Tuesday, October 2, 2012

International clothing

The girls and I were folding clothes today...


...when one of the kids noticed a label on a shirt. "Made in... Sri Lanka!" she exclaimed. "That's different!"

Well after that, we started looking at every label we saw, and here's what we discovered. Our various articles of clothing -- all of which were bought in thrift stores -- were made in:

• Vietnam
• Mexico
• Pakistan
• Malaysia
• Sri Lanka
• China
• El Salvador
• Mauritius
• Swaziland
• India
• Haiti
• Guatemala
• Brazil
• Thailand
• Nicaragua
• Egypt
• America

One -- one! -- garment was American-made. The rest represented a geography lesson. I wasn't sure whether it made me want to laugh or cry.

10 comments:

  1. I’m surprised. My local Goodwill is my number one choice for shopping for (affordable) American made clothing. I’d think you'd get more than one item surely by chance. Just this past weekend I bought 4 items at Goodwill, 3 of which were American made.

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  2. This explains why there is no consistency in sizing these days. We, personally, are trying to buy more and more "made in the U.S.A.," items. They are harder to find, but they are out there.

    Dog food items, human food items, and stainless steel are three areas where we refuse to purchase anything made in China.

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  3. The same goes for shoes. I buy SAS shoes, which cost a mint, because I know that they are made in the USA. (They also wear very well). When I buy anything new (seldom), I try to make sure that it is made in the US. Hanes and NoNonsense socks are US made and also wear well. They also have the toe knitted in rather than having a bulky seam that produces a blister across the toes. A lot of things that were once made in Puerto Rico (US commonwealth) are now made in Caribbean or Central American countries. I consol myself that at least they haven't been shipped at a huge use of fuel from China, Viet Nam, India or Thailand. Most of things that are found in WalMart, KMart or Target are made in China or some other Asian country. I try to look at labels and even pay a premium, though I'm on a strict budget, for US made articles. Any wonder that so many people are out of jobs. Of course we caused it ourselves by wanting MORE of everything and wanting it cheap.

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  4. A couple was in my office last week and she was chiding her husband for wearing such an old shirt to an appointment. I jokingly said 'that shirt is so old it was probably made in the US'. Well that made us check, and sure enough....

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  5. sorry but the person buying sas shoes is wrong...new balance is the only shoe actually constructed in the usa, however the products used for the new balance shoes are from elsewhere overseas...i expect that may be the same case for sas...your american made furniture is the same way...all of your uphostery comes from overseas precut and pre made--- patrice i am glad that your family went up a level on awareness..i noticed this several years ago why drying off from the shower-my towels were made in pakistan. the subject makes me think about the commercial for henry rifles that was being aired on tv over the past year or so...it shows a guy checking the labels on everything in his house and dumping all his foreign made stuff out in the yard,,including the chair his mom was sitting in..the only thing left was his henry rifle mounted over the fireplace. since seeing this i have been slowly going through my own home and it is not easy to replace things for american made...unless you own alot of antiques (which i do) and make your own stuff (which i do). it is no wonder we as a country are no longer self reliant and self sustaining...lol, even noticed in the lehmans non electric catalog that many things actually come from china. it is things like this that have convinced me more than political ravings have that america is in really deeper trouble than anyone can imagine.

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  6. Munro shoes, Chippewa boots, Redwing, Allegiance Footware, Ana-Tech, KB Footware... I could continue, but I believe there are about a dozen American constructed footware brands, both of imported and domestic materials. The last time I bought SAS shoes they were American made, and that was but a few months ago.

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  7. There is a fantastic book on the subject of modern clothing, where it is made and all the issues surrounding it called "Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion." Well worth a read for anything interested in the matter.

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  8. Most of the fabric and cotton, our firm imported from pakistan and bangladesh.

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  9. It's eye-opening to see how many of our clothes come from around the world, with only one American-made garment in the mix. This highlights the need to support local manufacturing and be mindful of where our clothing is produced.

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