Flint and Tinder – Proudly Made in America | All-Summer Shorts. For only eight more days, Flint and Tinder is pre-funding summer shorts that double as swimming trunks. They are all made in the USA. The price is $74.50 per pair.
Flint and Tinder All Summer Shorts
Stella Neptune is a small company that finds some of the older but higher end cashmere and recycles it into refurbished cashmere sweaters and hoodies. Embroidered on almost all of these cashmere garments are patches, which Stella Neptune (aka Eva Kisevalter) has made up herself.
I really like this recycling trend. It is eco-friendly. It is a refreshing direction from the “Fast Fashion” and the dumping of tons of Asian-made cheap and useless garments which end up in our landfills.
I saw Stella Neptune and spoke to Eva Kisevalter at the Vintage Fashion Expo in San Francisco on March 23rd. She was busy sewing and patching. I was very impressed when she told me she learned to do her own die making like in the old fashioned Tool and Die making, which used to be very important in manufacturing for so many years. However, like manufacturing in America, it, too, has become a lost art.
Just a word regarding the Vintage Fashion Expo, shows like this are becoming more and more popular. Vintage means used, but they are only slightly used and usually of a higher quality. The Vintage Fashion Expos are expanding to more and more cities every year. You should check them out as well as Stella Neptune. Remember to buy American.
Stella Neptune
Refurbished cashmere
with decorative patches.
SHOOT FOR INC. MAGAZINE | VERDICT PHOTOGRAPHY. The link has a 1 minute 36 second commercial on why American Giant is making clothes in the USA through the internet. American Giant makes sweatshirts in the USA.
So, why should I cover a company that sells clothes over the internet, when my mission is to help people to find clothing made in the USA at brick and mortar stores? It is not the lure of a free sweatshirt, but it did get my attention. It is because: the company is local, Headquarters in the Mission District of San Francisco and manufactured in Brisbane, CA ; and it just opened for business on February 1, 2012; plus, their marketing department has done a great job getting their name out. In fact, I have never seen a new start-up internet clothing business with so much advertising through the internet. This may be the future of new business start-ups. (There will be a list of the internet articles at the end.)
The Name: American Giant
The phrase American Giant conjures up a lot of images, usually of large, oversized people, for some, it is that huge green man with the skimpy shorts, but, possibly, it conveys the image of the movie: “Giant” co-starring James Dean, the icon of cool. Bayard Winthrop, American Giant Founder, came up with the name and then checked to see if it was trademarked. His heart dropped when he found out it was. But he did not give up. Mr. Winthrop found out that the trademark was owned by a trademark lawyer, who had trademarked American Giant which was the title of a book he had written. He, then, called the lawyer, they started chatting and found out that the lawyer was a big fan of American made apparel. They became friends and Mr. Winthrop was granted permission to use American Giant.
The Owner
Bayard Winthrop was the former CEO of Chrome Bags. For those of you who have never heard of Chrome Bags, I will provide a little background on the company. Chrome Bags started 16 years ago when a couple of guys needed bags and found that nothing to fit their needs (it reminds me of the story of the founders of Rag & Bone and their search for jeans), so they started making bags on their own in very modest surroundings, their garage. They grew slowly at first, then moved to San Francisco and expanded their inventory to include clothes, gear and shoes. So, American Giant does have a background in clothes making.
The Philosophy of American Giant
The purpose of American Giant is to produce good quality clothing in the United States and sell them at affordable prices. They have directed their competition towards J. Crew and GAP customers. Mr. Winthrop loves the make of sweatshirts of the past: the 1960’s and 1970’s and is devoted to making clothes in this manner, which means obtaining good quality material and better manufacturing practices. To keep prices down, American Giant will be selling over the internet only. The reason is as follows.
Traditional Business Model of Clothing Stores
It was not that long ago, (and presently with a few independent clothing stores) that the clothing store owner bought clothing (traditionally it was all made in the US) at wholesale cost. These clothes were then sold to the public at a 50% mark-up. This 50% mark-up was used to cover all costs to run the business: the rent, the gas and electricity, the salaries of employees, taxes, shipping, supplies etc. Having big sales were not very common and usually skimpy (compared to today’s sales) So, overall, there was not great profit in this business, but there was enough to make a decent living. Today, there are multiple mega-stores which buy volumes of cheap clothing. The mark-up, at these places are no longer 50%, but 300 – 2000% . That is why they can have 40% sales, or 50% sales or even 70% sales and still make money. For a small store, when a customer who is used to going to discount stores and expects 50% off, it is a difficult situation. To make a sale to this type of customer it usually involves educating the consumer – who is usually less than interested in learning anything.
New Business Plan
American Giant has combined the manufacturing of clothes with the selling of clothes. When many people discuss costs, they incorrectly assume that most of the costs are due to labor. Most authorities agree that labor makes up a small percentage of costs, about 5-10%. But, according to Bayard Winthrop, CEO of American Giant, it is the soft costs – the overhead that drives up the costs. The costs including setting up a facility, travel, transportation, executive pay as well as the costs of maintaining a brick and mortar space. Overhead is responsible for up to 600% of labor. By eliminating stores all across the country with all of their inherent costs, much of the overhead is eliminated. Therefore, American Giant has elected to do everything over the internet.
