In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Mind The Gap

Aulelia

This shocking report from the Guardian about young child workers in India “have been found working in a textile factory in conditions close to slavery to produce clothes that appear destined for Gap Kids, one of the most successful arms of the high street giant.”

According to the article:

the children in a filthy sweatshop working on piles of beaded children’s blouses marked with serial numbers that Gap admitted corresponded with its own inventory

This news is simply appalling. Sweatshops are nothin new to human imagination but their reality in 2007 is just not good enough! The PR heads over at Gap are going to have a mammoth to wrestle in order to salvage this but frankly, I’m not interested. I know that it is other companies who are contracted by Gap but at the end of the day, why hasn’t news of Gap going to check out these factories surfaced? Why didn’t they carry out their own checks?

When you make the decision to buy clothes, does ethics come into it? Do you shop on the high-street or do you think that making ”ethically-conscious” choices about mainstream clothing is basically impossible?

My tenure of guest-blogging is up! I had a great time and would like to thank Jill for giving me this opportunity and for the people who read my posts too. Back to rainy days in Bristol & trying to find my voice and place in this university.

–Aulelia–

26 thoughts on Mind The Gap

  1. I find that it is SO hard to shop ethically. I make very little income. (Grad students in the humanities often don’t make enough to live on.) I often shop at thrift stores, which certainly isn’t making any huge global changes, but I think it is one way of avoiding buying directly from clothing companies that rely on sweat-shop labor. However my thrift store gig only allows me to go so far. Sometimes second hand clothes LOOK second hand and that does not always work for professional needs. It is also nice to have the variety of sizes available at normal retail stores. American Apparel, which boasts sweatshop free, often does not fit my body type, and it has been known to use sexist advertising. I cannot shop from more ethical companies online because i have to try on clothes first. My limited income also keeps me from shopping at more ethical places because, to make them more ethical, they often are more pricey, and I simply cannot afford it. But on the plus side (?), since I cannot afford many clothes, that alone limits the amount that I support non-ethical clothing companies. Does anyone have any suggestions for more ethical shopping options?

  2. I TRY to shop ethically, like Marissa, but I find that my budget gets fairly tight (college student). Second hand shops, hand-me-downs from my mom, and consignment stores are my big shopping places, but every once in awhile I’ll need to go somewhere else. I NEVER shop at Wal-mart, I’d rather go naked then shop there, but sometimes JCPennys or Target will get my clothing business. There, I’ll try for Made in America, or Canada tags, but most of the time, I’m stuck with going with Taiwan instead of China (more likely to not use sweatshop labor).

  3. I have the golden thrift store touch, and that combined with the Livejournal community Fatshionista’s sales posts every Friday mostly keep me in clothes, and believe me, I’m a total clothes whore. My daughter will almost never wear anything thrifted – she’s at THAT age – but my son doesn’t care. Unfortunately, it’s hard as hell to find boy’s clothes that are stylish and in good shape at thrift stores, even with my mojo. We usually buy the staples at Target (with my daughter agitating for American Eagle and Abercrombie and Hot Topic), and then I supplement for them as I can via thrifting. I’ve got my own consumption habits well under control, but the kids make it hard :-/

  4. It’s probably not a practical way to build a wardrobe, but there’s always buying from independent crafters through sites like etsy.com. The only one company I can think of is nosweatapparel.com and (maybe some vegan shops?).

  5. I don’t have much money for clothes either, but I end up just buying crap from old navy or target. I’m trying to consume less overall and from more ethical/local/union/worker-friendly/environmentally-friendly/etc/ sources if I have to, but I don’t really know how to vet companies for such behavior because they can’t be taken at their word — ie. just because a Made in the USA/Canada label doesn’t guarantee that the garment workers received good wages or worked in good conditions. American Apparel, which was mentioned upthread, built its brand (image) around being a US-made, sweatshop-free company despite rampant sexual harassment of workers and union-busting…

  6. i mostly shop thrift stores cos i really enjoy ugly clothing, but when it comes to jeans i have to buy new, in that case i tend to head to closeout stores like marshalls or tjmaxx, i figure that clothes from last season or with tiny flaws probably arent making shady manufacturers much if any money. i could be wrong, but it seems more ethical since this stuff didnt sell or cant sell standard retail so if people didnt buy it at places like tjmaxx or whatever it would probably just get thrown away, i saw a piece on current tv about this landfill where walmart and similar stores would just go dump truckloads of barely damaged merchandise. televisions with minor cosmetic damage and whatnot that still worked just fine. it was pretty nasty.

