Origins of an American Closet

"They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks.
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown." - My Hometown, Bruce Springsteen

International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Union Made AFL-CIO. That was the label on a vintage yellow coat (Best and Co., Fifth Avenue, New York City), which I acquired for $30 at the CATS Resale Shop in Westwood, New Jersey.

Only when I look at vintage clothes do I see union labels, like this one on a hat at the buy and sell shop of Abram Demaree Homestead in Closter, New Jersey.

Very few things that we buy are necessities. Food and clothing are. Can we even find the countries our clothes are produced in on a map? Do we think about who toils away so we can have: cheap, excess, dispose of it? It's the same situation as our food supply: pretend if we don't think about it, no one suffers in poor labor conditions, the environment isn't impacted for the worse. It's all about us, right?

I acquire the vast majority of my clothes second hand (clothing swaps, consignment shops and charity thrift shops). I don't want to support labor conditions I don't know of, I want to lessen my impact on the Earth, and I'd rather pay a fraction of the cost, or nothing at all.

Consignment shops are a great addition to the dwindling American main street (more about that in a future post), and I love supporting charity shops like my two favorite, CATS Resale (supporting homeless cats and dogs) and Housing Works (benefiting homeless and low income New Yorkers with HIV).

Since I'm acquiring already produced items, I don't look at the labels as closely, but here's a random sampling of my most worn items in my closet. I encourage you to look at yours as well.

Purple H&M dress: Romania, $40. From H&M. Several years old.
H&M rain coat: Romania, Estimated $60. From H&M. Several years old.
Black Cynthia Steefe Skirt: China, $5. Housing Works, Hell's Kitchen, New York City location
Gap jeans: Canada (of USA fabrics); $5. Our Thrift Shop, Westwood, New Jersey
Forever dress: USA, $8. Revived Attire consignment shop, Hillsdale, New Jersey
Banana Republic black wool cardigan: China, Free. Clothing swap
Banana Republic white cotton top: Vietnam, Free. Clothing swap
Anthrolopogie dress: China, $25. A Beautiful Little Secret consignment shop, Dumont, New Jersey.

Some recent second hand acquisitions:
Blue Albert Nippon skirt: Thailand, $7.50. Housing Works
Old Navy black and white polka dotted cardigan: China, $1. CATS Resale Shop
Guess sunglasses: Unclear, $2. CATS Resale Shop
Victorian Classics white cotton nightgown: India, $4. CATS Resale Shop
Miss K yellow sleeveless blouse: Thailand, $5. Housing Works.

I do need to do better with shoes. I find some through thrift or consignment shops, and I got a nice dress pair at a swap, but do go to Payless a few times a year for shoes - all of which are made in China. Since the female shoe obsession skipped me, I don't buy many. I am going to make more of an effort to get them secondhand.

Do you look at the labels of your clothes? Does it bother you so few "Made in the U.S.A." labels exist? Are there any we can support?

Do you go lightly donating or selling your clothes, swapping, hitting garage sales, freecycle, consignment shops or thrift stores? Find a charity shop through ThriftShopper.com.

How about fixing or altering things? I found a whimsical daisy top at Housing Works for $3 that was a very odd length which I suspect fit no one (and why it was only $3), but had it shortened by a tailor for $10. I'm also a big supporter of local shoe cobblers, and keeping that trade alive (remember how few craftsmen and women there are anymore).

Mad Men Mondays: Dressing the Part

When thrifting Saturday at a bring and buy that is a vintage lover's dream, the cashier said she couldn't understand why so many young people are suddenly coming in to buy vintage fashion. Two words: Mad Men.

A recurring theme when discussing the clothes in a Mad Men season 1 extra DVD was how putting the clothes on made the actors and actresses automatically feel different, including how they carried themselves. Christina Hendricks who plays Joan said the clothes were so fabulous that she thinks she should dress like that all the time, and wondered why today we look so sloppy.

I love the idea of getting dressed up for sunnier times and not dressing in clothes that are so disposable. I adore the look of Mad Men but have no costume designer, stylist or unlimited income.

I also try and get as much as possible - clothes, shoes and accessories - secondhand: through consignment and thrift store shopping, hand-me-down's (never too old for those!) from relatives, and clothing swaps. I'd like to explore more garage sales too. I do this to save money (empowering!), reduce my impact on the planet (being mindful of the environmental impact of clothing production) and to not support labor conditions I cannot know of.

Here's a peek at what I wear when I'm feeling "Mad Men.":

Vintage bags: free, from my mom's closet. My dad bought the black one (he thinks in the seventies) in New York City for my mother and there's a duplicate one for my grandmother (now passed away) in Switzerland. The strap recently broke, but thank goodness a shop cobbler fixed it. I love going into the shoe cobbler, to promote fixing things (not disposing of them) and having such craftsmanship in the community. There doesn't seem to be much craftsmanship in anything these days.

My grandmother's scarf from Venice. I love all the scarves on Betty Draper. I have a whole "new" slew of scarves from my mom.

The pink pillbox hat, Renoir Arnold Constable Block, Hackensack, New Jersey, $10, thrifted from a bring and buy store across from Abram Demaree Farm Stand in Closter, New Jersey. I realized when I brought it home it's my third vintage pink hat, but who can say no to a Jackie O classic?

Gloves - why, why, why did they go out of style? The beige were my grandmother's and the navy blue were my mother's. My grandmother's pins, and my mom's earrings.

I used to "treat myself" (now, I think, waste money) at Anthropolgie on their pricey clothes. I now find their clothes second hand, like this dress which I frequently get "that's so vintage" when I wear it. (Note: needs ironing! Just out of the wash).

I bought it for $25 at Beautiful Little Secret consignment shop in Dumont, New Jersey. An aside: this dress is made in China, and no matter what the images you see in catalogues of women basking in French farmhouses or country fields, almost everything today is imported and under who know what labor conditions. Precisely why I buy secondhand.

Can we talk hemlines? I love this longer length (past the knees), and it's frustrating how hard it is to find it. I also cannot believe the extremely short lengths women in the professional world wear their skirts. Mini-skirts - not fitting for the office.

Do you enjoy vintage clothing or accessories? Do you have any cherished pieces from relatives?

While I love the Mad Men style, I also love "earthy", hippie-type clothing (more for the weekends), and am smitten with the 1930s and 1940s glamour (but don't experiment with that look enough). Do you love any fashion eras?