The Challenges of Apparel Retail

I feel like it would be challenging to own any kind of business. The economy is really bad right now and not many people are shopping. Apparel is going to be the last thing on people's minds if they are worried about being able to buy groceries or gas to get to work.

Retailers have to watch out for the competition and the changes that take place every day in fashions and textiles. Each individual retailer look to be faster, stronger, better, all the while maintaining nice quality products.
As we grow into the future retailers must watch for changes in trade laws, maintaining human rights, environmental issues, the economy, customer demand, and presentation. Everything has been done already so there needs to be new ways that are better then ever before and technology is advancing at such a high rate, there are many ways to make that happen.




Burns, Leslie Davis and Nancy O. Bryant. The Business Of Fashion: Designing, Manufacturing, and Marketing (3rd ed). New York: Fairchild Publications, Inc. 2007.

Sweatshops are NOT COOL

"Sweatshops: a manufacturing facility characterized by poor working conditions, violations of labor law, long hours, and low wages. The term originated in 1892, when concerned individuals began to speak up about heinous working conditions for American garment workers."

S.E. Smith. "What Is A Sweatshop?" rivised 2008. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-sweatshop.htm. accessed October 31, 2008


The global economy has always thrived on the hard work of the men and women in the work forces of various countries around the world, and though here in the United States men and women are well compensated for their hard work and effort this is not the case for people in other countries around the world. This is due to the inhumane and unethical production plants we call sweatshops.

I believe that it is wrong to work an individual to the extreme at minimal pay just to turn a profit and to put dollar bills into the pockets of rich cooperations and the CEO's that run them. It is sad to think that we in the United States consider ourselves the world police and yet we're are doing nothing to stop these cooperations from exploiting women and young children to do there work for often times less the pennies an hour. It is my hope that someday we will put a stop to this by making a stand as the consumers and boycotting the cooperations that exploit other human beings.

Milan Fashion Week

I watched Alberta Ferretti and Bottega Veneta's videos from the Milan Fashion Week on style.com and from the three most of it seemed wearable. The shapes of the clothes were cool.
In Alberta Ferretti's collection it was very twenties and the fabrics that she used were really pretty and made the fringe on the dresses stand out. To me the fabrics could look like oil paints because when oil dries it is very shiny and looks real.
Bottega Veneta's collection was very beautiful and I loved how earthy the colors were. Some of the dresses had very unique shapes but were still wearable. I liked the use of leather with some of the outfits.
I think the New York Fashion Week and Milan Fashion week were about the same except I think that Milan was more creative and I liked the fabrics they used.

When I am preparing to sew something I don't usually draw it out. I can picture it in my head and go from there. I don't design clothing though, just bags. If I am in a store or see a bag on TV that I like then I can look at it and figure out how it is made then make a pattern for it out of tissue paper or computer paper. I really like to make book bags. When I get my inspiration for them I am usually at the fabric store and see a fabric that I like then just go around and pick other fabrics out to go with it. If i am at home I rummage through my piles of fabric and piece stuff together. I really like getting old fabric from flea markets because it is always really unique. A lot of the time it does not match but that's why I like them and they stand out. Most people think that I bought them in a store and want me to make them one. I have sold a few for between $30 and $50 dollars. Here is a couple of pictures from the most recent bag that I made one day between classes.

Ethnic Influences on Apparel Design

The definition of ethnic is something pertaining to a characteristic of a people who share a common and distinctive culture, religion, or language. You see items from other cultures in fashion all the time. For example, moccasins and feathers that are borrowed from Native American cultures. Kimonos are borrowed from Asian cultures. Many Indian prints are also seen in fashion. Some "ethnic" clothing is not worn everyday though, but maybe brought out for special occasions to dress nice.
These items come about from people traveling and seeing these items in other places and they add them to their wardrobe. It is also seen in the media and people see these fashions and like them so they become popular and are put in designers lines.
I have a pair of moccasins myself and I get a comment on them every time I wear them. Someone once said to me that they were unique shoes that no one often sees. That made me happy because I like to be as original as I can with my dress, I don't ever wear the latest trend, or even know what it is.



Belinda T. Orzada (1999), Twentieth century design: Ethnic Influences. Retrieved September 26, 2008 from http://udel.edu/~orzada/Introduction.htm

New York Fashion Week

As I have said before, I am not into fashion. Today I saw the Mark Jacob's runway show and I thought it was amazing. It literally gave me chills. I mostly only know Mark Jacobs from his adds in magazines, and I rarely pay attention to his clothes. His show was practical for most women. I enjoyed his color palette.
My usual outfit is skinny jeans and my favorite dingy, now off white, white t-shirt, but when I saw Mark Jacobs line I thought to myself that even I would like to wear some of his clothes every once in a while.
I also enjoied Oscar de la Renta's Fall 2009 collection. It has some very cute skirts and sweaters in it.






http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8676319884449962082

Organic and Environmental Friendly Clothing

I think that Organic and Environmental Friendly Clothing is a good thing. It helps cut down air pollution by not using as much pesticides, water, energy, and electricity.
I have a friend who has a pair of shoes that are made from recycled tires and cotton. They are very durable and cute. I think that making environmental friendly shoes is a very good idea because people go through shoes like crazy and they just get worn out and thrown away so why not make them out of organic or recyclable materials. Making shoes out of old tires seems like they would last a lot longer then normal shoes do anyways because they would not get near as much use as they would on a car then on your feet.
I have seen in stores lately sheets that are made out of hemp or organic cotton. I bought the organic cotton kind and, although I think that organic cotton is a good thing, I ended up not being very happy with them. The fitted sheet ended up pilling up after about three washes. It was so uncomfortable I could not even sleep on them. It was definitely not worth paying $45 dollars for.
On the other hand, my favorite t-shirts come from a company called American Apparel. They are made in America and are made from organic cotton. They are the most comfortable shirts I have ever worn and come in different styles and a large variety of colors.
Organic cotton and environmental friendly items should be sold at more stores and more people should be aware that this is happening. It has been being promoted a lot more in the past few years but I still feel like so many people are not doing their part to help out. I try to recycle as much as possible and the recycling locations on campus help a lot.