Date: 9/11/09 8:21 AM

The New York Times has an interesting article about the struggling high-end fashion industry during these tough economic times High Fashion Faces a Redefining Moment . Today, designers are cutting prices and abandoning expensive materials, labor intensive techniques and trendy styles. I'm very glad I learned how to sew and can make my own "designer" clothes.

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The essence of life is statistical improbability on a colossal scale.
Richard Dawkins

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Reply to nancy2001
Date: 9/11/09 8:50 AM

I’m not especially gleeful about this development because millions of people all over the world depend on the fashion industry for their livelihood. I also don’t think its fair that the article blames designers because retailers, who control the supply chain, are to blame for the sorry state of the industry.

There used to be in fashion all sorts of lines that were well made but not inexpensive or luxury price. In clothing that has virtually disappeared, and goods are either discount retail quality or luxury grade and that’s it. The clothing equivalent of lines like Via Spiga or Franco Sarto, both of which make high quality shoes and bags that don’t break my bank account, doesn't seem to exist anymore.

Phyllis
-- Edited on 9/11/09 8:52 AM --

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Sewing = Fashion
http://coudremode.com/

Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.

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Reply to PhyllisC
Date: 9/11/09 9:03 AM

I think it's terrible, too. I remember how well made my moderately priced clothing was back in the 60s, 70s, 80s and even the 90s. But fortunately if you can sew, you can still have well made clothing at moderate prices.

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The essence of life is statistical improbability on a colossal scale.
Richard Dawkins

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Date: 9/11/09 9:26 AM

No, I doubt any of us are 'gleeful'. The non-availability of mid-priced options is all the more reason to be glad that we sew!

I hope the industry survives this down-turn. I suspect it will resurrect itself eventually regardless, but the transition would be painful for anyone doing that work.

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With a great wardrobe that's still in the flat-fabric stage.
Fabric = clothing (some assembly required) (from Re Becca's DH)

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Date: 9/11/09 10:39 AM

tell me more about how clothing was made better in the 60, 70s and 80's..
this is fascinating. Do you mean the cloth/fabric was just 'thicker' not like the flimsy stuff that's in Macy's now that they are charging $80 bucks for!!

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"Mommy cries in the sewing room."
Alexander May, 2.5 years old

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Reply to nancy2001
Date: 9/11/09 11:37 AM

Quote: nancy2001

Today, designers are cutting prices and abandoning expensive materials, labor intensive techniques and trendy styles. I'm very glad I learned how to sew and can make my own "designer" clothes.

Remember that a lot of our fabrics come from the jobbers who work with the designers and manufacturers. What that means is that eventually those resources will go away for us home sewists as well.

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Now blogging at http://sewwest.blogspot.com

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Reply to CynthiaSue
Date: 9/11/09 12:09 PM

The further back in time you go (at least during the 20th century), the better the quality of clothes the average woman wore. My grandmother, who never spent much money had a closet full of RTW clothes from the 30s, 40s and 50s stored in mothballs. As a teenager, I laughed at the strange, old fashioned styles, but I was fascinated by the quality of the fabrics and the careful workmanship.

Back in the 1960s when I was in junior high, I shopped at Macy's and bought beautifully made, 100% wool pleated skirts from popular mid priced lines like the Villager. The skirts, if you could find them today, would cost hundreds of dollars. Millions of ordinary teenaged girls had half a dozen skirts like these and wore them to school every day.

In the "dress for success" 1980s, Evan Picone and Jones New York offered extremely popular midpriced line of sportswear separates (jackets, skirts, pants and blouses) for working women. The clothes were sold at Macys and in virtually every department store in the U.S, and every woman I knew at work (from top managers to secretaries) wore them.

The fabrics were made of good quality wool (or an 80/20 wool blend) and the fit and workmanship was superior. I believe the full, retail price for a fully lined, tailored wool jacket sold for about $100, but you could buy them at the end of the season for half the price.

Today I no longer live in a good shopping cities like New York or San Francisco, so I rarely go to the stores. But the last time I saw what passes for designer clothes in Alabama, I was terribly disappointed. Back in the 90s, Ellen Tracy suits were fairly expensive though well sewn and made of good fabrics. Last year, I saw an Ellen Tracy jacket (for $500) that was so poorly constructed and made of such cheap fabric, I gasped. Thirty years ago, it wouldn't have been considered good enough for JC Penney.

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The essence of life is statistical improbability on a colossal scale.
Richard Dawkins

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Reply to NancyDaQ
Date: 9/11/09 12:25 PM

It's very true that the good fabrics we now have access to right now will probably not be around for very much longer. But even then, those of us who sew would still be able to make new clothes by harvesting fabrics from older garments. Thrift shops are a good source of reusable fabric.

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The essence of life is statistical improbability on a colossal scale.
Richard Dawkins

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Date: 9/11/09 10:26 PM

I agree. I go to Macy's Women
s store to look at mid range women's clothing and the fabric is horrible and cheap. The clothes are made from fabrics that feel like discount fabrics. A pair of pants for $120 is not even lined. It seems to have gotten much worse in the past ten years. I'm not sure who to blame. I would think that if the stores put in a higher quality product for less money, more people would buy those clothes.

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Marilyn
http://marilynsrags.blogspot.com/
Since January 2009 86 yards out and 108 yards in.

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Reply to nancy2001
Date: 9/11/09 10:45 PM

Nancy, your comments ring true for my experience in Australia. We too had labels which were very well made, gorgeous fabrics and although they were at the top end of RTW they were affordable and not considered designer label just well-made clothes. A young lady could buy office clothes that would last and look incredibly stylish. The fabric was beautiful. Wool was always lined and the workmanship ensured the item could last for years. I noticed that the shape of the skirts and blouses were very flattering.

Nowadays there is no such quality unless someone is on mega dollars.

There is a disappearance of quality made clothing. The clothes do not fit as well, the fabric is ghastly. It is bizarre that in a short time frame that the quality fabrics, craftsmanship, well-cut shapes are gone - just disappeared.

I don't understand where it all went???? Especially the fabric manufacturing. Did all the quality manufacturing close down except for a few places???

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