Sweatshop clothing

What are your thoughts on clothing that is not fair trade and possibly made by children in sweatshops? Does it motivate what kind of brands of clothing you buy etc?

 

Dont bother me a bit, Same thing but a shit ton cheaper. As for the kids, Its their choice to work there. If they are being held their, That's a different story.
But the general question, I could care less who made it everyone made $$ along the line.

 

at least they got a job lol sum ppl aint even that fortunate

 

I don't think most kids in indian sweatshops for instance work their by choice. I care but I do buy occasionally something from H&M. I thought those clothes were generally made by adults in sweatshops though. Although I saw how sad the circumstances for those adults as well were, we really don't make a difference by not buying such stuff. Well, we would make a difference: if we would all do that they would be out of a job. Not saying we are doing a very good job by keeping them employed, just that there's a big culture clash and things are done very differently there. I draw the line at child labour myself, I would not buy stuff if I knew it was made by kids that got underpaid and work in bad conditions.

 

I haven't bought Chinese made clothing for a few years, with the exception of shoes. Now it's American made or fair trade only (again with the exception of shoes, so far). I'm paying more for fewer clothes, but I feel better about it.

I've watched documentaries about clothing sweat shops in china ( I highly recommend a documentary calledChina Blue.) and the conditions young women are forced to live and work under is ridiculous. For example, the factory focused on in China Blue, documents a blue jean factory run by no other than a former police chief. In China this means he has total control, no one will speak out against him. These girls live in the tiniest of spaces and work long hours. In some cases, say around x-mas when demand goes up these girls find themselves working 30-40 hour shifts to meet the demands of American retailers. They are making pennies.

As for choosing to work there, this is not always, and likely rarely the case. One of the girls they followed in the film was there so that her fellow siblings could go to school, but she of course was suffering.

When discussing the Bangladeshi garment fires/collapses with my mom she was saying at least they had jobs.

With the economy as it is I want to buy American made everything to bring money to our country. These days though I buy American because I do not want to support a company or corporation who doesn't give value to human worth.

Every dollar I spend is a vote for how I want the world to be, and I am voting for a world with better working conditions.

I also don't think some Americans, or Europeans for that matter, truly grasp the corruption and scarcity in some foreign countries that utilize slave/cheap labor.

Even when I wear older clothes, purchased from China (prior to me boycotting Chinese made goods) it makes me cringe. Literally I think about the true cost of what it must have cost to make this shirt.

Some people would prefer to be blind to the issue, but as a human with empathy for my fellow humans and animal species, I care and I refuse to support corporations who do not see the the worth of human dignity.

I do want these people to have jobs, and as I've said and am doing, I'm willing to pay more for fairly made clothes. It's the least I can do.

(Side note I've always wanted to Robin Hood some clothing made in China, and find a way to send it back to the people who made it. I don't think it's possible, but it's a fantasy of mine.)

 

I suggest you read "Factory Girls" By Leslie Chang, I think.
The workers in these factories have a completely different perspective and outlook on life.

 

I buy my clothes from places like H&M, Macy's, Target, and Kohl's, so I am sure a lot of it (probably all of it) is made in sweatshops. It's pretty hard to find clothes that are not made in sweatshops, unfortunately. One thing I don't do is shop at Walmart, where pretty much everything is made by slave laborers.

 

Children shouldn't have to work.

 

I very rarely buy my clothes off the rack.
I try to buy second hand. At the very least there's full use out of what was probably make in a sweatshop. I've started to sew my own clothes too. Which reminds me I need to elastic up an unfinished pair of undies.

 

Yeah, I buy clothes from Target and Kohl's but not Walmart.
But mostly I just buy clothes for Case there.. for myself, because I very rarely buy clothes I'll buy shirts and stuff that are way more expensive but I know where they're made... from small boutiques-usually 100% cotton or sometimes hemp or other materials but anyways none of it's made in China... I just don't buy my son shirts and stuff from those places because he needs new clothes all the damn time and I couldn't afford to do so.

 

I rarely look to see where my clothes were made.

 

All this talk about clothing and most dont seem to care that their iPhones, tablets, laptops and other semiconductors used to make cell phones and plasma tv's, are made in sweatshops with the exact or even worse conditions.

Why aren't they boycotting those items? I think it's because they don't really care and clothing is an easy target that makes them feel better about themselves.

 

I thought H&M was a female clothing store?

 

Yup, I wear women's clothes now. You didn't know that?

Actually, H&M sells women's, men's and kid's clothes.

 

i would never wear stuff made in sweat shops by child slave labour

 

Word.

 

I buy my clothes second hand, not necessarily because I'm worried about sweat shop conditions but moreso because I don't really agree with how disposable our society is. I do try to have a social conscious about things like that but like Mike said, you can't really avoid it if you want to live in the modern world.

 

All valid points. I just started thinking more about where clothing comes from recently, especially after the factory collapse in Bangladesh. It is so, so hard to know for sure where your clothing comes from. There is no excuse in my mind that consumers should be justifying buying clothing they KNOW comes from sweatshops by saying at least they are giving someone a job. If this person was paid fairly for their labour and had decent working conditions then you are certainly helping out. If this person has to work 18 hour shifts in appalling conditions for pennies - do you really feel good about supporting that industry?

I like what Mike Suicide said about so many electronics being made in exactly the same conditions. Probably childrens toys, kitchen untensils, hell everything is made in sweatshops. And we just don't know. I know for a fact the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei had conditions so bad that they installed nets under the windows of some of their buildings to stop the workers committing suicide.

The options for someone who doesn't want to support these practices are slim and difficult. Paying for more a product doesn't guarantee anything in itself. A lot of designer clothing is still made in sweatshops. Probably the same with expensive electronic brands. While you can learn to sew your own clothes, it's not so easy to learn to build your own laptop or smart phone. Pretty sad.

 

What most pay high $$ for the 'faded' tattered look, I bought cheap, New on sale and wore them until they can be wore no more. Then shop rags lol. Ill find a pair of jeans and wear them until threads and patches.

 

I can make my own clothes. I can't make my own Blackberry.
It's just reality. Do what you can. As opposed to, I can't be perfect so I shouldn't even try or someone will call me a hypocrite. Or even worse, don't bother to try and douche over those who are doing what they can.