Dualité

After reading interesting bits about counterfeiters being arrested, Italian houses employing illegal chinese manufacturing laborers, and many luxury houses shipping their productions to China, India and Mauritius, I’ve just gotten a whole lot pickier about shopping for clothes.

Made In Labels

I made a round at the Rockland Centre today, being a completely picky shopper. I checked “Made in” labels, rubbed the fabric between my fingers, and turned skirts, dresses, jackets and pants inside out to check what they were made of. Though now I know that some “Made ins” are completely false (produced in China, assembled in Europe, carrying the European label), it’s gotten a lot tougher to decipher what’s of quality what isn’t. Not to say that everything China is poorly made, there are different grades of quality in Chinese goods (and some of them are of very good quality), so it’s really a question of knowing your fabric, looking at the seams, the stitches, the craftsmanship. Not that I would be an expert in fabrics, but we all learn as we go right?

Here’s a roundup of what I found in some of the stores I visited:

BCBG - Lots of stuff made in China, shoes made in Brazil. Quality is to be questionable, especially at such a high price. I’ve already bought 2 dresses from them at $300-$400 a pop. One of them has sequins sewed near the neckline but it’s been dropping sequins all over the place after only wearing it twice for 2 weddings. Disappointing to say the least. Aside from the dresses, their jackets, shirts and pants, looked flimsy, I’ll have to ask my BCBG-nut friend of their clothe quality.

Banana Republic - Made in China, and The Philippines. Quality is better and appropriately priced for some of their clothes. I checked out one orange dress with a polyester lining but it looked flimsy as far as being attached to the dress itself. I have a skirt and a shirt that I’ve had for over a couple of years, so far the skirt looks worn and the black faded (lining still there amazingly), the white shirt needs constant ironing, otherwise the buttons are still on, a good sign.

Tristan – Made in China and Canada. Style wise, it’s my favorite store. They have this gorgeous royal blue crepe shirt made of 100% silk from China. Very unique texture, love the styling, the stitching looked good, but one look at the buttons and my hopes were dashed. The thin, flat iridescent buttons were badly sewn on, the first button looked like it was about to fall off. I’ve had my share of badly sewn buttons, if the buttons don’t look solid, I don’t buy them. The Made in Canada items looked better and felt nice, but I don’t know if their buttons are just as poorly sewn. I’ve also had a white shirt with organza ruffles at the cuffs, ripped off in not even a day, haven’t worn it since. Quality is to be questionable.

Mango – Made in China and Vietnam. I admit upfront: I hate this store. It’s everything a fast fashion store could ever possess. Cheaply made garments of today’s trend du jour at a pretty expensive price range. One thin double breasted cream jacket made in Vietnam cost $90 when I’m pretty sure it was made for like $5. I’ll never shop at this store.

Le Chateau – Made in China and Canada. The Canadian equivalent as a fast fashion store, and a highly successful one at that, somehow the quality appears to be better, or maybe that’s just the general pleasing aesthetic of the store, but I wouldn’t count on it too much. I bought my favorite coat from this place, a military styled turquoise knee length jacket. The only problem are, once again, the buttons. Like many other places, they use cheap threads to keep the buttons on, and have had to resew 6 of the 20 something buttons several times. Quality is dubious here.

Josef – Made in Canada. Finally! A fashionable store with Made in Canada labels, and it shows (too bad I couldn’t find a website to go with it). I touched one dress with a mock white collared shirt and dress bottom, the fabric felt thick like it would last me a good while, the lining was properly sewed on, and it looked like one of those wrinkle free dresses. It was $175. There was another gray, sleeveless office dress with a belt, also had good lining, $200. Though the pieces of this store were basic, I found the quality to look very good (at least I hope it is). Will definitely return to this store.

Stores with surprising quality

Forever XXI - Ok, we don’t have this store here. Yes, it’s the American equivalent of a fast fashion store. However, I’ve bought a couple of things from them, and all are Made in USA. A polka dot strapless dress, laced hemline, nice lining, and seemingly wrinkle free, could not ask for a better summer dress than this. Orange double breasted petticoat, buttons fall off, not surprised. Cropped gray pants, after a year it’s starting to show some light lint fuzz. For a fast fashion store, there are a few gems to be found here.

MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-Op) – I’ve written an article on Gloss about this store. And I wanted to say in detail how much I love the hoodie I got from them. During winter I wear it 5 days a week, no joke. If any store would know anything about quality fabric, it’s MEC. Some brands like Pantagonia have their stuff made in China, but all MEC branded items are Made in Canada. The hoodie, made with Polartec technology, will never ever make lint fuzz or balls. I don’t know much about how to describe its texture, but it’s smooth on the outside and lined with fleece on the inside. Best $110 I’ve ever spent. I’ve considered getting it in another color, but haven’t gotten around to buying it yet.

A Brand With Surprisingly Bad Quality

Lacoste shoes – I’m sure it’s more their licensee’s fault since Lacoste’s specialty are their famed polo shirts. And the licensee for Lacoste makes many of their shoes in places like Vietnam and Thailand. My flat ballerinas cost a whopping $145, made of leather exterior, and after a year of wearing it and traveling around, the leather wore off at the tips, and for some reason the stitching of the trims busted. I loved these shoes, but I won’t buy from Lacoste again for footwear.

Again, it’s not to say that everything made in third world countries are poorly made. I’ve seen knock offs made of the highest grade in quality, popular brand names (like Puma) made in legitimate factories in China, still make comfortable shoes. However, work conditions, and most of all, salary, are drastically different in these countries than they would be in Europe or North America. Why pay an italian worker $18/hr to make garments when you can pay $0.10/hr in China?

This was my personal assessment of the mid-ranged clothing stores today. I’d love to inspect further for higher end garments just to see if their quality is better, made in China or not. Of course I’d probably have to spend a small fortune, but there’s nothing quite like shopping for research.