Awesome article, as always, Esque! Very thought-provoking.
I'm privileged to be in my 50s, and thankfully past the "broke all the time" part of my life, and I am able to have a budget to spend on clothing, but I am still very careful how I spend it. There are many people out there who have the means...is it up to us to judge them on how they spend their hard-earned money? Is it worse because it's spent on clothes, which is often seen as frivolous (because fashion is coded feminine)? Plenty of people spend money on travel, or a car, or kids. I look at those fashion writers and I skip their posts. Those are not for me.
I don't personally see the sense in buying boring clothes that are still made in China in sweatshop conditions, even if they are a trendy designer label - I'd rather thrift or buy vintage. But I do save up and splurge on my favourite shoes a few times a year - I have no debt, I spend cash/debit card, plus gift cards (which I ask for, for birthdays, etc.).
I got very into drawing on clothes for a few years, illustrating thrift store leather jackets, purses, even shoes! It was a very intense period of slow fashion - it took me months to do some of them, but it was so satisfying. Even then, I had the luxury of time to work on them. There's always something...
love ur passion for diy/remixing clothes! I had a little phase myself haha. a little note to say that, while perhaps still partly true, made in China does not always = sweatshop conditions and there are many places in the world (including in North America and even well regarded places like Italy) that unfortunately use sweatshop labour (prison industrial complex, exploiting immigrant & undocumented folk). not meaning to take away from your comment at all, it's just a little reminder that I as a Chinese person think is an important myth to dispel 💕
I’m so glad you called me on this, Christina, as you are absolutely right. Most luxury goods retailers now use Chinese factories, because the quality is so much higher. I should never have used that phrase in a derogatory way, I do apologize. The goods coming out of China are often incredibly well made.💜
I am still against the poor conditions seen in sweatshop factories, which we now see in countries like Hungary, India, and even in the US. 💕
I'm so proud of the fact that the kind of people who read esque are so thoughtful! Both of you rock <3 and omg the Brandy Hellville documentary with the Italian sweat shops... so bleak
Also adding, the practice of opening sweatshops in a more developed country, just so you can slap the Made in Italy label on it is absolutely disgusting. Those poor workers.
I have that on my watchlist on Netflix. I saw one of their stores in Vancouver and had never heard of them before, lol, as I’m not their target audience.
fr I'm so sick of reading substack sletters that casually mention buying multiple items from the Row like it's fucked ??
Awesome article, as always, Esque! Very thought-provoking.
I'm privileged to be in my 50s, and thankfully past the "broke all the time" part of my life, and I am able to have a budget to spend on clothing, but I am still very careful how I spend it. There are many people out there who have the means...is it up to us to judge them on how they spend their hard-earned money? Is it worse because it's spent on clothes, which is often seen as frivolous (because fashion is coded feminine)? Plenty of people spend money on travel, or a car, or kids. I look at those fashion writers and I skip their posts. Those are not for me.
I don't personally see the sense in buying boring clothes that are still made in China in sweatshop conditions, even if they are a trendy designer label - I'd rather thrift or buy vintage. But I do save up and splurge on my favourite shoes a few times a year - I have no debt, I spend cash/debit card, plus gift cards (which I ask for, for birthdays, etc.).
I got very into drawing on clothes for a few years, illustrating thrift store leather jackets, purses, even shoes! It was a very intense period of slow fashion - it took me months to do some of them, but it was so satisfying. Even then, I had the luxury of time to work on them. There's always something...
love ur passion for diy/remixing clothes! I had a little phase myself haha. a little note to say that, while perhaps still partly true, made in China does not always = sweatshop conditions and there are many places in the world (including in North America and even well regarded places like Italy) that unfortunately use sweatshop labour (prison industrial complex, exploiting immigrant & undocumented folk). not meaning to take away from your comment at all, it's just a little reminder that I as a Chinese person think is an important myth to dispel 💕
I’m so glad you called me on this, Christina, as you are absolutely right. Most luxury goods retailers now use Chinese factories, because the quality is so much higher. I should never have used that phrase in a derogatory way, I do apologize. The goods coming out of China are often incredibly well made.💜
I am still against the poor conditions seen in sweatshop factories, which we now see in countries like Hungary, India, and even in the US. 💕
I'm so proud of the fact that the kind of people who read esque are so thoughtful! Both of you rock <3 and omg the Brandy Hellville documentary with the Italian sweat shops... so bleak
omfg that doc was so harrowing
Also adding, the practice of opening sweatshops in a more developed country, just so you can slap the Made in Italy label on it is absolutely disgusting. Those poor workers.
I have that on my watchlist on Netflix. I saw one of their stores in Vancouver and had never heard of them before, lol, as I’m not their target audience.
"there is no way in hell I’d accept a world in which only the wealthy are granted that grace." BOOM 💥
love the last paragraph<3
been waiting for weeks to respond emotionally to an article like this (yeah, deep) — you capture something i’ve been feeling so fucking well. thank U
i absolutely love your writing style <3 and your personal style hehe