29 thoughts on “Meanwhile, On Millennium Bridge

  1. milk teeth

    Its Fashion Revolution Week – a week dedicated to drawing attention to poor labour practice in garment manufacturing:

    1. rory

      Thanks for the link.
      Out of curiosity; the thing ye man is wearing, the inflatable hoodie thing; do many people wear that?
      If anybody out there has tried it out, what is it like to wear?

      1. edalicious

        That’s a great site, Bertie!

        Well timed too because I’ve got a black tie wedding coming up next month.

          1. The Old Boy

            And therein lies the problem. There’s no market for ordinary clothes that cost upwards of £80 a pop because you have to pay someone the living wage in Northampton. The only people prepared to pay high prices for high quality, long-lasting garments tend to be older and conservative, and the styles available reflect this. In this part of the world, that whole end of the industry has a nostalgic “I’m Backing Britain” feel.

    1. classter

      Be careful what you wish for.

      Averages incomes in Bangladesh have doubled in a couple of decades. DOUBLED.

      Definitely much more needs to be done but conditions are far from uniformly bad.

      Bangladesh would be crippled if they lost the textile industry. The textile industry has long been a useful stage on the way to a more sophisticated economy – UK, US, Korea..

      1. Cromuel

        Bangladesh would be crippled if they lost the textile industry, but doubling the workers’ wages again and making sure their conditions were decent would only put a couple of quid on the price of the clothes, since those wages and working conditions are a tiny part of the cost.

        1. milk teeth

          Exactly, its such a rubbish argument that people must go though a phase of exploitation to develop. Buying ethically sourced clothing is not going to screw over a load of workers in 3rd world countries.

    2. Rob_G

      I agree with classter, but if you wanted to be really sure, you could buy only American Apparel – all of their clothes are manufactured in factories in the US, so workers are covered by US labour laws.

      (this would only work if you are under 25, though)

      1. Kieran NYC

        They could also do with support as they’ve been in a wobbly period since they got rid of the pervy CEO and the hypersexualization he brought to the brand.

  2. Tish Mahorey

    Someone made a good point the other day about child labour. If you make illegal suddenly, the economy can’t react quickly enough to compensate. It has to be gradual while re-introducing education at the same time.

  3. Clampers Outside!

    Consider this, and yes, it’s contentious, no I am not ‘stirring’ it, as it is a relevant question…..

    Women spend nearly twice as much on clothing as men ($5.60 for every $3.00 men spend), and there is far more destructive ‘disposable fashion’ in women’s clothing, so would it not be a good idea to direct this campaign at women. Discuss.
    ( http://lifeasahuman.com/2012/arts-culture/fashion/do-women-really-spend-more-on-clothing-than-men/ – there are other sources for these stats, all with similar results, I just grabbed this one for convenience )

    Even Forbes recommends… “Instead of buying 19 cheap tops at H&M and Target, invest in three beautiful blouses that give you a thrill when you wear them and will last for several years.” http://www.forbes.com/sites/emmajohnson/2015/01/15/the-real-cost-of-your-shopping-habits/#4db1225d21ae
    (Apologies for using US stats, I could’ve used UK, couldn’t find Irish)

    So… target ‘women’?
    If not, why not.

    1. joj

      Why the disclaimer before your point?? Is this the world we live in now, people are afraid to make points for fear of being called sexist. Just dive in, say it as it is

      Its long been my view that women buy more clothes and cheaper ones, so the fact that they spend nearly twice as much and crap really proves that, the world is filthy and polluted. the price of these cheap 3rd world economies, a necessity in our heavily overpopulated world

      1. Kieran NYC

        “Is this the world we live in now, people are afraid to make points for fear of being called sexist.”

        You must not be familiar with MoyestWithExcitement’s work around here.

  4. Owen

    The problem lies in the cost. Who would pay for jeans made in Ireland when they can buy jeans made in Taiwan for a 5th the price? But the consumer can’t take the bullet. Diligent consumerism won’t resolve this, and the approach is painfully over attempted. Legislation can change this, and enforcement. Not importing clothing made in sweat shops would be a good start, brought in staggered. And corporate responsibility enforced through legality / licencing (but that’s all down to money – up’ing markets where there is no corporate obligations).

    Making people feel guilty for watching the money in their own pocket is not a great approach, in my opinion.

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