Clothes

[CAJUNLAWYER]

My town's biggest employer used to be Fruit of the Loom-there was a sister plant in St. Martinville. If you wore Fruit of the Loom t shirts or tighty whiteties during the 70's through the mid 90's chances are they were made by one of my clients working at the mill. In a town of 6000 people when an employer who had approx 1200 on the payroll shut down it was a bit tough. Thank you NAFTA . Not only did Mexico take the drawers plant, they sent a bunch of Mexicans up here to work in the cane fields because the local labor force won't work. But that's a different story for a different time.....

 

[Catshooter]

You're way late to this party oldman45. This has been the case for a long time now, sorry to say.


Cat

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

I have become such a dedicated thrift shop/yard rummage/estate sale hound that I have a hard time IMAGINING paying retail. I buy all my shoes at the thrifts now, at a local Salvation Army I found a pair of Justin boots-$10.00 less 50% that day-$5.00. Yes, you ocassionally have to buy foreign made items but at least you're not paying US made prices for them.

Bingo! I bought my last new suit about thirty years ago. I did buy a very nice suit at a thrift shop in the DC area for $40 fifteen years ago. I've been wearing sport jackets more often these days, and inflation IS beginning to set in. The local Good Will store is now charging $7 for jackets instead of $5. Oh, well. I can afford it. I do buy shoes new, but most often on sale.

Money is for important stuff, like food and guns. Of course, some folks have jobs that dictate certain kinds of clothing, but there is often still a little wiggle room. A man has to have his priorities straight.

 

[cussedemgun]

MR. CaJun said "the local work force won't work".

I grew up in a rural west coast community. I graduated from the 8th grade at the local school. My class of '54 was 5 kids. The whole 8 grades were in a two room school house with 42 kids total. I mention this for reference to the size of the community.

Our area was mainly family farms. There were 7 dairys, a truck garden, tree nursery, trout farm, and berry growers within walking distance of my home. From the time I was 10 years old, I was either in school or working & many times was working when I should have been in school.
I was no different from the others in our area, everyone knew everyone & when work was needed, everyone helped.

By todays laws, I would have been put in public care, my folks jailed for child abuse along with anyone that hired me. Long story short; I wasn't made to work, I wanted to learn, be active, & have some spending money. I remember the fun, not the labor. In the end we grew up knowing how to work. I don't mean as in push buttons, tell someone what to do, or any paper pushing, I mean 'get down & dirty WORK'. If you've ever bucked bales or milked cows (50 morning & night) you are nodding your right now.

Alas- the family farm that taught so many the true value of life is no more. It has been taxed & regulated out of business. The farmland in the valley where I grew up now grows houses. Row after row of houses, I often wonder where all those people came frow.

Aint progress wonderful?

Jim

 

[straightshooter1]

I guess I don't get it. I think I am a loyal American, served in the Military, been involved in two phases of law enforcement my whole life, always vote, and, FWIW, consider myself a conservative.

Yet I buy Wrangler, Izod, etc. for casual wear. I don't get buying jeans for $40 and up just because they are "American made."

I get mine for about $15 per pair and they last for years. They fit, have pockets that conceal my J-Frame and I like them.

The Izod (or other) shirts fit fine, look good and last. They cost less than $20 each.

For that matter, I drive a "foreign" vehicle, a Nissan Pathfinder. I have had American cars, but never had one that was very good or which lasted very long. My Pathfinder was made in the US, by American workers, and it is noticeably lesser in quality that the 94 Pathfinder I used to own that was made in Japan or the Toyota Highlander I had, also made in Japan.

I bought my last American car, an '88 Olds, on the assurance of many folks I know that American car makers had "gotten the message." It was not a car I recall with any fondness and I got rid of it for a Japanese SUV.

I'd happily "Buy American" if the goods were competitive in price and quality.

Are you (or at least some of you) really saying I should spend extra money for items just because they are made here?

To me, that makes no sense, but I am willing to listen.

Bob

 

[wbraswell]

I'm with straightshooter1. Remember American cars of the late 70s? Imagine how sorry they would have gotten if they didn't have the pressure from foreign competition. I own motorcycles, but I have absolutely no use for a V-twin engine, so, I can't buy American. What happens to GM, if the Chinese quit buying Buicks? Our economy has to have imports and exports, I agree to chide companies who have gone from here to exclusively overseas, but buying imports is not "Unamerican"

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

It's funny how all that gets typed out on Chinese keyboards. Real believers would throw out their computers and wait until 100% American made models came out .....

oh, wait ....

 

[corpulent]

My NRA hat was made in China.

 

[runwiththeherd]

I buy American whenever possible. I don't mind spending a little more either. I have to say, one of the funniest (and ironic) things I have ever seen was a sign that read:

Be American
Buy American

I turned it over and found a "Made in China" sticker.

 

[straightshooter1]

runwiththeherd:

I don't disagree with you at all. I'd spend "a little more" to buy American.

But, with respect to clothes, that's not what it is, a little more. It's a LOT more. I checked out the site posted for American-made clothes, and I have visited most of those sites before.

First of all, jeans at $99 per pair are simply nuts. $40 is way too much for me for jeans. If I can get jeans that are just fine for $15 +/- a buck or two, why on earth would I pay nearly three times that for a pair just because it is allegedly made in the US?

Bob

 

[runwiththeherd]

I agree with you. Paying 2X the price is hard to justify for a label alone.