Made in Quatar

This week I decided it

was time to revisit label checking 

and where the goods I consume are from.

Gap white jeans - H&M brown belt - Black sweater (no brand)
Anne Klein animal print flats -Michael Kors black bag

Hopefully you have also stopped at least once to check 

where your goods are coming from.

Forever 21 bottle necklace

Is the origin of your goods something you think about ?

Is it something you don't even consider ?

DO you base your purchase decision on where the item is made ?

Answer one, or answer them all :)

Made in Turkey

Checked your label today ?

This week I am checking the labels 

on things I wear, products I use and food I eat.

H&M top - H&M blue skirt - Zapatinho de Luxo beige flats - Urban Expressions bag

Today I am wearing an outfit that come from far away countries!

Brazil, Turkey and Bangladesh...

There are other items that are not labeled.

Which can only make me wonder why someone

would not label their product.

No "good" reasons come to mind.

If YOU made a product, what reasons could you have

for not labeling it ?

Made in Colombia

My pants are made in Colombia,

how about yours ?

This week I am making myself conscious of

where things are made by simply looking at labels.

Lands End beige trousers - Fariani top - Qupid wedges - Urban Expressions bag

It starts with clothing, shoes, bags, things you use,

food you eat...

Do you usually look at labels ?

Where are your pants from ?

Made in Bangladesh

Checked your label yet ?

I sure did and you are invited to do so too.

This week I am doing the "Check your label series"

in order to find out where things I use are made and see 

how much we depend on the world !

Not just clothing, but also things we use in our everyday activities

and food...

Null button down shirt - H&M Blue skirt - H&M brown belt - Green cardigan America 5 - Qupid wedges - Urban Expressions bag 

For example this morning I had local grown coffee and drove to work
in a Japanese car.

Got to work and ate Kraft crackers made in Nicaragua.

Bath products included a hair mask made in Brazil and a

soap that I have no idea where it came from.

Nail products made in U.S.A

A stainless steel firefly pendant that has no origin stamped on it, 

but the necklace reads "Made in Italy".

Finally shoes that have no markings on them but that if

I recall correctly the box said "Made in China".

SO, how about you ?

Where is your stuff made ?

Check your label

Last year I had a "label revelation"

and decided to check my labels to have

an idea of where the goods I consume were coming from.

Last year's recap post here.

This year I am doing it again, starting today and ending on Friday.

Certainly you are invited to join, if you do, let me know so I

can link your blog :)

If you do not have that much time, just check the label 

of what you are wearing next time you go to the bathroom 

and tell us where it's from in the comments section.

I check most labels that I can find...

Ferre perfume and lotion Italy, Smashbox face powder 

and eyeshadow made in U.S.A., Tous blush made in Spain,

Dove deodorant made in Mexico, 

Rosaterapia moisturizer made in Chile.

Maybelline liquid eyeliner - ?

Vogue black nail polish made in Colombia.

Zara dress -black tank top -  animal print belt - Red lips sandals - Michael Kors black bag 

My dress is from Zara and it was made in Morocco.

The shoes are made in Brazil.

The watch is swiss.

Neither the earrings, belt or bag have "made in" information.

Firefly stainless steel earrings

Miraculously I have not seen a "made in China" tag today :)

I am guessing I have not looked well enough.

So, tell me .... have you checked your label ?

RECAP: Check Your Label Series

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. 

From what I read here, I assume that all of their jeans are made in the US. What do you think ?

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... 

Low Fat Dressing

by Hillary

Mad Dress Game 

Chic on the Cheap 

Style Generator

If I left anyone out please let me know !


SO, what are YOUR thoughts ?

Where is this From ?

Five days of checking labels.

Checking all I eat, checking products I use and clothes I wear.

Reading the label to know where it has been made.

Everyday encountering a new country in my labels and also everyday 

finding I am practically Chinese in regards to wardrobe. 

My labels keep on telling me "Made in China" or "Fabrique en Chine".

Today is no exception.

Today my jeans 7 For All Mankind are made in the US, 

the rest is made in China.

My deo was Dove made in Mexico, perfume and soap were French.

My make up came from the US, Germany, England and certainly China.

Accessories were silver items from Mexico.

Mexico is also the origin of assembly for my German brand car.

I stopped for gas that only God knows where it came from and had local 

coffee, bread and cheese for breakfast.

