The price of fashion

Globalisation, mass production and the masses assimilating into one global mainstream culture are just some of the reasons behind an issue in fashion and design that really grinds my gears. The mass production of cheap crap! Cheap clothes made of synthetic fabrics that don’t last, cheaply mass produced furniture, rubbish shoes that do you all of six weeks; these thing all promote hyper consumerism. It might seem rather daft to speak out against consumerism when discussing an industry utterly dependant on consumerism and the people’s capacity to spend spend spend; but what’s happening to the days of fine crafts and artisans, highly trained in the hand crafted perfection of their particular trade? Well generally you can still find them, but they’re the minority and so is the percentage of the world population with enough disposable income to shop purely among top end designers. For the majority it’s chain stores jam packed with cheaply produced, and consequently cheap looking, clothing and furniture. 

What’s my problem? Well, cheap crap doesn’t last so we have to keep buying more and more to replace it. And where are we meant to put the masses of junk that no one wants any more? 

Up and coming generations are all about having it all and having it now, and in actual fact, cheaply crafted goods work well with the fickle and fast paced nature of the fashion and designer lifestyle industry because, well, who cares if the item doesn’t have lasting quality if it’s only in fashion for the season? I fear this mentality is far from sustainable! Especially when you consider the changes taking place in this world we share. As the economies of population giants like China and India get stronger and wealthier, more and more people start expecting a high standard of lifestyle. That means there’s A LOT more people who want the car, the wardrobe, and the stylish home etc. Now I don’t begrudge people wanting to live well, I’m as guilty as anyone ( and probably more so) but it is an issue gnawing at my conscience. What’s more, with today’s media and reality TV, all the world’s middle classes are peering through the window at ‘the other half’ and the opulent and stylish lifestyles they live and we want in! I mean, wouldn’t it be nice? So we spend all our hard earned money ( and money that’s not really ours to spend i.e credit cards) on cheaper and mass produced versions of the latest fashions in clothing, accessories, furniture and more.

And do you know what reeeally grinds my gears? There is soooo much ‘cheap crap’ that, relative to regular salaries, isn’t even that cheap. I still spend the bulk of my income on fashion and living the life. The more you earn, the more you justify spending on things. I've read many an article on the subject of what was coined "luxorexia", a new phenomenon of young women getting themselves into copious amounts of debt trying to keep up with models and celebs.

I’m pretty guilty of spending large sums of money, quite unjustifiably when you consider my meagre graduate income, on fabulous items. And I am prepared to spend that bit more if the quality is there; but so often it just isn’t. I may splash out on the odd designer item but at this stage I CAN NOT afford to decorate my apartment in Versace home ware, hell, I can’t even afford a dress from Versace let alone a lounge suite. But is that the length you have to go to just to get long lasting, good quality? Once upon a time middle class gals had less things, but at least they were decent quality. Most probably they were produced locally by an adult who was making a fair living off their craft, but that’s just not the world we live in any more and, frankly, I think it’s a crying shame. Once upon a time there were furniture makers who took the time to create wonderful pieces out of top quality wood that would be passed down through the family. Once upon a time there was a big enough market for this, now small business can't compete with "the walmart syndrome".

I am the lucky owner of some fabulous vintage items passed down to me from my beautiful grandmother, some of it she sewed herself. And when I wear them I always get complimented. I just think it’s marvellous that she wore them in her day and they’ve lasted all these years. My favourite items are the two fur coats and fur hat. They are still in fantastic condition, and I believe my daughter or granddaughter may one day wear them. They’re a winner (unless you’re a rabbit or possum). One is rabbit, the other possum, both made in New Zealand where those animals breed, well, they breed like rabbits; and they are an eco-pest. Now, the use of fur in fashion is always controversial and everyone is entitled to their point of you. Me, I'm an advocate of the use of fur when the animal in question is far from risk of becoming endangered. Animal products, fur as well as wool, alpaca, leather and others, are such great quality and serve perfectly as practical fabrics for human clothing. They keep you warm without making you sweat and they stand the test of time. Sure killing animals for fur may seem cruel, but I don’t think it’s cruel to mother earth. One fur coat will outlast a man made faux fur ten times over, and then you’ve got nine matted, tacky and obsolete faux fur coats to throw out. Where are they gonna go? They’re not going to biodegrade for a loooong time. 

I recently had to leave Australia and its 38 degree days and race over to England to see a sick family member. All my winter clothes and furs are back in NZ and I didn’t have any warm clothes to pack. Never mind, I thought, the UK has great shopping. And you’re better to buy clothes for northern winters in the north, right? Well I’ve searched Norwich, Cambridge, Worcester, Edinburgh, Newcastle AND Cardiff since I’ve been here, desperately seeking some nice pure wool to keep me warm. In fact, it’s hard to differentiate between all those cities when it comes to shopping because they all have the exact same string of chain stores, all packed with acrylics, polyester, and if you’re lucky cotton.  I haven’t seen much if anything that’s pure wool. Well, I got a great cashmere scarf in Edinburgh but of course I paid three times the price...totally worth it. I plan on having that scarf for years to come! It’s kind of funny really, you see, I used to have this same rant back in NZ. 

Let me tell you, if there is one thing NZ has, its sheep, lots and lots of sheep. So you’d think our stores would be packed with lots of lovely winter woollies, accessible to the working masses. Nope, it’s all bloody acrylics made in China. Unless you want to go to Untouched World or the like and pay hundreds for a jersey. So I figured, “ah well I guess we must export all our wool overseas, fair enough we don’t have much to barter with when it comes to exports”. So then I figured the UK must be packed with lovely, reasonably priced NZ woollies to keep these poor people who live in this rubbish climate warm. Eeeh, wrong again. Ironically, my dearest mother has ended up sending me a bunch of merino and possum garments from NZ. ( What would we do without our mums aye?)

It’s capitalism and there’s no point crying over it. In order for someone to wear chinchilla to keep warm, 500 others must find themselves sporting three layers of acrylic turtle necks made by Chinese kids. But I still maintain that for the quality you get from chain stores (or rather, lack there of) the prices are still quite expensive, especially in New Zealand and Australia.  Speaking of New Zealand exports, there is a lyric in a song by our very own Flight of the Concords that, although they are being facetious, makes a very good point. The song is called Think about it and the lyric goes...

They're turning kids into slaves just to make cheaper sneakers
But what's the real cost, cause the sneakers don't seem that much cheaper
Why are we still paying so much for sneakers when you got little kid slaves making them
What are your overheads?
(For anyone who doesn't know this band, they're not serious but they're very funny, check them out on you tube!!!)

What's to be done? Am I the only one who feels this way? I make my wee difference by using my consumer power carefully, and it's taken a lot of faulty garments to get me here. I am very wary of chain stores and going mad on getting cheaper imitations of all the latest fickle fashions; instead I spend my dollar wisely and though I pay more per item and buy less in the long run, I make a point of buying good quality, classic items that can last me years. This saves me money in the long run, then I can splash out every now and then.

Luckily I'm finally getting the chance to go to London this weekend, the cure to my disappointment in UK shopping else where. Looking forward to drooling over all the designer stuff I can't quite afford.

I'd love to hear any thoughts on the matter!

xoxo