A "Made in China" label in luxury clothing items

Are you instantly put off?

• Not if it's $1.99 or less

• Yes.

• I try not to buy clothing that has been made in China.

• I was at the men's clothing store Thomas Pink in Dublin today, shopping for a birthday gift for my brother. The China-made silk shirts there retail at €300 (roughly $345.) I walked out without buying anything.

  OP

• Daaaaamn. I wish I had a brother who was willing to buy me a Thomas Pink shirt.

• Absolutely

• Yes

• No, however I am put off by synthetics. I have no synthetic fabric in wardrobe and I never will.

• R8 = Mallory Keaton

• No...say all the sheeple with their made in China Apple i-Shit. Everything is made in China today. If you want quality made clothes then pick your own cotton, buy a loom and a sewing machine and make your own clothes.

• Yes. If they are charging high-end prices they can at least pay decent wages to seamstresses in Portugal or Bulgaria or El Salvador. Tacky.

• For R8: [quote]So important for genuine upper-middle-class standing is the total renunciation of artificial fibers that the elite eye becomes skilled in detecting even, as The Official Preppy Handbook has it, "a small percentage of polyester in an Oxford-cloth shirt"--a sad middle-caste mark. The same invaluable book praises young Caroline Kennedy unreservedly--"on technical points Preppier than Mummy"--because "during four years at Harvard Square, an unnatural fiber never went near her body."

  Paul%20Fussell%2C%20%22Class%22

• Like others point out, good luck finding anything not made in China. That said, I must admit I do get off buying a garment that came from a factory where little children were burnt alive in a factory fire because of the unsafe conditions. It just adds to the value of my purchase.

• I don't give a fuck about the dictates of the Preppy Handbook. It was meant as satire, at least until millions of dim Americans took every word as a Guide to Gracious Living.

• Oh poor OP, reject the made in china label all you want. Your pitiful opinion won't really matter because you are just ONE in 300 million people who buy Chinese products.

  Too%20bad%2C%20so%20sad.

• I have no desire to be defiant, have influence, or make a difference, R15. I was questioning my own hypocrisy and would-be snobbery, and was curious as to how other posters responded to the "Made in China" label. Your interpretation of my post couldn't be more wrong.

  OP

• I wouldn't be put off if the store had said, "We're moving all production to China, so the same shirt you used to pay 345 dollars for will now retail at 200." But of course they keep the retail price steady...

• I was in a William Sonoma store on Rodeo Dr in Bev Hills, day before yesterday. I was curious if their merchandise was more up scale that our WS in Manhattan Beach. They were selling high polished metal kitchen utensils of fairly heavy metal under their house name. The spatula was 35.00. I turned the flipper over and it was marked, Made in China. I left the store thinking what a ripoff company. I wasn't going to buy the item, but I had no interest in anything else they were selling.

• Yes. I don't care what the label is and how expensive it may be.

• £300 is more like $465.

• For Christmas I received Penguin polo shirt and the tags included in the packaging went on and on about the quality workmanship and care that goes into making the garment only to find the made in China tag on the collar. Although it did say made in China in about 3 different languages which is something different as tags go. That was definitely disappointing. I have yet to wear the item as it is winter, but by outward appearance the fabric, buttons, etc don't appear to be of significantly greater quality and this was an expensive shirt compared to the prices you would pay for a similar product at most retailers. There is one exception to the made in China rule. An acquaintance who has worked in the apparel industry for years as a direct distributor for the factories told me that the best cashmere in the world actually comes from the mountainous regions in China so for luxury goods such as Cashmere sweaters, a Chinese yarn with the made in China label is actually desirable if not coveted.

  Anonymous

• Euros, R20.

• Yeah, I saw that about 10 seconds after I posted. Sorry. Carry on.

  r20

• I won't buy expensive Chinese clothes either, OP. The worst are shoes. Chinese or Indian shoes for $300? Fuck, off!

• r21, a fine thread/fabric will be sold to a manufacturer. Italy, Australia, US, and then marketed. Loro Piana is the best example. Highest quality Chinese product.

• The newer Givenchy menswear has items that were made in China. How am I supposed to be rockstar chic while wearing this shit?!

• r24, for big boy shoes go to Pediawear.

• Opops, Pediwear...

  http://www.pediwear.co.uk/

• [quote]at least until millions of dim Americans took every word as a Guide to Gracious Living. This didn't happen.

• Huge put off. I don't care about price, but if a store wants to charge $135.00 for a shirt made in China I will not buy. Are you listening Orvis. Manufacture it in the U.S. then I'll buy.

• I'm not at all put off. Shanghai Tang, for instance, is an excellent fashion brand. There may be other luxury fashion brands from China (although I'm not away from them). Not to mention, of course, that a great many big designer labels not associated with China have a great deal of their clothes made in China.

  http://www.shanghaitang.com/

• No one sees the difference!

  Samantha%20Jones

• Of course. It's a huge, immediate red flag that the product is shabby and won't last. People rally around "made in China" in a show of false-flag populism, so they have an excuse to completely surrender all discernment in consumption.

• [quote]I try not to buy clothing that has been made in China. If it's not made in China, then it's made in some other shithole country. Why on earth would anyone buy a "luxury" item if it's made in China just like all the other shit? Are ANY clothing labels actually made in the US, England, Italy, or France anymore?

• Hermès is apparently still made in France. I've seen "Made in China" labels on clothing from Joseph, Helmut Lang, Marc Jacobs, and many other designers.

• Are you saying my Burberry...err...Buebelly...scarf isn't of the highest quality?

  http://www.dailydozencreative.com/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/IMG_0352.jpg

• R35 Wow, that's crazy! I've never had the money to buy designer clothes, but knowing that supposedly high-end designers make their shit in China just like affordable labels makes me realize I'm not missing anything.

• Hermes is indeed one of few remaining luxury brands that won't compromise quality for larger profit. The book linked below is quite informative and an interesting read:

  http%3A//www.amazon.com/Deluxe-How-Luxury-Lost-Luster/dp/0143113704

• Oops, didn't link well:

  http://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-How-Luxury-Lost-Luster/dp/0143113704

  R38

• I stopped buying made in China shirts when Bergdoff stopped giving away free fortune cookies with each purchase.

• You can't do any better than the Jaclyn Smith collection at J.C. Penny, bitches!