Sticker shock rant.

[mindem]

I decided to close the shop for half a day and head over to Detroit Lakes with the folks and snoop around a little. Unfortunately, we had to make a stop at Wal-Mart – I did go in but I didn’t buy or even touch anything – non the less I feel tainted now. I hadn’t set foot in one for over two years.

After lunch we went down town to one of the upscale department stores. The prices of clothing in the men’s department made my jaw drop. As is usually the case anymore, when I go into a store I play the game “find something made in America”. I was checking tags on shirts, etc., costing up to $100.00 and not a one was made in America. Finally, I headed over to the Carhartt section and actually found some jeans that that were made in the U.S.A and they had a real live AFL-CIO sticker in them. Here is the kicker – they were the least expensive jeans in the store.

Someone please explain to me why we can’t make a friggin’ $100.00 shirt or $50.00 jeans, pay decent wages and still make a decent margin of profit for the insatiably greedy CEOs and investors. These jerks are pulling the rug out from beneath the feet of the middle class and all you hear is screeching from the far right about traditional marriage, conservative values and every other kind of crap that just doesn’t matter. Are people ever going to wake up?

Rant over.
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Sequoia]

1. I saw a pair of men's boxer's for $17. What the....forget it.

[Caoimhe]

3. I went to buy handkerchiefs a few weeks ago

The only ones I could even find (most stores told me they only carry them around Fathers Day-HUH?) were like $20 for three of them. Three freaking squares of cloth for $20.

[Atman]

19. Okay, your first problem...

...buying handkerchiefs!

[mindem]

21. Ouch!!! N/T

[Caoimhe]

32. Take off your shoe now

because the reason I was buying handkerchiefs was because I was headed for my Grandmothers funeral and based on my Grandpas funeral three years ago I knew that kleenex just becomes a soppy mess when you are bawling your eyes out and trying to maintain your composure.

[Caoimhe]

2. You are right

It's all about the bottom line, and padding the pockets of the greedy corporate whores. They will blame the "spoiled" union workers for daring to want their pensions and to have health insurance, but that isn't what makes the clothing cost more. We have loads of resources to make all of our clothing here in the United States, but people aren't willing to work for 10 cents an hour so that Mr. Boss can make $2 million per quarter. You illustrate that wonderfully with your rant above.


Carhartt is quality made stuff, it doesn't fall apart after 5 washings, and the seams are always very reinforced. I don't know if all their stuff is made in America, but I've done coat buying for my work and gotten Carhartt's because they are sturdy and consistently sized coats.

[TomInTib]

4. I collect shirts and my favorites are made in Kansas City

And they are not easy to find.

[ewoden]

9. you collect shirts?

I need more info on this, er, hobby :-)

[TomInTib]

13. I cannot stand to see someone wearing the same type of shirt..

that I am wearing.
And I mean I really cannot stand such.

I have given away more than one shirt upon encountering someone in the same shirt.

So I only buy shirts that are made in extremely limited runs (usually 3 per size) or shirts that are one of a kind.

I am the same with boots and guitars.

[MissB]

14. Wow.

:wow:

[SmokingJacket]

24. You need to learn to sew! nt

[Binka]

33. I Am The Same Way Tom

About my clothes, my eye glasses, and my shoes. I know lots of people in those businesses. I never see anyone wearing what I am... not in person or on TV. I sew and knit too so I have that advantage. I also live in Europe that helps.

[Atman]

23. I collect panties.

Well, up until the restraining order.

;-)

[ewoden]

27. Now that's a hobby!!!!!!!!!!!

[brokensymmetry]

5. Good rant.

I've tried the same sort of game on a variety of products - finding something made in the USA is all but impossible.

Good jobs with good pay and benefits....why is there no candidate that makes that a key campaign issue? I would vote for them. I'd bet many others would too.

[mindem]

11. I've wondered about the candidate thing myself.

It seems to me that the "average" American is being totaly ignored any more. For the love of pete, we have gotten to the point in this country where it is wrong to even be a moderate.

[novalib]

6. Snob Appeal

There are some folks in this country who want (or expect) to pay more for stuff.

It makes them feel superior to the rest of us.

They figure that if they pay $20.00 for a pair of jeans, they a shopping "below their station" in life.

It's preverse, I know, but real.

[Warpy]

7. Prices up, wages down, quality in the toilet

but people have closets so crammed full of pilled doubleknits and sagging cheap fabrics that they require closet designers to fill them with enough hardware that they can cram everything in. Watching some of the interior desecration shows on cable during January was a real eye popper when they opened closet doors. People are simply drowning in STUFF.

It used to be that you'd own two sets of work clothes and one set of Sunday best for weddings, funerals, and parties. I remember my mother owning maybe five dresses in the 50s, one coat, three pairs of shoes with bags to match. The quality was good enough that even the work clothes lasted a while and were replaced only when they wore out.

Now the stuff is shabby after two washings and just takes up space as we remember its former glory and aren't quite ready to give up on it.

I would greatly appreciate the kind of quality that used to be made in the US by the ILGWU. I'd dearly love to pare down my already spare wardrobe to just a few pieces of high quality clothing. Alas, high quality is nowhere to be found. I can't even find decent fabric to make my own since fabric stores have become quilter's stores and stock only thin, cheap fabrics.

