Hey Everyone!! So I am going to go on a bit of a rant today........ A few days ago I was at the local mall and thought I might stop in at Banana Republic to see what they had on the sale rack. Lets just say that I felt pretty chuffed (happy) when I left. I left said store with 5 shirts-1 cotton shirt and 4 T-Shirt type tops. All 5 were purchased with tax for about $52.00!! That is pretty awesome since some of the T-Shirts were $75.00 regular price. Now.....I wore one of the t-shirts on the weekend. This morning I was doing Laundry.....it never ends people!!!!! Anyways..... I always hang my clothes. ALWAYS. The only things that I will dry are undies, towels, sheets, etc.... but NEVER Adult clothing. The dryer can be your worst enemy when it comes to fibres. It is a destroyer of textiles....... Anyways........I pulled my BR T-Shirt out to hang and a little something caught my eye! A TINY HOLE.... up high on the back right shoulder area- in the fabric, not the seam. To say that I was ticked off was an understatement. It goes along with what I have been saying for years now......... Clothes and T-Shirts in particular are taking a nose dive in quality. I can remember owning T-Shirts for years and they NEVER got holes in them. Now, I know that there is a lot of chatter on the net about holes in shirts and in particularly with regard to the belly button region. And there is theory after theory about how these little holes form. They talk about rubbing against counters, acids from your belly button, belt buckles..... I could go on and on. And some of these theories may be true in part for the belly button region, however, I am talking about the holes you find everywhere else on a T-Shirt. I find that any T-shirts that I buy from Old Navy, The Gap or even BR (as an example) all end up with these mysterious holes. The Textiles Major in me is theorizing that it has EVERYTHING to do with inferior threads. Simple as that. These companies have a bottom line and they all want to increase their profit margins. How do they do that?? Buy purchasing fabric that is a lower quality yet charging a lot for it. Now a lot of you out there will say....but when I purchase that shirt from the store it feels great. Well of course it does, as that INFERIOR thread they have made that t-shirt with has been processed to feel "nice". Use an inferior thread and beef it up with chemicals to make it feel good. However, after washing a few times that chemical is gone and poof- CRAPPY T-SHIRT!!!! Also if the threads that make up that T-Shirt are made with really tiny staple fibres they just won't hold up.
Think about it......... When they spin a thread to make up a piece of fabric,in a perfect world they should use lovely long or good quality staple cotton fibres. When that thread is under attack by wearing, washing, pulling, drying etc......the longer, better quality fibres will last way longer than a cheap, shorter, staple fibre. If they make up fabric with cheap, weak and short threads then those threads when under "attack", easily break and rub away, thus creating a hole in the fabric.
I can't tell you how many times I see "fine" shirt fabric and think to myself...."well that won't last long". Very few manufacturers are using a high quality thread and fabric. It is the cost of doing business. Only the end result is a throw away society. Like I said. I remember having T-Shirts that would last for years. However, when you think about it, having long lasting products really impacts the "companies" bottom line. They think if they make a T-shirt to last "just long" enough then people won't go too ballistic!! And you will of course have to buy more. Well this is one girl that is tired of this built in redundancy. I mean come on.... I washed the T-Shirt once!!!! I am only hoping that I can find the bill.....However, it was Recycle day on Mon!!!! I hope I didn't recycle it!
So what am I trying to say here.......Do your best to educate yourself. Don't buy crap and expect it to last. That $5.00 T-shirt from Joe Fresh probably won't last too long and in fact will probably loose it's shape after a wash or two....that is just a fact....And it has happened to me!! You cannot expect high quality from a $5.00 T-Shirt. However, when a T-Shirt that originally would have cost $75.00......well that is where I get really ticked off!! If I can't find the bill I am going to have to try and mend that little hole somehow.
I wish I had the solution! I wish I had the power to stop the madness. Goodness forbid a companies mandate is to have a conscience and be successful too. Money drives the machine and all that!! I have no problem with companies making money. Where I do have an issue is when they try to sell crap and make major profits from it.
So I invite anyone out there from any company that sells T-Shirts or other Garments to offer up an explanation as to why their Garments just can't seem to hold up to every day life. Like I said, we have T-shirts that we bought years ago and guess what??? NO holes. Yet, the ones that I have bought in the last little while just don't seem to be a able to hold a candle to those from long ago.....Explanations anyone??
There you have it my RANT!!!
Have an awesome day everyone.
Megan
P.S..... Sorry for the lack of pics today..... I just had to have my say!!!
P.P.S..... I found my receipt and will be going over to Banana Republic.... will let you know how it goes!
Think about it......... When they spin a thread to make up a piece of fabric,in a perfect world they should use lovely long or good quality staple cotton fibres. When that thread is under attack by wearing, washing, pulling, drying etc......the longer, better quality fibres will last way longer than a cheap, shorter, staple fibre. If they make up fabric with cheap, weak and short threads then those threads when under "attack", easily break and rub away, thus creating a hole in the fabric.
I can't tell you how many times I see "fine" shirt fabric and think to myself...."well that won't last long". Very few manufacturers are using a high quality thread and fabric. It is the cost of doing business. Only the end result is a throw away society. Like I said. I remember having T-Shirts that would last for years. However, when you think about it, having long lasting products really impacts the "companies" bottom line. They think if they make a T-shirt to last "just long" enough then people won't go too ballistic!! And you will of course have to buy more. Well this is one girl that is tired of this built in redundancy. I mean come on.... I washed the T-Shirt once!!!! I am only hoping that I can find the bill.....However, it was Recycle day on Mon!!!! I hope I didn't recycle it!
So what am I trying to say here.......Do your best to educate yourself. Don't buy crap and expect it to last. That $5.00 T-shirt from Joe Fresh probably won't last too long and in fact will probably loose it's shape after a wash or two....that is just a fact....And it has happened to me!! You cannot expect high quality from a $5.00 T-Shirt. However, when a T-Shirt that originally would have cost $75.00......well that is where I get really ticked off!! If I can't find the bill I am going to have to try and mend that little hole somehow.
I wish I had the solution! I wish I had the power to stop the madness. Goodness forbid a companies mandate is to have a conscience and be successful too. Money drives the machine and all that!! I have no problem with companies making money. Where I do have an issue is when they try to sell crap and make major profits from it.
So I invite anyone out there from any company that sells T-Shirts or other Garments to offer up an explanation as to why their Garments just can't seem to hold up to every day life. Like I said, we have T-shirts that we bought years ago and guess what??? NO holes. Yet, the ones that I have bought in the last little while just don't seem to be a able to hold a candle to those from long ago.....Explanations anyone??
There you have it my RANT!!!
Have an awesome day everyone.
Megan
P.S..... Sorry for the lack of pics today..... I just had to have my say!!!
P.P.S..... I found my receipt and will be going over to Banana Republic.... will let you know how it goes!
No comments:
Post a Comment