Why Some People Do Not Buy Over The Internet
There are a couple of inherent problems with selling clothes over the internet: 1)a huge problem is that nobody knows you exist – hence, the establishment of a marketing department for American Giant, mostly through the internet; 2) a few people have no internet access, but, also, some people do not trust internet companies, as they have no address, and contact is limited, there is no actual person that you meet, contact is only through the internet or if you are lucky via phone; 3) often it is difficult to judge a piece of clothing on the internet – the color may be off, the quality may be poor, the size and fit aren’t right. To remedy this, American Giant has just opened a showroom on April 17, 2012 at 3171 21st Street, San Francisco, CA (in the Mission District – the Mission District is a growing place for trendy clothes – down the street is Freemans Sporting Club, all US made clothes, and Self Edge, mainly Japanese made clothing). In the future, may be there will be new additional showrooms.
Business Plan
American Giant has been making and selling sweatshirts since February 2012. American made sweatshirts are a difficult to come by commodity and it is a welcome addition. American Giant has just started making T-shirts. Their plan is every 6 – 8 weeks, they will bring out another line of clothing, next, I believe, will be Polo shirts. Now, this will be a very greatly appreciated as Polos made in the USA are harder to find than sweatshirts. Other basic wear is to follow. I will not post any pictures of these clothes as pictures of clothes just laying on a table are not really enticing to the buyer.
Potential Advantage
There are two advantages to manufacturing things yourself and selling via the internet besides the costs. One advantage is that, if you sell-out of an item or a size, new items can still be made and sold as long as the raw material is still available. Second, because American Giant manufactures all their clothes locally, there can be a very quick turn around (from idea to ready for sale). For example, Zara, a Spanish company with clothing stores all throughout the US (most clothes are manufactured in Spain, Turkey and some overseas) can design and distribute a garment to market in 15 days. Whereas, a brand will have to make a purchasing decision for overseas production 18 months in advance. That is correct: the newest colors and designs for next year and possibly even the next year after that, have already been pre-determined. There is no reason, you couldn’t wear next years colors this year.
Remember to avoid slave labor made products, remember to listen to your conscious, buy American. Good luck to American Giant. I cheer for your success but I hope that you, unlike many other companies who became very big, became too greedy, and started outsourcing their jobs overseas, stay true to your original mission and keep making clothing locally.
Success
To be an internet only company, the most difficult part is developing name recognition or even to be seen. American Giant has been successful through marketing. But they have also been blessed by being discovered by ABC News in their segments about Buying American. As there business has grown, the types of articles of clothing has also expanded.
(Updated April 18, 2014)
Internet Articles
“Fashions have done more harm than revolutions” -Victor Hugo
American Giant Clothing | USA Made High Quality Apparel Free Shipping.
Mainpoint: clothingmadeinusablog goes searching for sweatshirts made in the USA.
Sweatshirts have been a staple of the male wardrobe since the 1920’s. Casual, comfortable and inexpensive, they are omnipresent like T-shirts or jeans. Sweatshirts are an American invention and up until the 1980’s, just about all sweatshirts were made in the U.S. But with the loss of trade restrictions and the widespread expansion of outsourcing, finding any American-made garments is difficult, but with sweatshirts, it is doubly difficult to find. We will attempt to find US made American sweatshirts and we will examine the history of sweatshirts.
History
The sweatshirt was invented in the 1920’s. It filled a special niche that wasn’t being met. In the early 1920’s, sportspeople, people doing track events or playing football or baseball, in order to keep warm, had to wear these knitted woollen sweaters. These sweaters were typically grey, often quite heavy and they were worn against the skin causing them to feel scratchy and uncomfortable. Additionally, because of perspiration, these garments needed to washed frequently, but they were horrendously slow to dry (they didn’t have electric clothes dryers at that time) and quite prone to shrinkage.
The new idea: in 1922, Bennie Russell, a keen University of Alabama football player suggested to his father that if they could modify a women’s union-suit top made of soft, thick cotton (which his father made) to create shirts that were loose, collarless pullovers for him and his teammates. The father was Benjamin Russell who had been making women’s and children’s underwear since 1902. These new “sweatshirts”, named by an anonymous Russell employee, were an instant hit. Within a decade, Russell had created a new division, solely for the sweatshirt business. This division was called Russell Athletic, still a major manufacturer of sweatshirts today, although, no longer in the U.S.
Refinements
The Knickerbocker Knitting Company(KKC) (est. 1919) created by brothers, Abe and Bill Feinbloom, patented a process that greatly enhanced the sales of sweatshirts in the 1920’s. The process was a flocking process that enabled raised lettering to be printed on fabric, which was ideal for high school sports. KKC, trading under the name Champion, made other improvements as well, such as the hooded sweatshirt and the zip-up. They also developed the first reverse-weave sweatshirt; the light ribbing ran horizontally across the body rather than vertically up it, which meant minor shrinkages did not affect its length, no matter how many times the garment was washed. These were manufactured by loopwheels which minimized any tension when the thread was being woven and arguably created a better garment. Loopwheels fell out of use in the 1950’s, because they were slow. These loopwheels are considered collector’s items now.
Sweatshirts were abundant but not really cool until 1963 with the release of The Great Escape, when Steve McQueen, wore one under his A2 flight jacket and during his motorcycle escape attempt.
