What Ever Happened to Quality
I took the time to repair some clothing. I mended two pair of underwear where the stitching of the seams started to separate. Old brands of underwear held together for many years of wearing and washing. Those old cotton briefs held together until the cotton panels developed holes because they actually wore out. Newer materials and designs just don’t seem to last and I haven’t even begun to talk about the inferior waistbands where the “gummy” stretch seems to disintegrate much too quickly.
What happened to the old cloth materials? Long johns were often made of wool, cotton, or flannel. All wore like iron and kept us warm, but I found the wool of my Navy blue uniforms was itchy as all get out and the wool chewed the hair off my legs as I wore them.
My Navy dungarees were made of cotton and they too wore quite well. The dungarees were the work uniform for sailors. It was necessary for the dungarees to stand up to the daily rigors of hard work and outlast the challenges in all kinds of weather and doing all sorts of dirty tasks.
The denim of today is a far cry from the original heavy dark blue material. Too often customers now want pants that look as if they are old and worn from working hard instead of having jeans that only look worn and faded. Today’s “fashion” jeans have slits and holes already placed into the legs by the manufacturers instead of intact denim jeans. To me, those cuts only hasten those holey pants to wear out more quickly.
When I was a kid, if we found clothing with holes while shopping at Gabriel’s, we‘d stick them back on the rack. Gabe’s was a seconds store and often its clothing was possibly thirds. Holes like that or worse could be found while searching for intact clothing. Holey and mis-sewn or mismatched clothing were cast aside.
Finally I’ll remind us of the double-knit horrors of my past. This material seemed like it would never wear out, but it was easily snagged on sharp objects. Double-knit shirts and polyester pants were the rage; wrinkled shirts and trousers, only a worry of the past. Ironing was a chore no more. The ease that the polyester threads accepted dyes made flowered patterns and garish plaids the “in thing.” Solid colors were almost something of the past as printed shirts and plaid bell-bottom pants came into fashion.
I imagine the “ripped” jean trend will eventually come to an end. I just pray the polyester bell-bottom plaid trousers NEVER make a return to be the “in thing.”