There seems to be a TV show by this name, and people have been debating it at length. I haven't seen it either, but I think lagatta just wants us to babble on anyway about budget- and environmentally friendly stuff to wear, although I'm sure she's interested in aesthetically pleasing stuff as well.

Jeans jeans jeans. You can wear anything with jeans. What would I do without my jeans?

Yes, babblers and other folks (and beasts one might happen to put coats on) are both the participants in and subject of this thread.

Where did you find your green denim skirt? I love deep green - and I look good in it. I've not seen any green denim skirts and have had enough denim blue and black ones ... What I'm looking for now is one of those travel skirts - usually one finds them in catalogues. Usually USian, alas. Tilley is far too mumsy. All of my friends concur, even those who can draw CPP.

Aside from that, one of the best things you can do is to find a great tailor and stick with him or her for life. Same with a cobbler.

Re: Holts, they used to have a reasonably priced line under their own brand, but it's gone downhill. Also, they've been importing a UK brand of women's clothing that's considered crap in London (think Le Chateau), but which they've priced like luxury here. You gotta watch out for that little tactic. Italian wear is especially prone to being stoopidly marked up, mainly because people 1) will buy an Italian item over anything else even if it happens to look like crap on them, and 2) they'll assume it's good quality.

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Anyone here make their own clothes?

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I'm with skdadl on this one. I have at least three big boxes of material in various places. but finding the time, (cause I hate leaving projects unfinished) is tough. My mom found a killer pants pattern, I don't know if they re-did it, but it fits pretty much any size to a T.

The tailor thing I agree with. I get all my shirts made by this little old Chinese guy who has a little shop that does nothing but make shirts. Boy, does he know his shirts. He's got a younger relative apprenticing in the business now, so hopefully that little storefront will be around for a long time. They're not very expensive, I could pay more in a mall, and they last really well if I pick good material, and they're fitted to moi personally in whatever style I choose. I'm never buying a shirt in a store again. For any of you in Vancouver, he's at Victoria and 43rd.

[ 02 December 2004: Message edited by: Rufus Polson ]

Hemp fabric & organic cotton are expensive now because the market for it is flooded out by corporatized, pesticide-ridden, low-wage products. The Canadian National Research Council has an interesting article on the benefits of hemp businesses. Hemptown.com is nice too.

I used to sew my own (& my kids') clothing back in the 70's. Mostly summer stuff. What's to sew in winter? Now i live in comfy & better made (than women's) menswear. As I've gotten older, I find even larger sizes foe women aren't comfortable. I live in jeans & t-shirts. For jackets, I love skateboarder supply stores. I just bought a good sewing machine, which makes all that hemming and tapering a lot easier than my old clunker. Too long sleeves on stretch shirts look a lot better when I cut them to fit.

I collect fabrics & books to one day do some quilts. I'd like to do both quilts for beds and for activist projects. Growing your own hemp & weaving fabric sounds like great fun!

[ 02 December 2004: Message edited by: baba yaga ]

I love consignment and used clothing stores, and I also like discount stores. I don't know how politically correct Winner's is, but I've gotten some very classic, high-end stuff for me and the kids there -- kid stuff especially, because if I can make it last through 2 kids, I've done very well.

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Originally posted by Melsky:
I hired someone to copy two of my favorite skirts. I pick up my skirts tomorrow, I'm really looking forward to seeing them.

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Where did you get them done?

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Word. My beloved dressmaker just up and left. She did so many things for me, from my prom dress to regular dresses to slacks.

I like stopping by H&M sometimes to pick up something inexpensive and new. They assure us customers that they follow Swedish labour practices even though their companies are situated not in Sweden.

Swan dress, anyone?

Actually, in the summer, it is so neat. So is the forest skirt. And the yoga pants are beyond brilliant.

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Originally posted by Michelle:

Where did you get them done?

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Remove the logos when you buy the clothes, delicately, before they make more and less discoloured patches.

I found a made-in-Canada hoodie at the Bay (pure white) and it took a t-shirt transfer really well. I recommend printing only with black ink - other colours fade too fast.

I've also used glitter glue from any crappy craftstore to put messages on shirts. It worked for my last crazy days of university to draw attention to various issues, serious or not.

It comes from a Nepalese co-op; it's handmade paper, nicely fibrous, and individual sheets are dyed the most gorgeous intense colours -- several variations on bronze, plus a turquoise and a shocking pink -- they all tone into one another wonderfully. I had bought one package before Christmas, and then I was so smitten by it that I got a couple more.

If you know how to make ornate boxes out of origami, that could be one way of doing it. You can also make origami Christmas decorations to hang on the tree with it (I've done that with beautiful paper in the past). Or, if you still want to use it to wrap presents, but would like it to be reused a few times, then you can make gift bags out of it instead of actually wrapping and taping it over presents.