Wrong Turn (you may skip this paragraph if you don’t want to hear about economics and politics)
In 1980, The United States made 80% of all of its manufactured goods. Wal-Mart was a speck on the map, McDonald’s hadn’t even sold 10 million burgers, China was the world’s 10th largest economy behind Argentina and Spain. The big three sweatshirt manufacturers: Russell Athletic, Hanes, and Champion, all made their clothing in the U.S. But at the end of 1980, began the “Greed is Good” Era (from the fictional Wall Street character, Gordon Gecko who was based on Wall Street Inside Trader Ivan Boesky). I am not sure why this started, but I presume it was because the public bought into “Reaganomics” and his “Trickle-Down” Theory, which said if you give money to the rich it will help the poor and the middle class (which has been proven patently false). It never made sense to me, it is like saying if you give more food to the obese, you can help the skinny gain weight. Keeping with this same analogy, if the poor and middle class are to have any money come their way, they are going to have to forage through the monetary digestive waste of the rich. Conversely, if you gave money directly to the poor, then you would see money put back almost immediately into the local economy. (Maybe a theory for the future – let us call it ‘The Trickle Up” theory.) Now that the corporations had more governmental and political power, plus more money as well as being incentivized to move jobs overseas, outsourcing started and continues to run rampant, this has improved corporate margins of profit (however, it did not increase, but actually decreased US jobs) and most importantly (to the people that passed these laws), increased executive salaries. (In 1980, the average CEO salary to the average worker ratio was 42:1; in 2010, CEO to average worker ratio increased to 343:1.) All this outsourcing has majorly injured all American manufacturing, but clothing manufacturing received an additional blow when in 1995 Congress ended all import quotas and restrictions on clothing (repealing the 1974 Multifiber Agreement). There was a full phase out by 2005, the next year, 2006, China increased its exports to the US by 100%, which continues to increase. The effect of “dumping” cheap clothes, through foreign government subsidies, illegal manipulation of the Chinese yuan, slave labor, and illegal (if it were in the US) kickbacks to executives had caused almost all of the American manufacturers to be “Wal-Marted” out of existence. (The Wal-Mart effect – through volume and greater monetary resources a company can keep prices artificially low for an indefinite amount of time for the sole purpose of putting the small shop out of business. It is borderline illegal like colluding companies that fix prices or monopolies. Maybe if the courts said that WalMarting was illegal in 1980, then we would not have all these Mega-Stores, Mega-Banks, Mega-Insurance Companies, Mega-Chain restaurant/stores, and Mega-Communication/Utility companies). The effect of all this has had a devastating effect on the clothing manufacturers – almost daily US manufacturers folded or moved their operations overseas.
Present Day and Where to Find US Made Sweatshirts
The United States, in 2012, manufactures only 2% of the clothing it needs., but lately we have seen a few companies bring manufacturing back to the United States. The major sweatshirt companies (Russell Athletic, Hanes, Champion) presently, have all their sweatshirts made in Honduras, Vietnam, China or elsewhere. In fact, sweatshirts are one of those very difficult items to find made in the U.S., because for many consumers, sweatshirts are casual and inexpensive to start with and, therefore, quality is usually not a big issue with many buyers. But there are some high quality sweatshirts out there, but you will have to search.
American Giant Sweatshirts
One of the newest makers of US made sweatshirts is American Giant. They are based in San Francisco and sell directly to the consumer which keeps costs down. The way that they get their brand recognition is through the internet, through blogs and clothing websites.Their prices are reasonable and of very high quality.
Listing of US Made sweatshirts – Retail – Men’s (Found in stores)
Listing of US Made Sweatshirts – Retail – Women’s (Found in Stores)
Partial Listing of US Made Sweatshirts – Internet
Conclusion: Sweatshirts can be found in the USA, but it takes a little bit of searching – a helpful hint would be to use my blog entry;”Nordstroms, NiemanMarcus, etc. Links to clothing made in USA”. Find the store link: under” search”, type in: ‘sweatshirts made in usa’ (or ‘men’s’ or ‘women’s’ prior to ‘sweatshirts made in usa’). I still prefer to go to the stores and try the garment on before purchasing it.
I saw a TV commercial yesterday. Old Navy was advertising $5 polo shirts for Easter. You know, if you bought one, you are still being ripped off. My personal opinion is that they should take all the clothing off the shelves of Old Navy and put them directly into the landfill, and bypass you the middleman, who will ultimately send them to their proper place (the landfill) after one or two wearings. Just say NO to slave labor.
“I saw a women wearing a sweatshirt with Guess on it. I said ‘Thyroid Problem'” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
Reference: Icons of Men’s Style by Josh Sims, Laurence King Publishing Ltd, 2011
(Updated April 18, 2014)
Has the casual Bay Area vibe turned us into fashion ‘don’ts?’ – San Jose Mercury News. This article hits the nail on the head on how we dress today, which has become too casual. This fantastic article was written by Angela Hill in the San Jose Mercury News on February 19, 2012. Referenced in the article is “Etiquette for Dummies”, by Sue Fox. One major point made (in the article) is how we dress does have an influence on how we act and feel.
One item that Ms. Hill did not address was comparing Bay Area dress to other areas in the country. In my own humble opinion, I would say that in the East Coast cities like Boston and New York, people do dress a little (okay, maybe a lot) better than the Bay area. Bay area casual appears to be antithesis to the book: “Dress for Success”.
The reasons why California dresses down are several. First, warmer weather. The warmer the weather, there is less need for layering. Comfort is more important. As weather becomes more tropical, there is less clothing period, and items like ties and jackets are sometimes just crazy to consider. Second, areas like California have had a stronger counter-culture personality. Californians are more accepting of surfer-dudes, hippies, grunge, and alternate life-styles. And what counter culture doesn’t dress down? Third, the West Coast does not have the deeper traditions that the East Coast has. “To preserve the family name”, is not a mantra seen in California. Business men and professionals, Doctors, lawyers, etc. in California, dress nice, but on a whole, still dress less formal than the East Coast. These are just my observations.
