ethics

[snarryfool]

Over and over in this comm, I read complaints about the price of clothing. I get that most people are on a budget, but it's a source of dismay that I have not once seen any pushback concerning the kinds of labor practices that make clothing cheap -- in particular, the kind of fast fashion that seems to be most popular here. Here's a blog post

Comments

[anthylorrel]

I have no problems spending a little more on fewer pieces that would last, if they would actually last. But, I've found with most plus sized clothes, even if you're spending nearly $100 on one piece of clothing that with most companies it will still fall apart quickly. This is a huge issue for me, since I'm on such a limited income (disabled) and $100 is 10% of my monthly income. I don't need cheap, just affordable clothes on par with what skinnies pay. There is no way that a yard of extra fabric (in most clothing cases) will run $40 more dollars.

[philstar22]

On the one hand, I agree with everything you are saying.

On the other hand, there is a problem when plus sized clothes are priced differently than the same sort of thing in smaller sizing. That has nothing to do with labor practices. I'm perfectly happy to pay fair prices for clothes, but fair prices means fair charging for what the item costs to make, not added prices just because they know fat people have to pay more.

[jeesh]

This comment exactly.

Being ethical about it would be great. I'm all for it. But having to pay more for plus sized clothes gets really old. And I don't have a lot of money to spend in the first place.

[potatoprint]

I've been here for a long time, and I know it has been discussed at length in the past.

Meh, it's a tough call. Wanting to be an ethical consumer, and being in a position to be one is often a question of money. It's fine to suggest that people buy in moderation, but in the real world even then a lit of people can only afford cheap clothing.

Personally, I have read a lot on clothing production, and it's not just the bottom end retailers that abuse cheap overseas labour

[raktajinos]

I care passionately about where my clothing (and food, etc) comes from. I'm a dedicated social activist and feminist so these are things I think about. And I definitely think they are important to be discussed.

However, the choices for fatties and clothing is SO limited to begin with, if we wanted to shop ethically......there's almost no where to go. We cant run around naked (though, I suppose if we did people would start selling more plus size clothes, cause they'd be appalled by all the nekkid fatties lol)

I'd love to have a discussion about ethics and modes of production - and even better have some suggestions given for sustainable options for us to shop. "I've been reading this comm for over a year now and I have never seen anyone express the slightest concern about where the clothes come from or what impact purchasing them might have. It freaks me out more than a little." This comment feels, to me, very shame-inducing. For a community who deals with shame on a daily basis, I don't know if that was the right tone to take. If

[meiow]

I always viewed this as a matter of basic logistics on this community

[meiow]

Side note: I sew, and I have several pieces made by artists here in the US. Where do you think the *fabric* is made? The notions? Even if the outfit was assembled here, there's still likely to be tears in that fabric somewhere.

Just FYI.

[goldbug]

FYI, I was told by one of the environmental activists in my area that I could donate worn-out clothing and fabric items to Goodwill. He said that if it's too worn to sell, they recycle it. If you have a bunch of stuff that is worn, it helps to put it all together in a bag labeled "rags" so that they don't have to use labor/time to sort through it. Now, that said, I don't know if it applies to other thrift stores or even Goodwills in other areas, but it's worth looking into.