"Ma also gave me $2.99 to buy a paperback Webster's dictionary. This cost us almost two hundred finished skirts, since we were paid 1.5 cents per skirt. For years, I calculated whether or not something was expensive by how many skirts it cost. In those days, the subway was 100 skirst just to get to the factory and back, a package of gum cost 7 skirts, a hot dog was 50 skirts, and a new toy could range from 300 to 2,000 skirts. I even measured friendship in skirts. I learned you had to buy Christmas and birthday presents for friends, which cost at least a few hundred skirts each. It was a good thing I only had Annette as a friend."
- Kwok, Jean. Girl in Translation.
The above quote is an excerpt from a beautifully written work of fiction, which I highly recommend to you all. The following quote is from the author herself:
We lost all our money in the move to the United States. My family started working in a sweatshop in Chinatown. My father took me there every day after school and we all emerged many hours later, soaked in sweat and covered in fabric dust. Our apartment swarmed with insects and rats. In the winter, we kept the oven door open day and night because there was no other heat in the apartment.
-Jean Kwok
With all of my recent talk about foreign factory labor, unions, the importance of local suppliers, etc. Here's the kicker: I read the about the author page on the web, after seeing her familiar face with a link on a high school friend's Facebook page. The high school the author went to? Same as my own. I didn't know her personally, although the classes were small, (at least, I don't remember - my apologies if you see this somehow, Jean if that isn't true, but I certainly know your face!) since we were a year apart.
The hard truth is this: You have no idea what kind of hardship your neighbor may be facing. With enough food worldwide to fill everyone's bellies, 1 in 8 people is hungry. This shocking statistic is amplified when visiting the Our Global Food exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City right now. With our closets and drawers overflowing, and workers are sometimes risking even death to make even more clothing for those of us privileged enough to buy even more stuff, without even thinking twice. A family friend who works as a home health aid had a nearly impossible time trying to find an appropriate school for her autistic son, so she could simply earn a modest living.
The fact is, this is about far more than clothing.
What can we do? Well, we don't need an official "movement", since everyone can take steps of his/her own. Here's what my (literal) sister is doing. How about you?
I reread this post I wrote a few months ago, thinking my recent conversation with Leonard Bernstein might have changed my mind about many of the points I make here. Actually, I still stand by just about everything I said here, but I have been enlightened and broadened by the information he shared with me... and now I can share it with you. Stay tuned for my next post!
And read this one, if you didn't read it in February.
Well, I'm no Norma Rae. I'm not even sure where I stand on Unions. I may not mount workroom tables, holding a bold cardboard sign over my head, but I do have a passionate drive to keep the garment district going strong, as it matures into whatever the future has in store for this magical place. To make this happen, people have to earn paychecks. The kind that keep them fed, clothed, and sheltered. We ALL benefit from exchanges that honor the people contributing to the effort of manufacturing at every level. We all have a human obligation to respect, encourage and protect each other. That is a fundamental fact of life, not just in the garment industry, but everywhere.
Running this blog, visiting stores and businesses, being a dressmaker, and having so many contacts within the industry, I sometimes feel the pull of the soapbox. "Who will listen to me?" I think. It is very easy for others to give me an encouraging pat on the back, while doing nothing about the decline of the garment district themselves. "What do I know about all of this, anyway?" I often console myself by claiming not to know enough, by claiming to be "just" the tiniest of tiny voices in a huge, competitive industry. But, actually, I know the truth. Who isn't "just" a tiny voice? Someone has to pull out the soapbox, raise a sign, and put a voice to the problem I think we seem to be collectively ignoring. This post may be controversial, but I do hope it stirs up some great conversation. And action. There must be action.
*Clearing my throat*
In advertising circles, I know that they talk about getting people to see information by appealing to them in different ways. Some like to look at pictures, some are drawn in by the words, some are lured in by emotional stuff, and some just want the data. I'm going to give you all of those elements here. Whichever type of person you are, I encourage you to open up all of your senses to really take this post in. At the end, I am going to require something of you. I'm not actually asking. Your help really is needed here.