I am posting from a MAC made in China while wearing 

Avon nail polish made in the US and just put my hair up with a 

plastic clamp made in China.

What do you think about this ?

I will be doing a recap and maybe even throwing in the weekend for

analysis but this label checking exercise has got me thinking...

Made in... ?

It's my fourth day checking out the labels of things I eat, wear and use.

Have you been checking ? 

Let me know if you have, I would love to add a link.

I find a new country everyday !

My new country for today was Pakistan, my skirt was made there.

I have to say that Zara is one of the stores where I find the 

most diverse origins.

Today the bra is Bali brand made in El Salvador and underwear 

is Sanrio's Hello Kitty made in China.

(wait, it this TOO MUCH information ?!)

I washed my hair and came across the following:

While doing my make up, I tried to use other of the stuff I have in my make

up drawer so I could see where else my cosmetics are being made.

As usual, there is always one item I have no idea where it is from, 

today it was a Smashbox clear lipgloss.

My nail polish, in this case Avon's Olive Green tone is made in the US.

The accessories are silver from Peru and Mexico.

My sunglasses are from Italy, I am wondering if the case is too..

Breakfast was local coffee sweetened with Splenda (made is US).

I also had local bread and local cottage cheese.

Lunch will be local meat and salad made of local goods and

strawberry yogurt, also made locally.

I will be doing a recap that should be interesting...

Where is it from ?

Today is my third day checking out labels on things I wear, 

items I use and goods I eat.

I have to say it's eye opening and sometimes even surprising.

For example, the Bath and Bodyworks liquid soap does not say 

where it is made. It says it is not animal tested but, no

indication on origin.

Do you have any B&Bworks soap you can check for me ?

Maybe yours says where it is made...

I would like to know.

My make up is mostly Smashbox and some items are made in 

the US and others are made in China. I wonder why ?

If you can make a an eyeshadow trio in the US why can't you make a blush ?

My silver accessories are from Mexico, Spain, Peru and Italy.

Another item I could not find a place of origin for

was the lint remover. But, I am pretty sure it was not made in Australia.

In my outfit I continue to have pieces from China.

Note that I have nothing against China.

It's just amazing how they have taken over producing

everything we use.

I drove to my office in a German car assembled in Mexico.

For breakfast had local grown coffee sweetened with Splenda 

sugar substitute made in the US. 

Once again had my Nabisco crackers made in Nicaragua and 

my local made cottage cheese.

For lunch I will most likely have a vegetable soup made locally.

I am posting from a MAC computer assembled in China and

my watch is made in Switzerland.

Below are links from other bloggers who have also checked out their labels, 

so check them out to see what they have found...

Hillary of ByHillary

It was interesting how three of her items, all of which are recognized brands 

did not have the origin information...

One thing I found striking was that her hand soap was from Guatemala!

Francis Joy of Mad Dress Game

I thought it was so cool that she had in one outfit stuff from Haiti, Turkey, Indonesia and China !

Other fellow bloggers will be posting about it, I will

give you heads up as they have.

I think it is interesting to see how the origins of items may differ depending 

on where you are.

Made Where ?

As you may have read yesterday this week I am doing a challenge 

that you are cordially invited to join.

It's to just check the labels on things you are wearing, eating, using.

See where they are coming from,

what country was it made in ?

I will be checking labels for one week and

taking note on them.

Today I checked my undergarment's labels, the bra comes from

Mexico and the underwear from Jordania.

Soap and perfume are from France, deodorant is Dove made in Mexico

and the list continues...

(Yes, I know you are thinking I need to replace some of my make up. I can assure you that I have 2 more blushes and 3 face powders in my drawer that are waiting in line for me to finish the above products so they can jump into action)

In today's outfit the shoes, bag, and dress come from China.

The belt is made in Peru by Michelle Belau

My accessories are silver pieces from Italy and Mexico

and my watch is Swiss.

Regarding my food intake, my breakfast consisted of crackers 

made in Nicaragua, local cottage cheese and local coffee sweetened with Splenda (made in the US).

I am writing this post on a MAC assembled in China.

My lunch will be local made pasta, tap water and Quaker granola 

bites - not sure where these are made.

Unless I looked I would have never guessed my Nabisco crackers 

were made in Nicaragua !

Nicaragua ?

Have you read a label that surprised you ?

Let me know if you want to join so I can add your link you to this

experiment :)