In the article (see the above link), there are a number of pictures of people wearing casual pictures, most are all cheaply, foreign made, not that the U.S. does not make T-shirts, but baggy pants, sweat pants, $10 shoes are not made here. The clothes, on many of the people pictured, look awful and cheap, and that maybe they spent a whole $20 on their entire wardrobe. How much did it cost to produce in China $3. This is what the world of clothing has devolved into: cheap, awful and disposal. Throw out those ugly clothes or give it to the Goodwill and buy something nice, buy something American- made for a change.
You have heard people saying that maybe you should support American made products. But many of the times, you do not hear the reasons why. This blog entry will try to enumerate some of the reasons.
I know you have heard it before: “Buy American”. But this is not the same bogus call of the 1970’s when there was a push by the car manufacturers and workers to buy the definitely inferior American cars at the time over the superiorly made Japanese cars. Their reasoning back then was simply: Be Patriotic. This slogan worked a little, but the American car companies were neither innovating nor even trying to improve their quality. It left a sour taste on those that took the message to heart. So, now the message goes out again: “Buy American”. Should we believe them this time? The short answer is yes. The long answer is this entire blog entry.
I have prepared a list of reasons that may help you decide whether to buy American. I divide the reasons into the E’s – ethics, ecology/environment, and economy; and into the P’s – Patriotic, Personal Health and Patronization.
Ethics
I believe that ethics and the just treatment of all human beings is the leading reason why people have chosen to buy American. There has been a mass exodus of American manufacturing since the late 1970’s due to numerous reasons: Globalization, Offshoring (Outsourcing); Free Trade Agreements; and Removal of Import Quotas. For a more detailed explanation see my blog entry ‘How Did we Get Here? Part II’. Because there is a scarce amount of American-made products we receive almost all of our products from third world countries. The factory workers in these third world countries work in conditions that if they were in the United States would be considered inhumane, even if it were to be done by prisoners.
Listing of some of the inhumane conditions are: well documented incidents of frequent use in children in factories, as well in cotton fields, not including the use of “work study students” usually ages 16 to 17 years old; exposure to toxic substances without adequate safeguards or ventilation; no air conditioning unless a foreign client shows up; working hours 6 or 7 days a week, 12 to 15 hours a day without overtime; dormitories which often hold 14 to 24 people to one room with annoying restrictions like no tea kettles or hairdryers; forced to stand for hours without taking a break; forbidden to speak to other workers; public humiliation for one that does not obey the rules; threats or actual physical abuse for offenders; sexual harassment is acceptable; no worker rights; no worker benefits such as disability, social security, retirement plans, vacation, sick-time, time-off for pregnancy, workman’s compensation or right to sue for wrongful termination; poor pay $ 4 to $6 per day (yes, not per hour), and even less after deducting for factory food. Because of these conditions, there is the now well told story of how at Foxconn (they manufacture the Apple’s iphone), there has been a rash of suicides from workers jumping off the top of the building. Nets have been placed and counselors have been summoned. To sum it up: “We are like prisoners…we do not have a life, only work.” -Teenage Microsoft worker. By buying the products of slave labor, we enable slave labor to continue and prosper. Buy American, stop slave labor.
Ecology/Environment
Ecology is the study of the relationship of an organism between it and its environment; and the environment is the set of circumstances surrounding that organism. Since these two issues are interrelated they have been brought together as one reason to buy American.
We have only one earth and only one atmosphere that we all must share. We dislike it when smoke is all around us, breathing in pollutants and carcinogens. We dislike it when our water is contaminated with unwanted chemicals and toxins. Most people would like to preserve our water, our air, our atmosphere, and our earth. Some do not care because they make money destroying the earth or they simply don’t care about anything that is not within a block of where they live.
There is a serious problem going on that doesn’t get much press. Our environment is being destroyed. Because of our dependence on slave labor factories in the third world countries, these countries suddenly have a terrible pollution problem. These countries have very little rules regarding preserving the environment and avoiding toxic chemicals. If they do have laws about polluting, they are rarely enforced. And there are no lawyers going to sue the government to stop the pollution. China and India have terrible problems which have yet to be resolved with pollution of the air, the land and the water. China is the world’s most prodigious emitter of greenhouse gases from coal burning power plants, millions of automobiles and Industrial waste gases. The air is so polluted that Beijing’s air violated the World Health Organization standards more than 80% of the time in the last quarter of 2008 (in preparation of the Olympic games, the government halted all factories 4 months prior to the games). 70% of China’s rivers are too polluted to provide safe drinking water. It is expected there will be major water shortages in China by 2020. 10% of China’s farmland are too polluted by heavy metals of Lead, Mercury and Cadmium. India has major air pollution problems because of its numerous automobiles, many without functioning catalytic converters, and buying of unregulated biofuels. Land pollution is as abominable as is their water pollution. “It is no longer just their problem, it’s our problem,” says Kim Prather of Scripps Institute of Oceanography. (See next entry: Newslink: Pollution from China alters weather in U.S. West – CBS News). Remember there is only one earth, and only one atmosphere. It is ridiculous to think that destroying the planet on one side of the world would never effect us. One only has to remember that the Nuclear blasts on Hiroshima and Nagasaki dropped some of its fall-out on the United States. Some of the Tsunami’s effect on Japan this spring is now washing some of the remnants on the shores of the U.S. (Thank goodness, that the radioactive material doesn’t travel throughout the sea all that well). Imported fish often have banned chemicals that find there way back to the U.S. Buy American, protect the planet.
