I actually have a tattoo of an old- fashioned sewing machine on my arm, in the crook of my elbow, and it's a comment on craftsmanship and a dying art that most people have to stare long and hard to figure out what it is. (There it is below- I took the image from a book I found in the Buff State Stacks and had tattooed on me by my inanamorta, a tattoo artist).
I'd like to discuss the state of the Philippines when it comes to cheap, trashy, poorly made clothing. First of all, it's almost ground zero for that type of clothing (China is the real Ground Zero). You may have noticed, those of you who shop and read clothing labels, that much of your inexpensive clothing is Made in the Philippines. Secondly, ever wonder what happens to the clothing you gave away after it leaves the local Salvatore Armani? People, it ends up over here. (More about that later).
Here's the deal:
There is a thriving "seconds" market here, on many levels.
Level 01: Stores:
The first level of "seconds": the inexpensive fast fashion stores like Zara, TopShop, etc. These places take very high fashion cues like digital prints, Native American influenced prints, color blocking, etc, and make quick, cheaply made copies of them and sell them from between 20- 100$. It pains me intensely to see a crappily made, cheaply fabricated dress being sold for 100$ when I know I can have a custom made, custom fit dress that no one else will have, that will last much longer for, like 20$ (I have my own tailor-- more about that later, too). Most of these things will do in a pinch, and there are some cute "finds" there- I have a striped tee shirt that's cut away at the sides so that it flatters my shape much more than a square shape, that I picked up for 20$. But the material it's made from is NOT breathable, so it must be worn only in air conditioned spaces.
Level 02: The Baratillijo:
The second level of "seconds" is the open air clothing sellers that sell blatant fake copies of well known brands, the most popular being Burberry, (PUKE!), LV, Gucci, Coach, Abercrombie (really, Asia?), Melissa shoes (the saddest part is that the original Melissa shoes, disgusting plastic jelly shoes for adults, which are extremely popular over here, are only 80-100$), Hollister (again, really Asia?), Aeropostale, American Eagle, LAMB and this bag, (by Longchamps, which retails for 200-1000$ for the real thing)
But back to level 2. These copy items are available in downscale malls, open air stalls, and on the street, being sold by roving vendors.
Level 03: Ukay- Ukay:
These are your thrift stores, where your shitty merchandise from Zara and level 02 vendors goes to die. Occasionally you can find a real treasure (I have found many, but I have an eye developed from years of shopping at thrift stores and a knowledge base of what quality merchandise looks and feels like from my momma). It's unclear how many people shop there, or what they buy, but stores are usually pretty bumpin' when I go there.
Here's a short list of what I've found at Ukay-Ukays:
Chinese "coolie jackets"-- chinoisiere print silk quilted winter jackets with frog closures--one for my niece in yellow and one for me in shocking pink, for about 50P each.
A weekender bag made of real leather, very well made and sturdy, last owned by an American Express executive (the business card was in the luggage tag), for 450P or about 10$.
Several cool, asymetrical shirts for about 5$ each.
A few cute jackets-- brocade and such, for about 5-6$.
The main issue with Ukay-Ukay stuff here is that people really wear their stuff to death and if something is donated and it's in good shape, there's a good reason. It's called pit stink (or in the family vernacular, it's been "pitted out"). This is when a garment doesn't have stains, but it has a permanent funk that you can only notice when you start wearing an item and your body heat activates the pit stink. I've had to let go of a few poly blend sweaters for this reason, to my chagrin.
Level 04: The discount stores/ supermarkets:
This is the cheapest shit that you can buy. There's a place called Pure Gold (or as I call it "Pure Crap"), that sells, like, outlet level super cheap crap that falls apart after one wash. It's usually the kind of thing you wear when you have the flu--- tee shirts, baggy sweats, cheap socks, etc.
Why?
Aside from the fast fashion stores, whose raison d'etre is extensively covered in this book (http://www.amazon.com/Overdressed-Shockingly-High-Cheap-Fashion/dp/1591844614/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348896537&sr=1-1&keywords=overdressed), most of these things exist for a tangle of interrelated reasons:
1) the Americanisation of the Philippines (and all of Asia). This has also been covered extensively by many people more qualified to do so than me, but as one example, there is a huge quantity of beautiful, unusual, and inexpensive local batiks that I buy and have made into simple dresses. Who else does this? Grandmothers. Only. I've often come across a very elderly lady wearing the same fabric as me, made into a loose housedress/ mummu and been like "Awwww, man!" Wearing local stuff means "I'm poor / out of it / some kind of revolutionary nut".
2) The price points. Everyone (virtually everyone) wants to have a pretty extensive wardrobe, and the only way to do that on the salaries over here is to buy at the discounters or the open air market. Also, once you get into this way of living, it's really, really hard to get out. I found this out the hard way with shoes. I have literally purchased over 100 pairs of shoes since I got here, and I've had to resole or otherwise repair almost all of them (or throw them away or donate them) after about 3 months.I have only a few pairs I haven't had to: leather motocross boots I got from the Ukay Ukay, and a pair of Hush Puppies that cost 40$ and KILL my feet if I don't wear heel bumpers with them)
If you want cute shoes (and who doesn't?) you have to settle for Payless-quality (ironically, Payless is actually more expensive than most of the shoe stores here) shoes that fall apart within a few months. Made of cheap, thin cotton or blended "mystery meat" material, with glued on soles made of cellulose or very cheap rubber, with very low quality fastenings/ stitching. But you still need shoes, and they wear out really quickly from walking on the horrible roads/ being sweated in by bare feet (wearing socks is torture over here) so spending a lot of money of shoes is not a good choice for most people. Enter the gerbil wheel of cheap shoes.
