the stuff that is reasonably priced here now is exactly the same "quality" that they have there.

[jobycom]

22. Who cares? Where was that robe made?

You know the one...:bounce:

[NewWaveChick1981]

27. Yeah, I definitely know the one...

:P It was made in China, but for good reason. The international student that gave it to me as a thank-you gift was from China and got it when she was home for Christmas break. Little did she know what that robe would lead to.... :rofl:

[texas1928]

28. I pulled a jacket out like that once...

But in one of the inside pockets. I found a twenty dollar bill. I was so stoked.