Economy
“The Great Recession” has uncovered just how tenuous the American economy has become. The United States for many years was the world’s leading manufacturer by a long shot. Since the late 1970’s, the United States had gradually stopped manufacturing and became a country that specialized in providing service, which became an even bigger problem as service jobs started getting outsourced as well. In 1965, we manufactured 95% of what we needed, (and accounted for 53% of the entire economy), now we manufacture only 5%, and for clothing, it is only 2% of what we need. When we had the computer and internet boom (two separate booms), we still manufactured our new products, jobs were created, the economy expanded. But now that we have outsourced most of our manufacturing, the present day and continuing boom of hand-held electronic devices has totally bypassed us. We get no jobs here for the new industry we created.
Let us be frank: “The Great Recession” was a depression. The only reason is wasn’t called a depression because of its negative connotations, and they didn’t want a run on all of the banks, not that it didn’t happen anyway. That is why there was the Bail-out. It is funny, back in the 1920’s and 1930’s, depression wasn’t a bad word, as long as it wasn’t a “Crisis” or “Crash”. The definition of a depression, by certain experts, is a decrease of the GDP by 10%: last quarter in 2008 – 6.4%, and first quarter in 2009 – 6.3%. We have gone through a depression, so now what? How do we get out of it, how do we stabilize our job market? Some people think that if we can come up with a new novel idea that this would save our economy, the problem with this reasoning is that if we come up with a great new idea, we will outsource it right away, and will get no benefit from it at all.
Some people, me included, feel that improving our manufacturing base will stabilize our economy. There are several reasons for this line of thinking. First, the strongest economies presently are the ones that continue to manufacture, China (of course) and Germany. Germany manufactures 25 – 30% of all that it needs. Second, it is a proven fact that each manufacturing job provides an additional 2.9 jobs that is associated with the manufactured product. Third, it makes economic sense, that every dollar spent on an American-made product goes back into the economy 100% (and Possibly 110%) versus a dollar spent on a foreign product may come back into the economy depending on whom one listens to from 15 – 40%. The goal would be to get our manufacturing back to at least 20%, it would make us much less dependent on other nations’ (some friendly, some unfriendly) imports. Buy American made, it stimulates our economy and it increases our manufacturing jobs.
The P’s – Patriotic
“It’s not what your country can do for you, it is what can you do for your country.” – John F. Kennedy. Your country needs you and you need to support your country. Buy American “made”, not just because it says it is American. It is better to buy a Toyota model, made in the US with 90% American parts, than a Ford made in another country with no American parts. Buying American made, is not only good for the country, it is good for the people of the United States. It is strange that the same people who used to say “Buy American” to support this country are very silent on this issue today. These same people who said “Beat the Russians” at every turn, have nothing but good things to say against the same “commies”, the Chinese. One theory why they are silent: Big Money. Money means controlling government policies and therefore the making of more money. So, where is this money coming from? Answer: owning companies in China. Certain American individuals have invested trillions of dollars in China and these certain people do not want to upset the goose that lays the golden egg, even if it destroys the U.S. and world economy. China is our biggest competitor, they own most of our debt, and we are dependent on many of their imports. Over the last 30 years we (the U.S. and its policies) have let this happen. We have put our selves in a position of extreme weakness, all the while, Communist China tries to bury us with their flooding the markets with artificially low, government subsidized imports while simultaneously manipulating the Chinese yuan so that it is extremely under-valued. You know, Communist China is not our friend, it is not our ally, they vote against in nearly everything global. It is funny that we do not treat them as the enemy they are. Buy American made, put an end to Chinese dominance.
Personal Health
We sometimes live in a bubble, certainly an information bubble. That is especially true when it come to our health and our exposure to chemicals, some toxic, some not. The United State used to be the pioneer in protecting the public from toxic chemicals. The U.S. passed the Toxic Chemical Act in the mid 1970s, but with a huge loophole that exempted 6,000 chemicals that were already in use. People think that just because a product is on our shelves that they are safe. That is not true. Many of our products and their ingredients are untested, or tested and a committee (whether biased or not) have determined that the chemical might not cause damage. The United States is at least 10 years behind the European Union with regards to testing chemicals (Europe had banned phthalates – used to soften plastics in 1999, the U.S. banned it in 2008). In Europe, each product has to have toxicity data. Not so in the U.S. In fact, some industries will reformulate a product for the European market, but keep the original (but banned in Europe) chemical for U.S. consumption. Europe has banned 1,371 chemicals, the United States one-eighth if that. Even China, which is not known to be progressive, has banned bisphenol-A (BPA) (the coating inside of cans and plastics), but not in the U.S. Europe had banned this in 1999. Some of the known effects of toxic chemicals: cancer, birth defects, asthma, decreased female fertility, decreased sperm counts, decreased testosterone, altering hormones including thyroid, and neurological symptoms.