Step 1: Go to the mall, or wherever you actually shop for clothing. Look at the clothes, look at the fiber content, the construction, the countries of origin, the fit (try something on) and the price. Imagine who might have made it. What his/her life might be like. Good or bad, they live that way because WE buy the goods they make. Does that hurt to hear? Whether high end or low end, environmentally conscious, or generically anonymous clothing sold at a huge discount retailer, you have a mental picture, correct?
What you can do: Buy the things you feel good about buying, considering all aspects of how/where/by whom it was made available to you, and don't buy the ones you don't. What I can do: Tell you about companies who are making things in a socially responsible way, no matter where they are actually made. Let's start... click through for a great list of businesses who make their goods in the USA, where we have labor and wage laws. I know my audience is broader than just the USA, so I encourage any of you to think about your own political views, values and loyalties as well.
Tearjerker alert... Watch this old commercial.
"Our wages going... to feed the kids..."
Step 2: Go to the Garment District in New York City, if only to take a walk. Look at the stores you see there. In your opinion, can it still be called the garment district? Who occupies most of the real estate? Step into the fabric and notions stores. How much transacting are you seeing taking place? Are you buying? If so, great. If not, why not? Is there anything you are looking for that you can't find? Step into the Fashion Kiosk (at the big button) and ask your question. Be advised, they are there to give you information, not guarantees or recommendations. Meet and greet to get your own feel for the suitability of the business(es) they direct you to, and follow the path where that inquiry leads. If you go anywhere that I've sent you, tell the proprietor that you learned about them on my blog.
Don't live in NYC? Watch the video below (sound quality is poor, but you can still get it), wipe your tears, and then, then be sure to visit the websites of the garment district stores you like. Make, embellish, upcycle, or dress up your own stuff, if you want to. If making a statement by doing so, tell people who ask about it, why you make your own. Or, take a hybrid approach. Make some things, and shop responsibly for the rest. For what you buy ready-made, consider this...
What you can do: Read this post to get an idea of which garment district stores sell the kinds of things you want to buy. Then, buy something. Note: Even if the online vendors mentioned aren't in the NYC garment district, they are a "middleman" or fabric curator, since much of the fabric they sell still comes from stores in the NYC Garment District, anyway. So, in the end, it still benefits the same vendors.
What I can do: I can keep finding great new places, and notice improvements to old ones, and share that information here.
Step 3: Know this.A clothing designer isn't going to build a factory just to make their clothing here. This tells me that we have to take more than a few huge steps to change the aftermath of the battle we've already lost.
Yeah, I said it... We're fighting a war that is already lost. If you feel I am mistaken, I would love to know why you feel that way. Convince me. I'd love it. I have spoken to enough bigwigs to know that I am not the only one who feels this way. I will give you direct quotes from influencers who did not give me permission to share their names, but who can feel more than welcome to claim their (paraphrased) quotes in the comments following this entry.
"Only the small designers will have their things made in the garment district. The goal, for anyone, is to get the kind of volume they need to go offshore. Otherwise, they just can't keep up."
"I wish the Ralph Laurens and Gap would produce their garments here, using American notions, supplies and labor. I mean, really? Even they can't produce here, with the sales volume they have?"
Now go to the Imogene and Willie site. Again, not asking. Telling. Sorry to be so bossy, but I must, in this case. Read the page you find after clicking the link above, so that you are understanding what you are about to see below. Then watch the video, and whether you come back here, or stay there, do something. If you aren't moved, I think you might be made of stone.
What you can do: Listen to the idea given at the end of this video. Give it serious thought. Understand what their story is symptomatic of, and open yourself up to the big picture. Go to the Save the Garment Center website. Follow any of the suggestions that move you. Kinda 1960's maybe, but real. Hey, gotta start somewhere, right? Are you a designer? Can you be a part of making something happen? Somewhere?
Also, read the article about designers and the garment district here.
What I can do:Listen to you. Comments, please. I'll be going to the DG Expo today. Will you?
