My house-shoes lasted 4 months before coming apart...

[KansDem]

My pants went 2 months before the button came off...
I discovered that a T-shirt I just bought had a rip in the back that had been sewn up...

Bought these items at a major discount retailer.

House-shoes made in China
Pants made in Vietnam (aren't we suppose to hate these people?)
Shirt made in Honduras.

I don't know how we're suppose to keep stimulating the economy if the stuff we buy is crap! Perhaps someone should inform His Royal Flatulence...?

[JuniorPlankton]

1. That's the whole point

You will need to buy more and more often! :)

[bean fidhleir]

38. You laugh, but in fact that's exactly the deal

It was arranged that way in FDR's time. See "The End of Reform" by Allen Brinkley, a historian at Columbia. He walks through the whole history. It's pretty appalling. He concludes that liberalism and the country are in the crapper right now because FDR's administration failed to carry out the reforms they were elected to carry out. FDR wasn't really a reformer, he only played one on radio. All the actual reforms were in response to outsiders, notably Huey Long. Once FDR saw that the danger of revolution was past, and Huey was dead, he quietly killed off all the reform initiatives in his administration.

[magellan]

2. Crap stimulates the economy by having to be replaced so often. n/t

[KansDem]

6. Actually, I'll probably sew up the house-shoes and sew on the button

And the T-shirt will be worn as I do chores around the house and yard. But the thought that I have to take the time and effort to "repair" these items really irks me! :grr:

[magellan]

37. I do the same, and feel the same way about it

On the other hand, I'm getting pretty good at sewing/patching. If it'll keep money out of the hands of the cheap anti-American corporations then I'll become a bona fide seamstress if necessary.

[edhopper]

3. And we

willfully eat food and take drugs from those countries.

[Sanity Claws]

4. Clothing has definitely decreased in quality

I had to buy a winter coat this year. I couldn't find a 100% wool coat. Many expensive stylish coats (Banana Republic coats) had as much as 40% nylon in them. These coats do not last; you can see people wearing these coats and they have little pilling on them. They also don't keep their shape as well. They tend to sag or just not drape well.
I remember when winter coats were good for 2 to 3 years.

[KansDem]

7. I know what you mean...

I have a very nice, long overcoat that's 100% wool. I've had it for several years and it does look sharp! :)

It's a popular USA brand made in Bulgaria.

[CTyankee]

14. OMG, I have a winter parka I've been wearing for more than 8 years.

It will probably go after this winter but it was nice looking and a sturdy standby.

[Sanity Claws]

18. The parkas tend to last better than the wool(ish) coats

Have you seen what I'm talking about? Women wearing stylish coats that look like they've been through some rough times even though they just bought them this winter?

[CTyankee]

21. I haven't but I believe you.

I'm now buying "better" but buying less, but even that isn't always successful because some of the better stores have cheaply made items. I dread shopping because I know I will wear myself out and not find anything decent. Because of some surgery I have had a size change and needed to buy new clothes. I have 4 pr. of pants for the winter and only a couple of new tops. But I am retired so I don't need as much...I'll spend a little more for spring stuff cuz I'm doing some traveling, but it won't be much!

[Ian David]

5. About 1 out of 5 of the DVDs I buy won't play correctly out of the box anymore.

Doesn't matter if it's a Disney movie, an indie film, or porn.

All the DVDs are made in China, and 1/5 of them are defective.

[Buzz Clik]

8. My preppy son refuses to wear that stuff. We used to ridicule him.

Shirts he bought 7 years ago that he wears a roughly once per week look great. Even the shirts I've bought from Lands End fall apart far faster than his clothes.

You get what you pay for. "Welcome to Walmart. We exclusively sell shit from China."

[Romulox]

9. This shows economics is bunk: inferior products chase superior products from the market

because consumers have very little information about what they're buying, cheap, but poorly made products are frequently preferred over more expensive, but better made goods.

