1. Decide that quality matters and pay for it. In the end, it will save you time and money.
2. Before you buy, be selective. Scrutinize items for build quality, fit, finish, functionality and lasting style. If an item is not perfect, catch and release it.
3. Do more with less. Add a few key pieces to your wardrobe and wear them until they dissolve.
4. Shop from yourself and from thrift shops. Repurpose strategic items from the past.
5. Support apparel companies that manufacture their products in the US. Buy products still proudly made in their traditional country of origin.
6. Contact manufacturers and let them know what you'd like to see in their product lines. If you're a woman and you love classic heritage styles, email or phone companies and ask them to offer their products in your size.
7. Find out what products are manufactured in your region. Visit factories and publish reports.
8. Wear wool and linen year round. Experiment with summer weight woolens, and heavier linens.
9. Come up with a signature uniform. Wear it once a week.
10. Read historical newspapers and magazines to learn about lost brands, fashions and manufacturing traditions.
19 comments:
Words to live by!
Excellent points!!
Good tips, all of them.
I'd love to fashion myself an official uniform for '10!
An excellent list, with three small amendments:
5. Support US-made apparel companies. And those that can proudly state Made in Great Britain.
8. Wear wool & linen all year round. Experiment with summer-weight woolens, and heavier linens.
10. Read historical newspapers and magazines to learn about lost brands, fashions and manufacturing traditions. Note that unless you support many of the companies listed through stages 1 - 9 these too may be lost.
Mr Brown--
Excellent revisions! I hesitated to leave UK off my prelim list since even our musettes make use of fine UK cotton webbing. Check mark on linen.
LL
Please put this list into a purchasable, poster-sized format.
Fantastic illustrations.
and maybe support a Canadian jacket maker while your shopping, lol. You have just written down my mantra in one concise posting..good work!
LL so true and you've been living by these wonderful words of wisdom every since I've known you and that's a good 11+ years. [wow, that's hard to believe].
p.s I'd shop from both your and ST's closet any day.
Admirable and well said.
Yes! Say Yes to wool! And Linen! More respect for the sheep and the flax plant!
Firs time visitor and I'm confused. "Wear wool year round"? That just sounds... hot. And itchy. Is it more durable than other fabrics? Will it support US sheep manufactureres? I don't think I've ever seen anyone of my aquaintence wear a wool anything except the occassional winter coat.
Anon--
Wool is an amazingly versatile, durable, stylish fabric. It takes many forms from thin, soft merino (in t-shirt weight) to heavy tweed. I discovered it as a cyclist and now wear it on a daily basis.
Ibex, a US-brand, makes modern sport woolens that wear more like soft cotton than the itchy, hot sweaters of memory. Check them out!
7:49 AM
I don't know if you know. But SNS Herning has started making clothes for women again (and by again I mean again, because they made some womens clothes previously under the name "Skyt" primarily, but that is a historical note that very few people know about)..
They haven't made much, but what they have made looks really good and I have bought almost all pieces for my girlfriend. She kept "borrowing" my SNS knits.
Keep up the good work. This blog is very interesting.
Re: wool in summer. Yes! Heck yes! Keep in mind I live in Maine, not Miami. My revelation came while on a canoe trip I took along a pair of wool trousers (in calvary twill) I bought off the LL Bean outlet clearance rack for $7.95. My plan was to wear them as long as I could stand it, then switch to my modern day, fast drying nylon canoeing gear. Needless to say, I never changed out of the wool. Its not clammy, not itchy (calvary twill anyway) not hot. Unlike nylon, its not clammy, and not cold and clingy when wet. It rocks!
Simon--
I have heard some gossip about a line of SNS Herning sweaters for women. My understanding is that these sweaters will not necessarily resemble the heritage styles of their current line. My wish would be that they simply resize many their classic pieces for gents--in sizes for women. For now, I have my eye on a basic model fisherman's sweater.
Do you have any websites to find clothes made in your states?
I don't know which is better, this list or all the enthusiastic comments in response to it.
It gives me hope.
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