quote:Originally posted by Jimmy Big Nuts: yeah, you're best off reading all the other threads. The lively ones, full of exciting ten way chats. The ones where people really are pushing the boat out to get things started again.
I suppose it depends whether you think that even the most banal posts are better than nothing, but I'm suprised to see you taking that position after you derided and then mocked discussion threads in the music forum. I'd assumed that was an attempt to encourage more and fresher content, but I didn't realise this... uh... crap was what you had in mind.
Anyway! Here's a thing. We're all doing our bit for the environment, right? Recycling, normal cycling, that kind of thing. Checking the country of origin on our fruit before we buy it anyway because even though it's October you still want a fruit smoothie. Does anyone apply any ethical standards to their clothes? I was looking at my pile of dirt cheap t-shirts that I used to buy whenever the tram was delayed outside Allders in Croydon and just kind of having the merest hint of a glimmer of a dawning realisation that quite a few people probably suffered quite badly just so that I could buy a purple t-shirt for £2.99. I mean, even if it was sewn in quite a nice far eastern sweat shop, I don't really like the idea of someone being exploited even a little bit to get me a cheap t-shirt I didn't want in a colour I don't like.
How do you even go about finding out what stuff isn't from a sweat shop? Presumably most stuff on the high street is? Otherwise how could Next offer a pair of trousers for a tenner? It all seems terribly grim. I know Benway used to work in fashion retail. Perhaps he can fill me in on whether or not each of us is directly contributing to the misery of a fellow human being every time we buy some clothes, and if so what can we do about it?
-------------------- Now that you've called me by name? Posts: 2007
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But... If you didn't buy that t-shirt for 2.99 and nobody else bought them, then the people in that sweatshop in China would be out of work and unable to feed their family. Is that what you want?
A new Primark opened up the road from us recently. Literally about 5 doors down from the old Primark which has now closed. Now, although this new one is about twice the size, as far as I can tell it is still just a Primark so shouldn't hold all that much interest.
However, I was walking past on Saturday at about 4pm and this was 3 days after the shop had opened, and people were having to queue up in a one in one out basis to just get into the shop and the queue outside the shop was about 50 people long. Seriously, why would someone spend their Saturday queueing outside a shop that will sell exactly the same t-shirt for 2.99 that they could have bought the week before five doors up without queueing. Idiots.
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quote:Originally posted by Cactus: But... If you didn't buy that t-shirt for 2.99 and nobody else bought them, then the people in that sweatshop in China would be out of work and unable to feed their family. Is that what you want?
Jeez. I feel bad enough that my lifestyle is facilitated by the oppression of a good chunk of the population, without demanding that they thank me for it.
I suppose what I want would be for the same people to still be able to work, but to have safe conditions, reasonable pay, fair hours, that kind of thing. Obviously I accept that this means the price of a t-shirt may go up to £10 or even £12 but I think maybe that would be OK, if you knew that - you know - it wasn't built of misery and blood.
-------------------- Now that you've called me by name? Posts: 2007
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Couldn't you just find out which clothing manufacturers have an ethical employment policy and make sure you only ever buy t-shirts made by them?
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A simple google search has turned up this shop where all the clothes are manufactured in the UK, so probably not in really bad sweat shops and there are some beautiful clothes available from there.
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Ethical clothes - Made for hippies, by hippies
Let's face it, exploitation makes the world taste/look/perform better. You can only make progress by stepping on people who are smaller/weaker/less advantaged than you. I say enjoy it. At least it's not you, right?
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quote:Originally posted by Nathan Bleak: Why does ethically produced stuff always have to look/ taste/ perform like shit?
Check out this rant about Fair Trade coffee. Apparently it is much worse for the people growing it than before fair trade came along. Genius
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jesus, I used to be like some really, really bitchy version of Haus from Barbelith. that is good writing, but its intention is pretty dubious. When I read stuff like that, I barely know whether to be amused, proud or ashamed. or to count myself lucky I got away with that shit.
Oh yes, autumn wardrobes. I am almost tempted to buy one of those V-neck cardigans, but it looks a bit Preston, doesn't it? I know who Preston is cause I saw him on TV long before I moved out of London.
To be absolutely honest, my next clothes-buying plan is just to pick up black combats and a black hoodie, cheaply (Gap... capsule wardrobe type thing) in the hope that on my "research day" I can just slouch and sneak around work without anyone noticing I'm in.
Most days I dress like something from Canary Wharf, so I feel constantly on display.
So, boring post but on-topic.
-------------------- pudgy little saucepot Posts: 738
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Flip flops? In the city? Surely flip flops are designed solely for beach/ swimming pool use? You know, they slip on and off easily, so if yu want to nip up and get a beer you can do so easily, without burning your feet. In any other situation they're actually dysfunctional - difficult to walk in, ugly, pointless. Wearing them in the city is madness. You may as well wear a wetsuit to work.
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Can you imagine the noise that tens of thousands of people all walking down the same streets wearing flip flops would actually make. It would be deafening.
Maybe Benway actually means sandals. Because people who wear sandals who are under 40 are probably the very worst kind of *****. Especially if they're wearing light canvas cargo pants at the same time.
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I know, it's horrendous. Idiots. It's not only any old flip flop either. It's these ones. Even the word 'flip flop' is enough to make me feel queasy.
[ 04.10.2007, 05:58: Message edited by: Jimmy Big Nuts ]
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And the oomska which gets between the toes and under the soles after a rain shower on London streets is positively the vilest substance under the sun. Or cloud.
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it's probably just my problem. People can wear what they like I suppose. I don't really mind it on chicks as long as they have exactly the right kind of feet. But men's feet. Especially coated with a days worth of london grime. Sickening.
[ 04.10.2007, 06:00: Message edited by: Jimmy Big Nuts ]
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I blame these ‘men’s lifestyle’ magazines. They encourage people to wear things like this. I think they do it on purpose; get a kick out of encouraging retards to wear things which make them look like idiots. Like those loosely tied scarves that I see people wearing now. What’s that all about, it’s like 15 degrees outside you twats. I wish I was an editor for one of those mags, I’d be constantly wanting to up the ante.
Plimpsoles – this season’s essential footwear Top hats – that retro look making a bold statement this summer Urban Cyclist Chic – nothing says ‘athletic’ like a splash of diesel and engine oil up the back of your t-shirt
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I've just bought two cardigans, finding a cardigan in Holland is not easy, maybe they're not this seasons 'must have' in Holland, but we do have a River Island now, so I got a nice black marino wool mix cardie from there and a cheapo one almost the same but made of some man made nonsense from C&A..
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Talking of ****, one of our mags has just come out. In the centre spread is a map, entitled 'current development projects'. The word 'current' goes across the gutter. The mag has been bound too tightly, and guess which letters have been swallowed up?
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Is the irony of your post that you've been fired for this fiasco and will end up in the gutter, Herbs, cracktastic in rags that leave your naked 'current' on full view to passers by?
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Oslo, the ethics of clothing is all the rage in the face-clawing, derivative world of insipid television formats at the moment - so all your questions will probably be answered soon on a number of different channels, over an instrumental version of Just Jack'z Starz on theirz Eyez.
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Grazia recently ran an article about how spending is so yesterday. Ethics and financial prudence - it's the early 90s again!
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