[eppur_se_muova]

41. By the time consumers get to choose, most decisions have already been made.

You can't choose from among products that don't make it to the end of the pipeline. Corporate buyers choose the cheapest crap they can sell, then you get to select the best of the worst.

[knitter4democracy]

10. Kids' clothes are even worse.

I've had pants get holes in them in their first wash after their first wearing. Just shredded, and it's not like my washer's the culprit. Seams falling apart, hems coming undone, colors fading. I'm lucky if my kids' clothes last through until they grow into the next size. It's ridiculous. I'm getting really picky on what I get them now.

[gollygee]

26. It's shocking

I had two pairs of pants for my daughter fall apart within 5 wears. And not cheap pants - I bought them at Macy's. I wish I knew how to sew. I'd just make all her clothes. You can find good clothes for very young kids at second-hand places, but it's harder as they get a bit older.

[knitter4democracy]

31. A lot of the second hand stuff is so worn through, it won't last, either.

That, and our stores charge more than I'm comfy with. Ugh.

I need to learn how to sew, too. I don't think I could do jeans (though the ones at Target that fit my daughter best wear out the fastest), but maybe other stuff.

[flygal]

29. I'm glad it's kind of cool to have patches on jeans

because my kids have two pairs each I had to patch up after a few uses. I can remember growing up in the eighties I would have never worn patches - well, that was early preppy eighties, not my late head banging acid jean eighties.

[knitter4democracy]

32. Me too.

I need to get something cute for my daughter's favorite jeans that just plain tore through the knee in only two months of wearing.

[fed-up]

11. ALL of my clothes are from thrift stores-older and much better quality-I get more than I pay for!

Not only does the money stay in my community and help developmentally disabled adults, but I don't contribute to China's toxic hell. Nor am I causing huge ships and huge cargo containers to be shipped round the world and across the country to deliver a piece of garbage that will end up in the landfill in a few months.

I also find clothes at garage sales and rummage sales.

[warrior1]

12. Watch this video and it will all become clear

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

[elizfeelinggreat]

16. great link!

I love the Story of Stuff.

[KansDem]

13. Heeeeeyyyyyy...

Good idea! :thumbsup:

[ordinaryaveragegirl]

15. I'm a picky shopper.

Unless it's something trendy that I get cheap, I look over what I buy very carefully. There are some things in my wardrobe that I've had for a long time (like my winter jacket, which is Columbia), and they've held up really well. Kids' clothes are trickier, though. Since most of the stuff won't make it through both my boys, I either buy on consignment, or I buy things that can be recycled somehow, like pants with zip-off legs - if they put holes in the knees, then at least they're ahead a pair of shorts for the summer.

[gollygee]

17. I've decided to only buy used stuff

Our washer broke. It's like 8 years old. I don't think that's long enough for a $500 appliance to last. So we bought a used one off cragislist. I have no reason to believe anymore that a new washer will necessarily last longer than a used one. And it was only $50, and the $50 went to someone local.

[mcctatas]

19. Does anyone else remeber all of those "buy American"

adds in the late 80's-early 90's? It's kinda funny that if you tried to run one today people would be hard-pressed to follow that advice...

[alfredo]

20. We used to call it planned obsolescence. American cars were designed to

fall apart, or was visibly out of date, so the victim had to buy a new car.

[SoCalDem]

30. But back then the REPLACEMENT was produced here, by American workers

and the used one was handed down or sold to (usually) younger people who could not afford the brand new one...it was a win-win proposition...

Now the stuff breaks and ends up in the landfills, and is replaced by another el-cheapo appliance/article of clothing/electronic gizmo/whatever that was most likely made by a 12 yr old slave in China, shipped across the ocean in energy-guzzling ships and finally sold to us by underpaid/overworked wage-slaves at walmart or some other big-box store.

the money-chain is broken..

In small towns, in the past, the local money circulated all throughout the town as people bought & sold their services/products..

