I don't even know where to begin, but this is the summary of checking all labels for a week.
Well almost all labels.
I tried to check furniture but most of them do not have labels.
However I am aware that our dinner table is from Brazil and that one of our sofas is from Colombia.
One of the first things I did was check the brand labels.
I sat down and checked all the brands I had listed as I wanted to make one point:
In general brands, at least in this specific experiment, brands are born in one country but their products are manufactured in another.
Here is what I mean:
You read Gucci and you (at least me) think it is Italian.
I tagged a pair of earrings as "ITALY" but then I realized that the item DID NOT say its origin. I checked the site as the earrings are available on line, it does not say where they are made.
I must check the box, but here is a mistake that we could make when assessing an item, assuming that it came from the place of birth of the BRAND.
Uno Core, checked the name on line, they seem to be a brand based in San Pedro, California.
Could not find much about them (if you do let me know, I'd love to update). The label on the top reads "made in China".
Forever 21, well according to Wikipedia they are an American business that was started in Los Angeles in the 80's by a South Korean couple. In the specific case of my belt, the origin was China.
Tracy Evans is the maker of my flower skirt. Their site is currently under construction. From what I could find it is a women's brand from New York's Garment District.
I do not know if all of their clothes are made in the US. However, I can tell you that my skirt said it loud and clear and also a few pants from their brand that I checked on line also indicated it was made in the US.
I do not know about you but, while growing up I remember a lot of clothing being made in the US. I also recall tags having the American flag and reading "Proudly made in America".
Continuing with Liz Claiborne, well it's a New York brand founded if 1976, as per Wikipedia. My LC bag reads it is made in China.
Breckelles: not even Wikipedia knew where they were from but a lot of sites carry this shoe brand.
My Breckelles shoes were made in China.
Smashbox is a Los Angeles make up brand, the items I have from them came mostly from the US and a few from China.
Brands such as Chanel, Givenchy and L'Occitane kept their product origin as "made in France".
Not so for Lacoste, my vest tag read made in PERU.
For the US brand Avon, their products which were hair balm and nail polish, were made in the US, BUT only because they were PURCHASED in the US.
I live in Latin America and the stuff they sell here from Avon is made in Guatemala.
So it seems, they make US products for the US market.
How very interesting.
Bershka and Zara are sister brands from Spain but as I mentioned in one of my posts their origins of manufacture are SO diverse. For example my shoes from Bershka were made in Spain and my Zara skirt was from Pakistan.
Seven For All Mankind is a Los Angeles founded company and my jeans are made in the US.
My Payless shoes were both made in China, which was totally expected.
Unexpected was finding out that Macbook, Dove, Anne Klein, Revlon, were made in China, Mexico and Germany.
I cannot begin to tell you how eye opening this has been.
Now I am not even looking at the brand, it's just a name.
The real thing is where it is being made.
Remove that brand label, now, what are you left with ?
Just a label that reads
MADE IN ....
From my wardrobe I have to admit that by just evaluating one week,
probably at least 70% of it is made in China.
I am not saying that this is good or bad.
That's a personal decision that YOU make.
I received comments from bloggers in regards to the origin of their goods which I thought were interesting, such as when Delane from Chicago commented that her "Honey was from Brazil" and added "like there are no bees in the US".
Sheila in Canada said "I try to shop and buy locally as much as I can, but it's really hard to completely avoid things made in China."
Elaine added "It saddens me more and more to see China as your country of origin. I don't know why.... It's a reality to everyone - everyone has something that was amde in China! But I feel like we should do more than buy things from overseas... like local and handmade. But that gets expensive :/"
Miss Emma Kitty candidly said " I only check where things are made if they are expensive LOL".
A couple of bloggers decided to join and check their labels in their blogs, while others were kind of pushed by me :)
Check them out...
If I left anyone out please let me know !
SO, what are YOUR thoughts ?
5 comments
With all the label hunting comes the thought of not just where it is being made, but WHO it is being made by.
It saddens me to buy from China because I have seen footage of poor, suffering sweatshop workers. I don't know that every factory is the same, but they probably are.
I also believe that if I buy something that was made in the US that I am supporting American citizens, but this might not be the case, at all.
And I am generally feeling like I want to support local businesses, or ones with only handmade on the premise goods so I can be certain that no one is suffering for my clothes.
But then I see something cute. Something I REALLY want.
And don't worry about the label.
* I do buy honey from local bees.
It's supposed to help you build immunity from pollen allergens.
that was one exciting project!
that was one exciting project!
This was just so cool. Thank you for doing it, and opening my eyes to the idea! I am going to continue checking my labels even if I don't post about them.
Thank you for your eye opening post. I will try to be more aware from here on. I don't lean toward boycotting but if I an unsure if I need an item, finding it not from my country might be a good criteria.
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