Thursday, November 01, 2007

The Problem Is

As a follow up to yesterday's post...

Did you look at any of the links on the "Sweat Shop Free Brands?"

Well, I did.

And it was not a good thing.

The choices appear to be one of these two options.

American Apparel:


Certainly, this is the kind of figure skater dress of which I dreamed for at least the first twelve years of my existence. But it's not exactly work friendly.

Next up, Esperanza Threads:
Uhm. No.

So, you see my dilemma. If I want to shop Sweat Shop Free brands, I have to either start dressing like a disco dancer/Jane Fonda in the '80s. Styles that, I'm sure, have their fans. I just don't happen to be one of them.

What do I wear, then?

I know that Rocket Dog has some "vegan" styles, and I happen to have four pairs of their ballet flats:

But, ladies, we all know that a woman cannot dress with shoes alone.

Help, oh great fashion experts of the Internets.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was going to say "let's screw the system and all start sewing our own clothes!" but then I realized, a) I don't sew b) I don't have time to get a haircut, let alone whip up business attire with a needle and thread and c) I don't own a sewing machine. And then I would be wondering, where is the fabric made? Is it okay to use???

Seriously though, I don't know, I just don't know. American Apparel does have some great stuff- t-shirts, long sleeves... but that's for the weekend, or for layering. Most of the people I know couldn't go to work in a t-shirt and sweats. It would be a sweet world if they could though.

So in short, I have no suggestions. But I'm thinking about it, and really that's a step right?!

Sarah said...

Yes, you get credit for thinking about it. My mother has a sewing machine, and it hates me. I have a sewing machine but don't know how to use it, thus it doesn't live with me.

Maybe if I buy weekend clothes that are Sweat Shop friendly then I get half credit?

Anonymous said...

You'd definitely get half a credit because you're doing one better than people who don't know (or don't care) to buy Sweat Shop friendly brands.

It definitely is difficult and I've found myself buying from these stores now and then when something caught my eyes as I've walked by the stores because, like Brandy said, a lot of the stores who are sweat shop friendly don't carry business casual wear.

But you've got me thinking (so another point for that for you) and I'm going to try to make a more conscious effort to check the labels of clothes I buy!

Parchemina said...

You go, girl! Thinking about it is a start. Since I live in New Zealand, I try to buy clothes that are made in NZ because that is a good sign that the people making them are not children and are paid decently, but that's harder in the US because there are places like Saipan that are part of the US in some ways and not in other ways (like labour laws) so the label is no guarantee.

I do love your pictures :)

Surely there are some decent companies out there?

Parchemina said...

Here are some sites that might be useful:

http://www.treehugger.com/mt/mt-tags.fcgi?tag=fashion&blog_id=1

http://www.ethiscore.org/
(It's a UK site, but some of the brands are available all over the world)

Bre said...

Hmmm, I'm going to have to put my internet shopping brain to work!

Anonymous said...

The shoes are really cute! I never buy shoes without a heel, but these are so cute, it made me want to buy a pair.