    when marshalls and thrift stores fail me i get jeans at torrid, cos im fat like that. tshirt i tend to buy from various activist groups i like or record labels and bands, and jewelery is thrifted, antiqued, or etsy.

    shoes are more difficult, im too poor for blackspot or no sweat ones, and alot of thrift stuff is leather, so i just do my best to find vegetarian shoes that are attractive and affordable, i lack the resources to be any more ethical than that. i have a decent amount of payless stuff.

    makeup and hair stuff and whatnot i get at a locally owned health food store and at a locally owned african american beauty supply store. african black soap is finally clearing up a pretty nasty case of adult acne. i dont like to put alot of chemicals on my body and i feel good knowing my money is going into the pockets of people in the community not oppressive exploitative corporate ceos

  7. Jess, leather shoes you buy from a thrift store don’t give money to the people that caused the animal to be killed…

  8. i work and shop at urban outfitters [that 40% employee discount is how i can afford it]. anyone know anything about their business practices? all i know is that the head guy is republican or something [weird since there things/employees are far from conservative]

  9. I love clothes, jewelry, makeup and all that stuff. Being yet another poor student, a lot of my stuff is secondhand. I look at it this way: by buying secondhand, I’m recycling, and any profit is going to the store itself or its organization (like Goodwill). That which is not secondhand comes from the Macy’s sale rack, or Target or Kohl’s. I WILL NOT shop at WalMart.

    It’s really quite hard to shop completely “ethically” in the sense of avoiding all dubious practices. As has been pointed out, “Made in the USA” can be deceptive. As well, completely ethical products are often spendy, and if you can only purchase something online, it’s hard to know how it will fit, especially if you happen to be hard-to-fit. There’s also the issue of time: many working women don’t have the time to do all the legwork and research finding an ethical product, and finding out how ethical it really is. I know, purists would say this is a copout, but being crunched for time and/or money really does limit choices.

    For beauty products, I like LUSH – they pride themselves on being ethical. Plus all their stuff smells soooooo good, and their skincare does not irritate my skin.

  10. This is actually something that I LOVE. I gave up buying new clothes a little over a year ago, and aside from a pair of water proof/slip resisitant work boots I needed for a job, and the occasional pack of underwear I’ve stuck to it.

    Thrift stores, rummage and bag sales, clothing swaps, trading with friends/family, freecycle, ebay, etc etc. Of course it probalby helps that I love sewing/altering because post-consumer clothing is often hard to find in exactly the right size.

    I knit socks, and felt boots, and and pray before the alter of my blessed sewing machine.

    But for those less DIY-inclined, you can still get the second hand clothing and with the money you save you can get it tailored. Or look into fair-trade clothing companies.

    Also, if you’re looking for a general ethical-shopping guide (has everything from clothing to food to appliances to cosmetics…) this site has been pretty useful (and depressing):

    It has profiles on all different kinds of corporations and brands and how they rate on things like labor and worker’s rights, health and safety of products, environmental impact, etc.

  11. I definitely do consider ethics when shopping for clothes. Unfortunately, with all these companies coming out on the “no-no” list, it’s just too hard to know who to trust anymore. So I’ve let all my friends, my church, and my family members know that I will take the clothes they no longer want and that keeps me quite trendily dressed (and easy on my wallet as well as my conscience). There are times, such as when I was looking for a job, that I had to suck it up and go buy some new work-appropriate clothing, and then I made sure to stay away from all the stores I knew used sweatshops.

  12. me,

    yeah, but i still feel weird wearing it. i have a beautiful leather jacket and a few pairs of gorgeous boots from before i went veggie that are just collecting dust. i hate to part with things i once really loved but at the same time i really dislike the idea of wearing someone elses skin. at the same time i hate buying faux leather cos of the petrochemicals, but in the midwest with our winters its just not practical to wear canvas shoes year round. its so damn hard to maintain a 100% ethical lifestyle.

    as to the question about the urban outfitters ceo, hes not just a republican, hes a supporter of rock santorum, hes donated over 13,000 dollars to him. not a good guy at all.

