February 13, 2010 journal page
Well, I messed up yesterday and forgot to set my blog post to today's date, so you saw two posts yesterday. :) Ce la vie!*****
Have to go to downtown L.A. today for Jury Duty and I'm not very happy about it. PISSED OFF are the two words that come to mind.
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Line Juhl Hansen's studio blogged on Decor 8.
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David sent me a link to "That Guy". You know the guy. He appears in tons of films. He's well known but nobody ever remembers what the hell his name is. Well, look no further.
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Has anyone noticed that the quality of clothing just keeps getting shabbier and shabbier? I've never had clothes fall apart like they have in the last couple of years. Two cases that stand out-
Old Navy clothes.
I have an old navy shirt that I bought at least 6 years ago that I can drag out every winter and wear (I love, love, love this shirt). It washes well. It wears well. I love it.
Fast forward to this past December. I needed some new winter shirts, so I hit Old Navy. I bought four new shirts. Of the four, two I haven't worn and still have price tags on them (they need to go back this week). The reason why I haven't worn them is that the other two shirts are so stretched out and are already falling apart. One of them is a scoop neck that I am afraid to wear in public any more (this is only after having worn it twice) because I'm afraid of what will happen if I bend over . I usually wear my shirts more than once before I wash them (unless it's summer and it's hotter then hell. lol). I also wash them with cold water and I never put them in the dryer, they're always hung up to dry.
JCPenney
I've been wearing JCPenney clothes since I was little. My Mom, the Ultimate Bargain Shopper (I worship at her feet. She can find amazingly expensive clothes for a couple of bucks. She's good at shopping and she loves finding bargains. I have inherited that gene but with books and art supplies. Clothes. I have no patience or desire to shop for clothes.) Any ways, we both have JCPenney cards and whenver she's here or I'm there (Boston or L.A.) we usually go clothes shopping.
David needed new pants in December. We went out and bought him two new pairs of Dockers. Dockers-a good name, right? Well, we bought Dockers Flat Front True Chino Relaxed Fit Pants and Dockers Pleated True Chino Relaxed Fit Pants. As of this writing, his Dockers Pleated True Chino Relaxed Fit Pants look fine with nothing wrong with them. The first pair, the Dockers Flat Front True Chino Relaxed Fit Pants started to get a little fuzzy ball in the knee area after a couple of days of wearing them. I didn't think anything of it, but David was concerned that something would happen and that they were already falling apart. Guess what? They did. They split at the knee. These are pants that are barely three months old. They weren't worn every day. They were probably worn maybe twenty or thirty times. (My husband has "inside" pants and "outside" pants and he rotates them all the time.) I brought the pants back to JCPenney and told them what happened. The sales clerk said he wouldn't take them back. I asked if he could speak to the manager. He returned without the manager and said no, she wouldn't take them back. I asked if I could speak to the manager. She came over and I very nicely explained that I have never seen clothes fall apart so fast. We went back and forth a couple of times and she said she'd make an exception this time in exchanging the pants for new ones.
I've read several articles that suggest buying high end clothes on sale racks and having them tailored to fit. I've read several articles on buying thrift store clothes and having them altered to fit. I'm not a seamstress (I sew books and paper, people!). I can't live in my pjs (well inside the apartment I can) but I'm sick of buying clothes that turn to rags in a short period of time. What's a girl to do?
Comments
The buying vintage, quality items and having them altered. I don't alter clothing myself. I'm no good at fitting myself, and I HATE the fiddly bits of alterations. There are people who will do it for you. Prices vary. Find one. :) Once you get a relationship going, often the prices will start to come down a bit, simply because you're a good customer. It's the advantage of working with a real human being down the street instead of in another country.
More expensive clothing uses better quality cloth, better thread, tighter stitching, more seams. If you're familiar with sewing you can check that but if you're not, it's harder to know what to look for.
My hems on my knit tops are always coming apart!
marissa
I think I'd tend to agree that if you can find better quality clothes at a discount (which can be tiring, having to try tons of things on-- at least if you're shaped like I am; I have to try everything on!), and pay to have them altered, you might come out ahead in the long run since they'd last you longer.
Great pages and sorry you've got jury duty. Hope it goes by quick.