3) Culture/ fitting in: Almost everyone wears the same thing here: skintight jeans, converse sneakers or fabric loafers/ espedrills, and a tee shirt or polyester blouse. Period. Sometimes you get a flimsy little dress and boots or plastic flats. For professionals, it's poly blend pants and a silky top, or a "church dress"- usually a cotton dress that one would wear to a summer cocktail party. If you want to be some kind of asshole (like I do), you can wear that Japanese asymmetrical tunic with your handmade cotton eyelet bloomers and your repaired, resoled Banana Republic leather flats. You can do that, or you can have friends/ a BF. Your choice.
4) Disposability: If you stain or rip a 3000P item, it's extremely painful. 300P, not so much. Most people here take public transportation or walk, and it's stain-situation- alley over here, so expensive, delicate, well made clothes just won't stand up to walking 45 blocks with a baby and groceries in your arms. It's just not practical.
What there is not:
Good quality, reasonably priced items. There's the Gap and Banana, but for those that want a more funky look at the same quality and price point, you're SOL. There is one option, which is the dress department at SM department store (they sell mid price dresses from 25-100$, and they're not half bad, but they're going to look shabby and dated after about a year), but I have had a HELL of a time finding clothes over here. I have an ongoing album project on FB called "The fashion project", in which I try to photograph everything that I buy over here. I would say 75% or more of those items are now gone (donated to my cleaning lady or the local Ukay Ukay), as they became virtually unwearable after only a few months- became pitted out (I live in the tropics, after all!), became pilly, became limp and shoddy looking, came undone in one way or another, or just lost their luster. The few items I have held on to are dresses, most of which were over 1000P (generally the threshold for quality over here). I have purchased a few things out of desperation, only to give them away after taking a good hard look at myself in the item- it just doesn't fit right or flatter me, or there is really no occasion on which to wear it.
What I do (usually):
Have it made. By a tailor.
The irony of this is that all through my childhood and into my early teens (when my parents got divorced my mom had to give up sewing, as she working and going back to school and didn't have the time anymore) my mom made beautiful, perfectly tailored, totally unique items that we helped her design. I have wonderful memories of going to the fabric store to pick fabric and then spending a long time going through the pattern books, which are huge, phone book size books with pictures of the patterns you can buy. My mom made things like skirts with button holes for the matching top to button into so it stayed crisp and neat, entire wardrobes of mix and match cotton separates with appliques, and Halloween costumes, as well as very elaborate costumes for various events-- a few that stand out are the 1700's Revolutionary era dresses *including petticoats* outfits she made FROM SCRATCH for my sister. These were museum- quality garments that we've loaned out to several institutions and they still look as good as the day they were made.
However, when you're a kid, having handmade clothes is a bit of a trial, as all you want is United Colors of Benetton, Guess, and Hypercolor items, so you can look just like everyone else. Often in my 20's, as I grew older and began to appreciate vintage clothes and handmade, couture items, I would joke "I would kill for my personal tailor today. Too bad it was mostly wasted on me as a kid!" (We would get fitted by my mom and *always* bitch and moan about it. Today the only time most people are fitted for anything is for their wedding gown- for me, this was a monthly event, something that usually only the "1%" of society have ever experienced, a privilege that, like most things in youth, seems like a chore at the time--- "Oh, mom, do we have to take the Rolls again? It's so gaudy!")
What I do is take an item that fits well (usually a dress or Gap basic, like a simple bubble skirt with pockets), buy fabric and notions (if I want special notions like cute buttons or a colored zipper) and take it to my tailor (via my cleaning lady- yeah, I'm a high roller. I've actually never met my own tailor, the cleaning lady does it all for me.) to copy line for line. If it needs alterations, as in the case of a vintage slip I had copied in 2 different breezy Hawaiian prints, I'll ask for a higher neckline or a lower hemline (using diagrams in a note). This costs about 20$ a pop for the labor and about 10-15$ for the fabric and notions. It takes about 1-2 weeks.
I've had dresses, skirts, jackets and pajama pants copied. A few items have "flopped" mostly due to the wrong fabric choices, but overall, it's been very successful, and a great way to extend the life of a favorite item that is getting worn out (you can alternate it with your copy or replace it with your copy, as I did with a favorite linen dress that had seen better days). I had fabric given to me as a gift from an Indian colleague (I asked for fabric as a souvenir from his homeland when he asked me what I wanted) and the result was a hit- the sari fabric made into a cute little button front day dress, is adorable and flattering.
Below is an item I had copied and then added my own contrasting buttons to by hand (they used regular clear plastic buttons). Never in a million years would you see something this "The Sartorialist" in the stores.
The best thing I ever had made was a pair of eyelet bloomers that I use under dresses that are just a bit too short or under tunics as a pair of casual little shorts. I used a cheap cotton skirt as the raw material (I frequently remake items this way) and had my tailor copy a pair of lingerie bloomers (an item you can buy in the department store here, and ladies, if you haven't tried bloomers under your looser dresses and skirts, you MUST, it's a lifesaver.). Bingo! something custom made for me that no one else will have, that looks great.
I also had the below made- a little copy of a Gap skirt in toile de joie (with switched out buttons in contrasting paisley by me).
I would encourage all my 3 of readers in the US to source your clothes through thrift stores, local boutiques, or have them made (if you can source a crafty friend or put the time in yourself, those of you who live in Brooklyn should have no problem finding someone!), as you'll find that these clothes just look and feel so much better than Target's paper thin cute tee- du- jour.
Happy hunting!
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