No more US made clothing?

I recently had a customer who came in to the shop and was very disappointed to see very little baby clothing made in the US. I explained to her that most of all organic baby clothing is now made in India. Some are thankfully made in a fair trade environment but the basic truth is that manufacturers can't afford to produce their products in the US. I’ve seen many US made organic companies come and go in these past few years. It’s sad to see but America is just not willing to pay the price for US made clothing and therefore these companies can not afford to stay in business.

Price differences are sometimes as much as 100% more for an organic item made in the US as opposed to made in India in a fair trade shop. Are you willing to pay $70 for yoga pants as opposed to $35? Most consumers are not even willing to pay $35, they would prefer to pay $20 at Target or Walmart and hope to even get that on sale for maybe 40% off for a price of $12. $12 retail for an organic fair trade pair of pants will never support the families who make the products. It just won’t work in today’s society. And unfortunately the pants sold in the big box stores are absolutely made in a sweatshop most likely with child labor.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s US made items. In the mid 1800’s, many Americans were still making their own clothing. It was rare for most to shop and buy their clothing pre-made. We had one good outfit for church and one working outfit and that was it. During the Civil War, there was much demand for sizes of uniforms. It was so time consuming to make custom clothing for each soldier so garment manufacturers were asked to start making pre-made uniforms in specific sizes. Consumers also started asking for ready made clothing and the garment industry (and “sweatshops”) was born. In those early days, much of our clothing was made in New York city in the garment district in the Lower East Side. Immigrants were paid extremely low wages to sew clothing and often did so in their own homes turning their living rooms into a “factory” employing 2 or 3 local girls to assist. Child labor laws were lax in those days and most likely these girls were as young as 12 years old even though the requirement to stay in school at that time was till age 14. As time went on and the garment industry grew, larger shops opened and the true sweatshop as we know it today was born. Many illegal immigrants hoping to just get by and possibly send some money home to their impoverished countries worked in these deplorable conditions. Long working hours, no breaks, extremely low wages and hot and sweaty factories was what they had to look forward to. But as time went on, these factories could no longer afford to pay the newly enforced minimum wages so they turned to those workers who were willing to work for less. Still to this day, many factories employ a large majority of immigrants who are not US citizens. This is what your US made clothing is today. Once manufacturers realized they could have their apparel made more cost effectively in other countries, they began to look outside the US. Many manufacturers looked to countries such as India and Bangladesh for their production. If you thought conditions were bad in the sweatshops in the US, you can only imagine the conditions in an impoverished country such as India. Imagine working 18 or more hours in a day, getting paid pennies per item that might take you almost an hour to make, no real toilet facilities, no breaks, no healthcare, barely enough money to buy food for yourself or your family. This is the reality of your clothing today.

Fair labor and fair trade certified producers began within the past couple decades and it has enabled many to finally be paid fairly for what they make. Middlemen have been cut out who might typically take a large cut of profits so purchases are now made directly with the producers. The fair trade worker just wants what we want. Enough money to put food on his table, a safe and clean working environment, opportunities to get an education and advance in their career and access to medical care for their families. We take these things for granted here in the US, but most in under developed countries do without these necessities.

Some closing thoughts….organic does not necessarily mean fair trade. There are many companies producing organic clothing but it is still made in a sweatshop environment. Look for fair labor and fair trade labels. There are certifying agencies that have extremely strict guidelines as to what can be called fair trade. Who has time to research what is and what isn’t fair trade? Let us do it for you. We research all of our vendors extensively to make sure they are certified organic and produced fair trade. We listened to customer feedback and do not carry any clothing made in China. There are a few organic companies who choose to manufacture in China and even though the factories are monitored to make sure the workers are treated fairly and paid fairly, we chose not to carry these products.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns about where or how your clothing is made. We are more than happy to help and appreciate your input!