So, if the United States does a poor job in protecting its citizens from chemicals, how do you think it does at protecting its citizens from dangerous imports which have even less banned chemicals, such as the flame-retardant materials (grouped together as polybromodiphenyl ether (PBDE)-banned in the U.S. in 2005, but still made in China? The answer is poorly. How many times, do we need to hear another product from China has lead in it? If we did more testing, we would find much more. Lead? People may say, we used to use lead ourselves. Yes, but we didn’t know better, and that was many years ago. They know better and it still happens? They are purposely putting in a poison. In 2008, when China was found to be putting lead in their products, the company, Mattel and their executives had to apologize to the Chinese government – for the damage they had caused the industry. Furthermore, American clothing is rarely “Permanent Press” but this is frequently found coming from the Third World countries. Permanent Press is made out of formaldehyde or a derivative of Formaldehyde, Dimethylol dihydroxyethylenurea (DMDHEU) – its effects are unknown. For your own health, it is best to avoid third world products, the safest is from Europe.
Patronization
Patronize – to aid or support. When you go shopping and you buy from a place, you are patronizing that place. Next time you go out, find the store that carries American made clothes and buy their clothes. You are supporting: the store, the clothing manufacturer, and the United States economy.
Conclusion
There is a myriad of reasons of why to buy American: protesting unfair labor practices, protection of the environment, improving the manufacturing within the U.S., supporting the U.S., avoiding chemicals to protect your health or to support your favorite store, any one of these are a reasonable argument to buy American made. Keep up the good work.
Reference: “Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What’s at Stake For American Power” by Mark Shapiro
How Freemans and Rusty Knot Proprietor Taavo Somer Developed His Downtown Anti-Style — New York Magazine. This was published in New York magazine on May 4, 2008. This is the best article covering the recent life and times of Taavo Somer, the owner of Freemans Sporting Club, a store that manufactures men’s clothing all within the United States. Actually, it is quite interesting how an architect became a hip restauranteer and clothing store owner.
“I model irregular clothing.” – Jay London
Freemans Sporting Club — Welcome. Freemans Sporting Club (F.S.C.) is a very unique shopping experience, specializing in retro appearing Men’s clothing manufactured entirely in New York. I have just come back from visiting their newest store in San Francisco at 696 Valenica Street in the Mission District. They have been open for only seven months. Because I had visited their other two stores in New York City in November, 2011 (that’s right, last year), it is only acceptable that I compare them with each other. But before I do that, I would like to give some background on Freemans Sporting Club.
The Origin
Taavo Somer is the co-owner of Freemans Sporting Club. He was trained as an architect, who turned into an artist and restauranteer. He first opened the bar, The Rusty Knot, which was a big hit, followed by Freemans (a restaurant – located at the end of freeman’s Alley, near Rivington Street) known for its rustic charm and taxidermy of animal heads upon the walls. Mr. Somer did the taxidermy himself. Since that time he has opened two more restaurant Peels and his newest, Isa, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in August, 2011. Freemans Sporting Club came about as a continuation of the hip retro look that Freemans had instilled, rustic and masculine. The clothing store is located just down the street from Freemans (restaurant) at 8 Rivington Street. It opened in 2006, and in the back of the store is a very thriving Barber shop (just like the old dry goods stores might have done in the late 1800s and early 1900s). The second store is located on 321 Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village (sorry, no barber shop).
The Newest Store Located in San Francisco
Store #3 has very easy access from highway 101, just take exit 434A at Duboce Ave, make a left on Valencia, and go down about a half mile to 696 Valencia Street. It is at the corner of Valencia and 18th Street. When you first see it, you will not recognize it as a Men’s Clothing Store. In fact, it used to be a pet store. On the outside of the building, is “F.S.C. Barbers”, that is the place. When you walk in, you are walking into a barber shop, which is fairly busy, but unlike FSC #1, where the barbershop is in back of the shop, here you walk through the barbershop to get to the clothing shop. The clothing shop is smaller than the other two stores. It is flanked by two friendly salespeople. Because the shop is so small (like the other FSC’s), that if the size you wear is not there, they may have it in storage. Their style of clothing is definitely retro but still quite stylish. The have Sports Coats, dress pants, flannel shirts, casual long sleeve shirts, Henley shirts and several plain T-shirts. They have some coats as well that are made of a heavy fabric which feels a lot like canvas. You can click the link on top of this blog entry to see exactly what they carry. The dressing room is also quirky. There is only one. On one side of the shop, which probably takes up one tenth of the entire clothes store, is a large recess that becomes a dressing room when this extremely large and heavy canvas tarp slides across to stop prying eyes. (The San Francisco store closed in 2015.)
The clothes are all American made. They are expensive and do deserve special care. They should last for quite a long time. My final tally was: a checkered red and black flannel shirt; a beige short sleeve Henley shirt; and a dark charcoal gray long sleeve casual shirt. It is definitely worth a look.
If you are interested in more information about the co-owner Taavo Somer, tomorrow I will publish a reprint of an article by New York magazine regarding Mr. Somer, which was originally published in May, 2008.
“Fashion is architecture: it is a matter of proportions.” – Coco Chanel
There has always been a dichotomy in regards to shoes. On the one side you have the practical, foot protecting and durable footwear for which it was traditionally designed for and, on the other side, you have the fashionable, bon vivant, and frivolous shoes that fill our numerous shopping centers and malls. It has been that way, for centuries, ever since shoes were transformed from simple leather foot coverings to became status symbols in the Royal European courts in the 1400’s, with their pointed, curled up toes and added appendages. The same could be said of clothing as well.
