I went to Joann Fabrics the other day to pick up pearlized snaps for the cowboy shirt I am making for My Honey. While I was there, I saw some quilting fabric that I thought would make a cute “grandma style” apron using one of my vintage patterns. I wasn’t sure how much to buy so I did a quick look at similar styled aprons in the pattern books and determined that I needed 2 1/4 yards. I went to the cutting counter and asked for 2 1/2 yards. Unfortunately, there was only 2 1/4 yards left on the bolt. The woman asked if I still wanted it and I told her that I really only needed 2 1/4 yards but…and before I could finish the sentence, she said, “the other 1/4 yard was for shrinkage because Joann quilting fabrics often have a lot of shrinkage.” I nodded in agreement as I pondered why I was willing to pay for an extra quarter yard of lower quality quilting fabric just so I could have enough for my project (it turns out, I only lost 2″ of length, so I’ll be fine).
Today I read an April 4th article by Karen Von Hah of The Globe and Mail that challenges us to let go of our “subprime shopping habits.” You know it’s going to be a good article when it starts out with
Because of the subprime mortgage crisis, spending less has become the name of the game, but does that mean that everything else we buy has to be subprime too? In my view, what makes something a steal or splurge isn’t simply determined by the price tag. Less can be worth more if it’s better.
She points out that despite the current recession, we still are filling our closets with crap (her word) instead of quality. She uses cashmere as an example:
As I have personally discovered, those “cashmere” cardigans lumped on sell-off tables for $69 may look like a deal, until you wear one once. Because it’s made from the short, cast-off “cashmere” kibbles and bits on a factory floor somewhere in China, the pilled, misshapen lump bears about as much resemblance to a three-ply Scottish cashmere as a dinner roll.
Ms. Von Hah then challenges us to start being as careful about what we wear and buy for our homes as we are about what we eat. She points out that this kind of austerity isn’t really a new idea. It is the mindset out grandmothers used when they shopped.
Okay, it’s radical, but it’s hardly a new idea. In fact, it’s rather an old-fashioned one. It acknowledges some essential truths we appear to have been in denial about (and which denial has undoubtedly contributed to the sorry state of our economy): Yes, Virginia, there really is such a thing as quality; better goods have more inherent value; and like it or not, you do tend to get what you pay for.
I encourage you to read her entire essay. I have a feeling many of my own readers will be nodding their heads in agreement.
Let’s start a new “popular girls group.” And we’ll call it the Quality Club! What do you think??
[...] poorly made gizmo that uses up valuable resources and will end up in a landfill before we know it (see yesterday’s post for my hope that there will be a return to an attitude of only buying qua… Canadian WWII Recyling Poster (Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. [...]
I so agree with the position on quality. “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” my grandmother used to say. I was raised to weigh the quality against the price and to value quality. My mother made most of my clothes because she knew she could make a better product than she could afford to buy. In those days that concept worked, but I’m not sure about now. I recognize and value quality in clothing, housewares, furnishings, etc., but justifying the expense of it in today’s market is another thing. Don’t get me wrong — I’m not a discount mart shopper. I simply make do with what I have unless I can get the quality I want at a price I can afford to pay. I need to buy very little. (Again, you’ve succeeded in putting a nickel in me.)
So, are you thinking of starting yet another blog? I think the “Quality Club” has a place with the retro modern woman and also Grandma’s Sewing Cabinet.
Oh, gosh, Kathy, three blogs are enough! I just think we can start our own informal revolution towards only buying quality. When we are tempted, we can ask ourselves “What would the girls in the Quality Club think?”
Speaking of those nagging grandmothers, how many subprime sweaters and stiff pairs of shoes do we need in our wardrobes anyway?
When we moved into our current apartment the lady who was showing it to us made sure to point out that there were two closets in the master bedroom. She joked that I would get the big one and my husband would get the small one. The big one is plenty large for all of our clothing and shoes with some room left over. We use the smaller one to store Christmas decorations, various mementos, the vacuum cleaner, etc… If I’m fortunate enough to have my own washing machine, why would I need such a large wardrobe??
We’ve always lived in old houses/apartments, but I’m always surprised at the remodeling that has been done to enlarge the closets. And, I’ve noticed that people with huge closets still complain about having to constantly do laundry. I must be missing something.
Our loft had a walk-through closet. The guy who lived there before us got permission from the landlord to create a small “room” that you had to walk through to get to the bathroom. These were the only enclosed areas of the entire loft. On one side of the walk through closet were the rods, drawers, etc.
Everything old is new again eh? Maybe sometimes coming full circle is the best way?
My Mom even darned socks!