Now the money is only "rented" as people "earn" it from BigCo, and then endorse their checks to buy shit from BigCo, who then pockets most of it as profit and banks it overseas

[alfredo]

35. What happened was the Japanese listened to what US consumers wanted

and supplied those goods. I saw it happen in the bicycle industry and then the auto industry. The US auto industry was so conservative, so set in their way that they didn't respond to consumer demand. What is good for GM is good for America was the attitude. Of course GM was in the business of determining what was good for America through control of lawmakers from city councils up to the Oval Office.

[AlCzervik]

22. i hang dry everything now, quality is for shit but not putting stuff in the dryer seems

to make the clothes last longer.

[knitter4democracy]

33. I do that with my and Hubby's clothes.

I think you're right.

[donheld]

23. Wal-mart?

[KansDem]

45. No, Target (nt)

[Johonny]

24. Err

A lot of high end clothing is also made in China as well. Not just cheap low end crap.

[Maine-ah]

25. buy second hand stuff

the clothes that I have bought at second hand stores, expensive stuff too, lasts longer than any of the stuff I have bought brand new.

[gauguin57]

27. And the news media won't talk about this stuff, cuz they depend on advertising ...

... they don't wanna piss off their bread and butter by telling everyone "buy used, buy off craigslist, buy used from someone local, buy at thrift stores, you'll be better off."

When I used to work for a newspaper, the editors would get pissed if I advocated running a column telling people "don't buy a bunch of stuff just because it's on sale -- save your money." Might piss off the advertisers, and we wouldn't want that.

[gauguin57]

28. Don't forget about freecycle.org

People offer free stuff they want to get rid of ... others ask for stuff they need (that someone might want to get rid of) ... anything from PBS VHS tapes to baby cribs to a spice rack to a Barbie hotel (just some of the stuff on my local freecycle group's page today).


www.freecyle.org, and then just put the name of your city/town in the search box and you'll be sent to your local group.

[gollygee]

34. And craigslist!

We've bought some used stuff cheap off craigslist. Like I said above, our washer cost $50. And with how things are made these days, it might last as long or longer than a new one. There is no guarantee that something made new will last long. Plus, the $50 went straight into the pocket of a member of my community rather than to some huge corporation that exploits people and the environment.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites.html

[slackmaster]

36. I've found that good shoes are cheaper in the long run

Plus cheap and worn ones exacerbate my back problems. I usually buy shoes at REI.

I know it's hard for many people to come up with the cash for decent clothing. Just one more way the poor get nickle-and-dimed to death.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

39. Good shoes last longer and fit better.

For dress shoes I buy Italian. Usually Ferragamo. They cost a lot of money but I have an extremely narrow foot (a triple-A. a quadruple-A is the narrowest they make). Also, cheap shoes don't bend when you walk. They are stiff. I get mine resoled.

Otherwise I wear sneakers with socks.

[eppur_se_muova]

40. Some of my Pakistan-mfgd socks tore when I first put them on.

Had to return the whole lot to JCPenneys. About half of them had torn within the first three wearings.

A *formerly* trustworthy brand, ruined by the race to the bottom.

[WillowTree]

42. I make my own clothes.

Virtually all of them. In Illinois. They may go out of style and this body shape may shift, but clothing wearing out or falling apart isn't a problem in my house.

And at worst they cost a third of what you're paying for poorly constructed junk in a discount store, let alone marginally better-made garments from Macy's or Bloomies.

[shanti]

43. i used to

sew many of my clothes up to the 90's. then it was less expensive to buy then than to sew them myself. seems the cycle has shifted again.

[WillowTree]

44. I fell out of the groove for awhile.

But above and beyond the savings, I'm just used to being able to have styles that I like in the colors that I prefer in fabrics that are most comfortable, all at the same time. And beyond all that, as someone above was talking about not being able to find an all wool coat, I made two this year for a mere pittance by comparison to what even a wool blend coat would cost retail.

It's a great avocation to have and I'm forever greatful to my Mom for gently nudging me into learning to sew when I was young. It's been a wonderful thing to know how to do through the years and has given me many pleasurable and productive hours.