  13. I wish I were made of stronger moral fiber. If I were I would definitely make morality a bigger factor in my shopping. As things are, I just need to think for a minute about my new acquisitions recently. A lot of them have been hand-me-ons from friends. My professional suits I bought from local independent boutiques, which means they were either made by the owner and her assistants in the back…or at local sweatshops, probably staffed by undocumented immigrants. Some stuff I bought from places like the Gap or Anne Taylor Loft, the vile places. Some stuff I bought second-hand. So…a real mix.

    This is one of those issues that makes me wish I were a better person, because there’s really no moral justification for not making morality a priority in shopping. Just self-centeredness.

  14. EG, I vote you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself. As many people here have expressed, it is really hard to shop ethically all the time. I feel it is sad that our options are so limited in this respect. (Often I am just thrilled if I find ANY clothing that looks really good on me and is affordable.)

  15. I try to go with used whenever possible, out of sheer confusion and lack of money.

    Taking better care of what clothing I do have than some people do helps as well — it lasts longer. Many “dry clean only” items can be thrown in the washer on cold and hang-dried, then ironed, and the same treatment makes a lot of “machine wash and tumble dry” items last several times longer than they would have if the care labels were followed.

  16. Living in NY and in the UK, I’d try to get my clothes second-hand, usually from Beacon’s Closet (Brooklyn) or Freshman’s (Sheffield FTW). In terms of food, I’ve been able to find plenty of locally-sourced producers, and hence I buy locally without damaging my bank account – something helped by being vegan. When I once again move to Pakistan in the middle of this week – long story, but it involves Unesco – I’ll be able to do the same in terms of food.

    I’ve pretty much tried to be ethical in terms of what I purchase etc, but there instances when it’s difficult. With me, the problem isn’t so much choices – yay for the internets tubes! – but costs. What I can’t find in the shops in terms of clothing (including footwear) or stationary/home stuff I can find online, but there times when the costs might be a deterrent. For instance: Howies sell ethical jeans around the £75-80 mark, whereas Levi’s might have them for £50-60 mark. Also, a pair of No Sweat Apparel trainers ( the ones that look like Converse ones) will go for £30-40, whereas you can often buy new Converse – since 2003 owned by Nike – shoes for around £15-25. Since I don’t shop that often for clothes, I can often afford the more ethical alternative, but someone else might find it frivolous, and thus choose the more affordable option.

    Hence why with Gap et al it’s important that they are able to show that products can as ethical as possible whilst remaining affordable. Gap, Nike, Levi’s, etc, have long had problems meeting the standards which they publicly promise to adhere to, and the arguments that they were not aware of what the contracted factories/firms were up to would be laughable, were people not suffering.

    Also, just because a product is ethical doesn’t mean always mean that the purveyor is, and then also it’s a matter of what is ethical or not. From what my friends in London and NY have told me, Whole Foods – I haven’t shopped there – tends to be regarded as a form of Walmart for the organic-ethical crowd. But from what I understand, the owner is remarkably anti-union, and this is reflected in labor practices within the Whole Foods company. American Apparel, as mentioned by ‘a2’ above, first got people interested with the “we don’t use sweatshop labour, we’re revitalising the American economy” angle. This is in part why some indie-minded companies will use AA shirts for their own merchandise. Despite that, reports have come out in regards to sexism, sexual harassment, orientalism/racism, and less than kosher practices towards garment workers in AA factories. Clamor Magazine managed to tick off AA with a few features on them, found here.

    I guess the basic thing is to be informed about what you’re about to purchase, and to make the most ethical choices you can make, making sure that few or no one is hurt. And also that sometimes what you can create is often better than what you can buy.

  17. I try to shop ethically for clothing, but it’s not always possible and it’s not the only thing I think about.
    I won’t wear leather or fur; it’s a lot easier to find out clothing contents than whether or not they were made in a sweatshop.