Dress Before The Loss of Formality Era
Shoes have stayed that way – practical versus fashionable- up until the late 1960’s and early 1970’s in the United States, a period that I refer to as the Loss of Formality Era. Prior to this time, people had certain types of dress: 1) dressed up – good shoes, nice dress pants and oxford shirts or dresses for the ladies; 2) casual dress – hush puppy type shoes, fabric pants, buttoned shirt and dresses or nice blouse and fabric pants; and 3) work clothes – at that time, many people wore uniforms and work shoes, for hospitals it meant white hospital shoes, for construction, it meant steel toed construction boots, for farmers, it meant boots. Jeans were worn by farmers or when families were together in an informal setting – out of public view. Tennis shoes were only worn for physical education.
The shoes manufactured at that time were 90% American made. They were made for durability. They were made of fine leather, stitched together and/or nailed together on a wooden sole. They were expected to last for years. If they got scuffed, you polished them. If the laces frayed, you replaced the laces. If the stitching unraveled or the shoe started to come apart, you would take the shoe to a cobbler who could repair them.
There were fashionable shoes at that time as well. They were usually made in Italy or France. They also made of fine leather, fine stitched and could be repaired as well. But they were more delicate. They were not practical for environments full of rain or snow, unless you wore boots to work and changed into them once you were at work. They were designed to last for years, but only if great care was taken.
Dress After The Loss of Formality Era
With the cultural shift of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, clothing standards were relaxed and have continued to become more relaxed as time passes. Jeans, T-shirts and tennis shoes were not only okay for wear in public settings but, also, in schools. People find less and less reason to dress up, whether it is a concert, fine restaurant, church or a work setting. The loss of formality has changed our thinking about many things. Among them (non-clothing-wise), the things we have lost were: the respect of authority, the respect towards elders; the respect working one’s way up the ladder/seniority; traditional values regarding family; and loyalty towards anything. Clothing-wise, we no longer value the clothes that we wear. We abuse our clothes by constantly washing and drying them after briefly wearing them, since they are not made to last. Especially in today’s time, where 98% in slave labored produced. The clothes are made to fall apart, but who cares because they are so cheap. And you no longer have to iron these clothes because they have been impregnated with some possibly toxic chemical that makes them ‘permanent press’. Permanent Press used to be treated using Formaldehyde (a known carcinogen), but now, more often, the manufacturers use a derivative of Formaldehyde called Dimethylol dihroxyethylenurea, (DMDHEU), (unknown health effects). Clothes have become disposable which I suppose is the height of fashion. Get rid of all of “last season’s” clothes, so you can buy the newest “In” clothes. Fashion would like it if you wore a new wardrobe every time you went out. Fashion would like you to wear something only once, so you could buy something new more often. The clothing designers must change things every season, so that you will spend more money. The same thing applies to shoes. Shoes have become disposable. They are made with fabric, plastic and glue. If they do use leather it is so thin that it wouldn’t hold a stitch or a nail. There is no sense in taking these shoes to a cobbler. Now, there are three types of shoes: Durable, Fashionable and Disposable.
Fashion vs Durability
So, what is it going to be? Fashion or durability. It is your choice. Don’t let me influence your decision. But, as for me, I have chosen durability. I want durability in all that I wear, and it should be (sort of) in style. it doesn’t have to be direct from the model runways in Paris, but it can’t be a white collared, blue Oxford dress shirt either. As for men’s shoes, I have bought some very durable shoes and boots made by Wolverine, and made in the U.S.A. They are both from the 1000 mile collection. Another great American made shoe company is Allen Edmonds. Shoes made in Wisconsin since 1922. The are both fashionable and durable. They also make golf shoes. I purchased a pair of ‘1 up’ golf shoes in black. Allen Edmonds has hired an additional 120 employees since January, 2011, thanks to people supporting “Made in USA’. Another U.S. shoe company is Alden. I went to the Alden shoe store in San Francisco, CA last month. I was prepared to spend $300 on a pair of shoes, however, that was not even enough. But, that wasn’t the disappointing thing. The selection wasn’t great for me personally. First, I don’t like slip on shoes, so that narrowed it down a bit. The one pair of shoes I did like, looked exactly like a pair of black Italian shoes I already have. So, maybe, sometime in the future, I may own some Aldens. At this time, if I can’t find American, I will buy Italian.
Taking Care of Clothes
In regards to clothing, American made clothing is very rarely Permanent Press, which means more care needs to be given. I have had to drastically alter the way I wear dress shirts. Now, I wear V neck T-shirts underneath the dress shirt. The reason for this, as in olden days, the T shirt protects the shirt for wear and tear and from underarm stains and smells. The reason for the V neck, is so you don’t see the tell tale T shirt collar underneath your dress shirt (for me growing up, exposed T shirt collars underneath your shirt meant Nerd). I do not wash the shirt every time I wear it. But I do iron them after each wear. So, I have learned how to iron. I have had to take more clothes to the dry cleaners as well, especially dress pants usually after a couple of wears. If the accumulation of clothes that needs ironing is too much, I will take those to the dry cleaners just to be ironed. For jeans, I will wear them for months, unless very dirty before dry cleaning them (I have the original denim, no wash jeans, that still need breaking in.) What I have noticed with this change of practice away from washing and drying after each use is these clothes still look new, unlike the permanent press clothes that fade and gets pill balls and looks terrible after a couple of washings.
In conclusion, you may have to pay more initially for U.S. made clothes and you will have to take more care of your clothes, but they will look much better for a longer period of time. These clothes should last for years. For shopaholics, switching to buying American made clothes could cause extreme withdrawal, because you do not have to shop as often. So, beware. Happy shopping.