[NewWaveChick1981]

16. Amen, Warpy. See my post below.

I have things in my closet from the 1980s like Levi's jeans, shirts, and a couple of skirts. Those were all made in the USA by ILGWU, and they withstood the endurance test easily. I still wear the jeans and shirts on occasion (not too dated, lol!). Nothing in my current wardrobe even compares. :(

[Nay]

28. Hey, Warpy, why is it we can't buy good fabric anymore?

I despair at this fact, because I would sew most of my clothes if I could just find decent fabric. I hate buying the cheap or even not so cheap overseas crap, because it IS crap, as you have said. It fades, pills, discolors, pulls out of shape, shrinks up, etc.

My workplace requires business dress, so I need to at least wear slacks with a blouse, a dress, or a pantsuit-type outfit -- but they aren't made here anymore! I can get American-made union clothing if I want Tshirts and jeans or khakis, and I can get rough work clothing like Carhardt, but no "office" type basic pieces. I would LOVE to buy that kind of stuff American-made. The closest I have come is a Canadian company called Weekenders, which makes suitable office clothing in indestructible fabrics with Canadian workers. I have had one jacket for 5 years--still looks pretty new. But this year they had all short jackets, and I want to cover my butt...

[Warpy]

29. I've found good fabric

but it's either in the garment districts of NYC and Boston or over the border in Juarez. We can't get good fabric here because the stores are busy catering to crafters and quilters, not people who sew their own clothing.

I know some high end fabrics are available online, but I balk at buying anything I can't grab a handful of to see how it drapes.

On edit: I spent much of the winter in Florida closing up my pop's house and getting him ready to move to an assisted living facility post rehab. Alas, he had other ideas, said he just wanted to go and he did, and my job description changed. Since I was then dealing with money people and lawyers and funeral directors I didn't want the work clothes I'd brought to be my only fashion statement, so I went shopping. The malls went from glitter all over stuff to polyester cruise wear--disco slut to 80s geezerette with no stops in between.

The only place I found an unadorned white shirt, a V-neck sweater and unadorned slacks was Dollar General.

[NewWaveChick1981]

8. In the early 1980s, my mother was the writer and editor of...

...a small publication called The Productivity Digest. In her research, she came to the conclusion that the general public was not willing to pay for the value received from goods made in the United States because production costs were higher and that was passed on to the consumer. (That was a radical concept back then.) Her publication attempted valiantly to educate consumers and producers alike about the dangers of relying too much on imports. I remember distinctly a conversation I had with her about imports---she was afraid for the future because of the increasing demand for cheap crap. My siblings and I were not allowed to buy anything that wasn't made in the USA. That was much easier to do back then because of the USA volume; however, it is very difficult now.

She lives in an area that relied heavily on textiles until the industry went belly-up. My stepfather was an inventor and patented the process for the polyester/cotton blends we have today. He owned a textile machinery firm and patented many machines, but his machines were illegally copied by foreign firms (maily Chinese), which ultimately put him out of business. He sold what was left of his business about five years before he died (1999), and it was a very sad day.

[taught_me_patience]

10. Price

is determined by supply and demand and has little to do with manufacturing costs. If fools want to buy crap clothes made in China for $100, then that's what business will charge.

[reprobate]

15. Sorry, but price is determined by the seller. We don't barter anymore.

In a free market I would agree with you. But we haven't had a free market since the corporation was invented. As long as capital can accrue to an artificial entity, it will always beat the entrpreneur in the marketplace.

[taught_me_patience]

18. Market demand determines prices

and retailers don't determine market demand. Obviously, people are buying jeans that regularly cost $150-$200. Heck even I own a pair or two.

[Sammy Pepys]

20. I love Banana Republic's premium dress shirts....

Van Heusen makes a great shirt too. I usually get my Van Heusens at the outlet at around $19 a pop, but my BR's cost between $80 and $120 each.

I'd really love a Thomas Pink shirt too, but those are even pricier.

[mindem]

25. What about MAP??

I know that in my music business some of my distributors establish the minimum asking price that can be advertised. While it helps maintain the value of the instruments, it does set price to a degree and takes wiggle room out of the picture for dealers. There is some debate about MAP pricing and anti trust regulations. I wonder if anti trust even exists any more?

[laruemtt]

12. shop where i shop - Goodwill!

i've gotten some great buys there, really. i got a pair of lady's trousers, brand-new with the tag still on - $112.00 - for $2.50! i don't know what kind of people are giving away such nice stuff, but you can really make out.

[Sal Minella]

17. Also clothes and shoes on e-bay -- "save search" for what you want

with "-new" at the end and you'd be amazed, shoes for $3.00 in my size, worn twice. I haven't bought anything new in six years or so.

[Tesha]

34. (People who gained weight) (NT)

[Atman]

22. Get ready for a lot worse...China reporting labor shortage, rising wages

Wal Mart, better watch out! Prices for everything are going up, up, up.

Alway Lower Prices. Not Any More.

[Joanne98]

26. They're all the same shirts! They just change the labels for

different stores.(even the care labels) Don't ask me how I know this because I won't tell you. ADVICE: Go to the discount stores to buy clothes. They're exactly the same. Just different labels.

[Atman]

30. I know how you know this!

(I used to work at "the home office.")

;-)

[Rosemary2205]

31. Rule #1

The money guys will NOT share. Labor managed to temporarily get gov't in their corner long enough to get one generation of Americans decent wages and retirement benefits. That WILL NOT EVER happen again. Big Business will not be satisfied until the wealth is safely back in their pockets and the balance of labor laws have been destroyed.