  18. Agreed that ethical shopping is extremely difficult. Because I’m perpetually broke (yay grad school), I end up buying a lot of my clothes from places like H&M, Zara and Forever 21 — not exactly beacons of ethical clothing production. If I could afford it, I’d shop exclusively at little boutiques where the clothing is hand-made, but right now that isn’t an option. And I’ve plugged her before, but my friend Kate runs an awesome store in NY called AuH2O, where she hand-makes all of the clothing — everything is recycled, sweatshop-free, etc. I buy a decent amount of stuff from her, and I wish there were more designers like her.

    And Aulelia, thanks for the guest-blogging!

  19. Thrift stores/consignment shops rule, period. But the caveat there is that you have to check often to see what they have, hence a time issue. Although that may be something of a wash depending on how much time you spend shopping anywhere else. I personally tend to hate shopping, so I spend VERY little time doing it. I recently went into a thrift store looking for a pair of brown pants (the only ones I’ve seen so far this fall have been either Land’s End or LL Bean, I forget which, and mail order, which does not work for my butt), and came out with 4 shirts, a pair of Haflinger shoes (kind of like Birkenstock, but not), and paperback book for $31.69 — less than one pair of pants at retail pricing. But no pants! 🙁 Still, thrift shopping does keep the stuff from going into a landfill and the thrift store I shop with is associated with ARC, so a percentage of the profits go to benefit developmentally delayed individuals. Now I just need to get to ARC’s actual store….

    I also sew, and try to sew as much as I can for myself. However, as the (slightly fractured) saying goes, “the costumer always goes naked”. 😉 It can be tough for me to find time to work on my own stuff. But when I do get to sew, I can at least pick natural fiber fabrics, buy from small/independant shops, etc. I’m looking for a good source for organic cotton — any suggestions?

    And a question for those of you are more aware — is Hong Kong any better than China? I know that a lot of really, really talented stitchers/tailors come to the US from Hong Kong, but I don’t know what the business practices are like there, and I’m at a bit of a loss as to where to look to find out. Any thoughts are appreciated.

  20. Out of all the things that are important to me, shopping ethically isn’t. Not because it’s a bad idea, but because (as other posters pointed out) it is impractical. I don’t have time to go thrift store shopping, so I shop at places like Old Navy, the Fashion Bug, and Macy’s. I respect them because they have good products at affordable prices. I think the best way to support more ethical practices is to use your vote, and support political candidates whose ideologies align with your own. There’s only so much we can do when companies lie about their practices.

  21. One thing that’s always struck me is… in an industry with bad PR as far as contributing to poor conditions in developing countries, who the bloody hell gave the name “Banana Republic” the green light??

  22. I agree with the challenge of shopping ethically, while maintaining a tight budget. My only gripe is that people say that won’t shop at Wal-Mart, but they’ll go to Target. Isn’t Target just as bad as Wal-Mart?

  23. I’m in Canada, so my situation is slightly different (there’s no Gap in my city, for example). I try to buy thrift store stuff, but have a hard time finding anything that fits and isn’t ugly (what is with “Plus Size” clothing and butt-ugliness?). Also, I shop with a toddler, so good luck taking time to do it properly.

    I’m oddly shaped (I have a “second ass”, right above my normal ass – don’t ask), so mail order is out of the question. Even regular stores are difficult for me. Lately, I’ve taken to shopping at Superstore (a grocery chain that has a clothing line), because it’s cheap, and the clothes seem to fit reasonably well. It’s frustrating though, because I hate the idea of children making my clothes! Hate.

  24. Just wanted to echo the commenters who said they have difficulties shopping ethically due to economic, access, and time constraints.

    Up until I started working, nearly all of my clothing were hand-me-downs from older cousins. After graduation, I just had enough time to move and to figure out which clothing stores had good quality at the lowest prices so I can buy professionally appropriate clothing for employment. Afterwards, I would try to have my clothes last as long as possible before replacement. Saved the worn college clothes for the evenings and weekends until they were on the edge of falling apart and i earned enough to start replacing them.

  25. MarilynJean

    Short answer: no.

    Long answer: Target pays their employees more, better benefits, no gender discrimination class action lawsuits, more organic food, and less contribution to urban sprawl. They still suck quite a lot, but they are no where NEAR Wal-Mart level suck.

  26. This one: “making ”ethically-conscious” choices about mainstream clothing is basically impossible.”

    But I try to do what I can anyway… I almost never buy new clothes anymore. I opt instead for “Plato’s Closet” and such places.

Comments are currently closed.