“Fashion is something barbarous, for it produces innovation without reason and imitation without benefit.” – George Santayana
Last week Michael Kors made a public offering to the New York Stock Exchange. Yes, they have made the big time! I have liked the Michael Kors designs for some time. And you can find their clothing all over: Nordstrom’s, Macys, and even, Michael Kors outlets. They, also, make some nice purses. You can’t miss them, they have the big MK logo on them.
The Problem With Michael Kors
Michael Kors is an “American” designer. He had been well-known for many years but his popularity got a boost when he appeared as a judge for Project Runway. The disappointing thing about Michael Kors is that nothing about Michael Kors is American except the dollars they collect. Most of their clothes are made in China or other East Asian countries (the sweat shop countries), except for the few high end products that are made in Italy. The company is based in Hong Kong, so no tax money comes back into the country either.
Logos – The Start
I first remember logos in the 1970’s. Logos (the little names, initials or symbols) had their initial impact on tennis clothing. Tennis was popular and upper class – so were logos. One of the first I remembered was the crocodile. The crocodile meant Lacoste, meaning French and expensive. Then, there was Fila, Italian and expensive. I remember in 1977, paying $50 for a Fila tennis shirt, which I thought was outrageous at the time. The logos meant the clothing was exclusive, pricey, original and of great quality. They were mini status symbols. When you wore these clothes you felt like you were somebody important, or somebody who was “in style”. You felt good about yourself. (You felt even better if you could find them on sale). Everybody had to have them. Then, before long, logos and “Designers” were everywhere. Gloria Vanderbilt and Calvin Klein jeans, hip, pricey and skin tight, were omnipresent. Everybody had to have their own unique trademark, logo or “swoosh”.
Logos – Present Day
A funny thing happened once everyone wore designer clothing. They became no longer exclusive and, therefore, no longer chic. And over time, logo and designer clothing became everyday wear. “Logos” still had the perception of better quality than those that didn’t have a logo. But I came to a sudden realization this past year that logo-wear quality is not better, in fact, it may be worse. If you look at Fila, it is incredibly rare to find anything made in Italy, especially at an Outlet Mall. Lacoste is not made in France. It’s not just these two makers but all of them: Ralph Lauren, Eddie Bauer, Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan, Nicole Miller, English Laundry, etc. They are all sweatshop produced.
When shopping, you may go to an outlet store to find an item of clothing. On the clothing is the price tag which reads: “Original Price $200, Now $50”. In the past I may have been swayed by this bit of marketing. However, as I look closer at the make of these clothes, I see that these clothes are quite poorly manufactured. There is no way any person, in their right mind would ever pay that original price, and if they weren’t swayed by this great “savings”, they should not even consider paying $50 for the garment, either. The garment actually costs $5.00 to make. And in China, in the streets and alleys, you could get these same logo clothing for $7 (yes, the exact same clothing selling for $200 original price). And the designers think that just because they put their logo on a piece of clothing, they can sell it for much more (many times overpriced). So, they do, and many still will still pay for it.
But, I want you to reconsider “Logo clothing”. They no longer have the advantage of being superior or unique or better quality. We have to un-brainwash ourselves. For so many years I have been purchasing logo/designer clothes, because of this above misperception. I look at the logo/designer wear very differently now. I know how much it costs to produce the clothes. I know there is really no original designer involved anymore. The people who manufacture the clothes often live in barracks and make $17 per month with no benefits, and often in a hostile environment. This certainly undercuts any good feelings I have when I find a “bargain”. Have you ever stopped and pondered why we can buy clothes for less than we could in 1980? I can buy jeans for $20! That is unreal, especially when you consider anything else you could buy in 1980, like gasoline, cereal, or a new car. We have made a secret deal with the devil, and the only way we can deal with this, is by ignoring it, since it is not happening in our neighborhood. But it has injured our neighborhoods, by adding to the pressure to outsource all of the rest of our manufacturing jobs (the United States only makes 2% of our clothing). Meanwhile, the clothing designer corporations will certainly be happy to take our money, and continue to make things in China, Cambodia, India, or the next cheapest place they can find, as long as their is no moral backlash (which is currently small, but growing stronger).
Shopping for Non-Slave Labor Clothing
Searching for non-slave labor clothing is difficult. First, it means not looking for Logo/designer clothing. The only non-slave labor clothing made by these designers can only be found in the very high end shops. These clothes are usually manufactured in France or Italy, and still very expensive. The other 99.5% of their clothing is made with slave labor. At first, it feels strange looking for non – logo/designer clothing. There seems to be a giant empty spot on the left chest of a shirt, or the back of the pants, or the front of a baseball cap where a logo could go. I used to think that the people who would wear the non logo clothing were just buying the inexpensive stuff, and not “in style”, but I had been brainwashed. I used to think: Logo = Better Status. Now, I think just the opposite: Logo = Cheaper manufacturing, poorer quality and it “costs” more. Now, it’s: “Those poor people wearing the slave labor logo/designer clothing, they just haven’t gotten the message.” I try to buy made in the U.S.A. as best as I can, but, if not American-made, then made from non-slave labor countries like Italy, Portugal, Spain and Japan. And I am realistic, American-made clothing will cost more, because their prices reflect the real cost of making clothes, and not “artificially” cheap due to slave labor, government-subsidized massive overproduction and monetary manipulation. Keep up the good fight. Buy American.
“I tell women not to believe everything they read about fashion.” -Geoffrey Beene
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