Still, I wish I could wear that paper.

One successful strategy for sticking it to the merchandising machine is to hold clothing swaps. These are parties where (usually) women get together and bring all the clothes they want or need to get rid of, for whatever reason. Basically, it's an excuse to "shop" without spending any money. There are so many ways to hold one of these parties. When there are a lot of people (say, 8 or more) it makes most sense to "display" the clothes while people mingle, eat and chat. It works best if you have things sorted into distinct piles in different sections of the room (long pants together, short dresses together, etc) so that everyone can have the chance to "window shop" before the actual exchange. With larger groups, you can play a game (say, trivia questions, or just use dice) to see who "shops" first, with that person selecting one thing, then continuing until everyone has selected, say, two or three things, or, until this activity threatens to become tiresome.

After that, it may be a free-for-all, or whatever else creative the organizers can think of.

My experience of clothing swaps has be uniformly positive. It's suprising how friendly people are and willing to give up a nice piece of clothing, simply because it looks so much nicer on someone else present. I've often joked that the world would be a much nicer place if it were run like a women's clothing swap:
"Hey! That Gaza strip looks so much better on you. You should have it!"
"Anybody want this West Bank?"
"Nah, I don't need that Timor any more, cuz I've got so much already. Please, go ahead."

Usually, you'll have one or two women who just want to get rid of stuff, and don't want to accumulate more, and sometimes will not even attend the party proper, so as to avoid temptation. This is common. The organizers should be prepared to have lots of extra clothes left behind, to be donated to your local women's shelter.

One clothing swap I went to, I donated, maybe, one full (big, travelling) backpack stuffed with clothes, vowing to come back with no more than that... and then needing to take a cab home. My final count was, well, embarassing and the subject of lots of taunting from my sweetie thereafter...

Seriously, if you're willing to shop at profit-maker and people-screwers like Value Village, then a clothing swap is a great way to get clothes, without even a minimal financial burden. It's also more fun! Make sure you send your invitations out a least a couple of weeks before hand, and choose a large space, if you have access to one (dance studios and lofts are great).

Hey, if you're a parent, you could even organize a children's clothing swap with your kids' play group!

Anyhow, yeah I enjoy browsing the jewelry section too, on occasion. I'm always looking for replacements for the earrings and studs I lost a year ago.

(Flavour is another second-hand store, on Johnson right by the second story, that's way more hipster than the patch, but there's some really neat coats, dresses, and vintage video games.)

[ 06 December 2004: Message edited by: Amy ]

The former horror story shop for women of size, Penningtons, actually has a "young" collection now called MXM that is more fitted, and they start at an X (smaller than a 1x). I've actually found a couple of nice things there but it is very limited and once again, things do NOT correspond to our fair labour practices standards.

Eddie Bauer goes to XL, sometimes XXL. Idem Northern Reflection though a lot of their stuff, while better made than Reitmans or Cotton Ginny, is terribly matronly. There is the odd nice thing. I think Northern Reflections stuff, like Cotton Ginny's was all locally made and better quality, but alas no more.

Value Village is a commercially owned chain - I believe it is a branch of a US company - I don't know whether or not it is linked to Wal-Mart. The reason it infuriates people is it sort of pretends to be a charity.

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Originally posted by skdadl:
Here, by popular demand, is the American site from which, I confess, I have actually bought some hemp clothes.

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[ 11 December 2004: Message edited by: lagatta ]

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Originally posted by lagatta:
If you need a couple of dress shirts (can't seeing you need more, unless you are working as a waiter or something) having them tailored can really be worth it.

Yes, men's shirt sizing is weird. They assume about everything from your "collar", no?

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So it would seem. I have shirts sized as "large" that are comfortable, and some that are not. That's why I opt for "extra large" just so I don't have to try it on, or return it, or more likely, give it to the diabetes association.

I'm still keeping my eye out for a red shirt. I'd love to have a leather shirt in the same style and cut as a denim levi shirt, long sleeve, but I haven't found one yet. "North Bound Leather" in Toronto has some leather shirts, but they are short short sleeve, the kind that cicles tight above the bicep. It's not quite my style.

It's hard to dress. Where can you find a French cocked hat for your forehead, and a bunch of lace for your chin? A coat of the Claret Velvet, and breeches of brown doe skin, with boots that run to the thigh, that fit with nary a wrinkle.

See you. I have rapier hilts and pistol buts to polish.

[ 12 December 2004: Message edited by: Tommy_Paine ]

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Originally posted by Tommy_Paine:

[ 12 December 2004: Message edited by: Tommy_Paine ]

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Originally posted by Debra:
Finally true commentary on What Not to Wear

http://loserz.scribblekid.org/index.php?id=361

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[ 12 December 2004: Message edited by: bittersweet ]