Clothes

Is it just me or are designers and manufactures of women’s clothing playing a joke on us and laughing all the way to the bank?

On a recent shopping trip, I browsed in stores for women’s clothing from economy to high-end and everything in between and had a difficult time liking the choices available. From the quality of fabrics to colors and designs, there were disappointments. 

In addition to being disappointed in the choices, I was keenly aware that none of the clothes were labeled as being made in the USA. I considered the implications of this for the manufacturing workforce in the United States. It used to be that the prices were more affordable when the garments were not made in the United States. I don’t think this is the case now. Very casual wear such as t-shirts made overseas seemed unreasonably expensive for the quality. So why all the imports?

As I looked through racks of clothing at various stores, I thought about what my mother’s reaction might be upon seeing the choices today. She was a woman of impeccable style and discernment. She knew quality fabrics and was a real stickler about the precision of the tailoring. She would rub the fabric between her thumb and middle finger and determine whether the garment was worth the price. Even though money was short, if she had to buy clothing, it would be of the highest quality. She took very good care of her clothes. As a result, she kept her clothes for a long time, but they never seemed to go out of style. They were classics.

I haven’t seen what I would call a classic in some time now. Instead of styles today, there are trends because what’s up-to-date, or what everyone is wearing, changes so frequently. Designers and manufacturers of almost every consumer product create them for obsolescence. Otherwise, there would be no profit. I think most of us buy clothes that make us feel good about ourselves. Clothes we choose represent the image we have of our best selves. That’s why most of us have at least one garment that is, in our opinion, a classic. We keep it even if we don’t wear it because it’s who we are.

Except for that classic piece, I suspect that we don’t wear our clothes season after season because we don’t want to be out of sync with what others are wearing. To keep up with the trends of the day, we hold our breath and pay the prices offered.

It’s not that we are complacent and don’t care about quality or have discerning taste. We have no choice but to settle for the last resort and buy what is offered. It is our vanity and unwillingness to be out of sync with the latest trends that allow designers and manufacturers of clothing to get away with offering us shoddily made unattractive clothing.

It’s a bittersweet memory to recall the days when I couldn’t afford most of the clothes that appealed to me, and window shopping was good enough because the beauty of the clothes brought joy whether I could own them or not.

A possible upside to my dim view about today’s clothes is that we’re not alone.  Everybody looks very strange in the trends of the day.