Not what I was expecting, but fascinating to watch as a European/Scandinvian knitter :) I have a couple of tips on how to prolong the life of your sweaters/knits: - "Invest" (I say invest, but they are generally quite cheap) in a depiller/fabric shaver. It is a little battery operated machine that shaves of the pilling on your sweaters/knits, even wool coats, so they look like new again. - As a rule of thumb in the knitting community: the softer the yarn the more likely it is to pill (fabric density as you mentioned and ply, as well as other factors also play a role). - Store your knits flat (not hanging) to preserve their shape. - After washing your knits (based on the care instruction), lay them flat on a towel roll up the towel with the sweater and step a couple of times on your towel-sweater-burrito, then unroll and dry sweater flat. (towel-sweater-burrito is optional, but speeds up the drying, laying flat preserves the shape). - Pure wool limits the build-up of odor and doesn't need to be washed after every wear. Regarding quality: well-crafted handknit garments are often considered heirloom pieces, not just for the rest of the lifetime and a handknit sweater (of course depending on size, needlesize, complexity, skill-level etc.) is generally considered to take 30-40 hours to complete for a well-versed knitter. As far as I know, wool prices for many Northern-European sheep breeds have crashed, this is due to consumer preferences for softer yarns in garments (a lot of merino) - so that is also something to consider. Given the often thinner fabric and proneness to pilling from softer yarn, this shift towards softer yarn could have something to do with the perceived quality decrease. It was really funny to hear you say that the Aran sweater Ben is wearing is giving wearing heat-tech underneath (I'm paraphrasing). Most yarn from more hardy sheep, living in northern regions is generally coarser (however also warmer) , and I can imagine that the sweater Billy is wearing, given that the wool would be coarser, actually would inspire many people to wear something underneath, to avoid it being too itchy. On the other hand, most modern store bought sweaters are softer, and the chance that it could be worn next to skin is higher :) If I wear a sweater that is hand-knit in a coarser yarn, I generally tend to wear something long sleeved underneath. I could say so much more, but will end here, but also the sheep-Grease made me laugh so much, so thanks for that :D
these are all really useful tips, one thing though: the depiller actually shaves off the ends of the fabric and while that may look nicer, it actually reduces the amount of fabric of the garment and since you just cut them off, more ends will end up being unwound and making the same fuzzy texture, and so the cycle is renewed. maybe if it has faced some particularly gruesome event that has left it a little defaced, use it, but not regularly as it'll reduce its size much faster. i would say the best way to deal with this is to just take care of your clothes and buy good yarn in the first place (one that has been produced with quality on mind more than time). personally: for wool, it's worth it even though i'm not a fan of this texture i would much rather wear it than some synthetic fabric with a third the lifespan and half the thermal insulation. plus i'm more than happy to only wash a piece of clothing as little as once a month or two even after wearing it every day.
It’s upsetting how expensive nice clothing is now and also how even “nicer brands” don’t use great materials now. I want things that will last and feel good, but everything feels like thin plastic now
And the plastic absorbs and holds on to odor, too. I’ve had polyester shirts that looked fine, but they stank no matter how I washed them :(. I had to throw them out and it was such a waste.
what i hate most is that most of the material is made of PLASTIC, which makes ppl sweaty, doesnt regulate body heat and becomes stinky bc the plastic fiber absorb sweat and therefore bacteria.
And after a while the smell doesn't even go away in the wash anymore. So unless you want to stink all the time, the clothes need to go in the trash even though it's not actually broken.
@gildanonofyabiznez6430 Autism often comes with many sensory sensitivities that make you hyperaware of materials against your skin, and it can become distracting or overwhelming if something you're wearing feels bad or makes you sweaty, for example. Polyester magically does both! It sucks.
I have consumer guilt because I want good quality cloths that aren’t harmful to the environment, but they purposely price quality cloths like that so high that it’s impossible for me to afford them. and with the cost of living right now, all I can really do is take care of the cloths that I currently have until they quite literally fall apart-and realistically, cheaper quality cloths will do just that.
Out of control late stage capitalism makes it impossible for non-wealthy people to just exist. It's good you are taking care of your clothes. I have shirts that I bought for about $20 that have lasted decades just from doing delicate cycles with like colors and only detergent and maybe some stain remover or tiny bit of whitener if needed (no sofetener, scent beads, etc), then hang drying or drying on low heat. If something desperately needs to be softened oflr fluffed, wool dryer balls are the way to go. Edit: also garment bags are a must for super delicate fabrics and bras.
The solution: thrift! It's often as cheap as or even cheaper than fast fashion, but often for better quality items that already proved their resilience. And it's way better for the environment. In exchange, make sure you resell or responsibly donate your old clothes if they're still good but you don't wear them anymore.
Seconding on the thrift not being sustainable if you fall out of common size ranges. I would love to go thrifting more often but it‘s just not happening for me as there are no plus size clothes available in all the thrift stores I‘ve been to. Once you go beyond a 44/46“ bust, it‘s hard to find anything. I learnt to sew a few years ago because I couldn‘t afford the clothes out of natural fibres I so desperately wanted and like to put on my body (due to sweating in the summer for example). And I‘ll wear those clothes to death as well, and then try to repair them, because I cannot afford the time and money I put into these to go to waste so easily. No shame on wearing your clothes until they fall apart!
@jekentmenietje thrifting comes with its own set of problems, the pricing has gotten really insane because of resellers becoming more and more common and snatching up anything that might sell for more and the trend of size 2s and 4s going into thrift stores and buying up bigger clothing to literally cut up and make smaller and then resell on Depop for way more. People who need thrift stores are getting screwed sideways because thrifting has become trendy.
It's not just clothing, it's pretty much everything. Ever notice how amazingly good quality old furniture is with strong, solid wood? They don't make anything like they used to anymore because if the standard of things is low quality, they don't last as long and companies make more money the more often we have to buy replacements.
I agree, mostly. You can buy quality furniture now. Nobody wants to pay for it. Marketing tells us we need to remodel every handful of years, so we don't buy couches that last forever and gets reupholstered every decade or two.
@@TerryPagel This is a good point that I haven't heard before. How many people would be fine with just having the same bureau for the rest of their lives? To be frank, probably a lot of men. But if you feel the need to change the look of your home every so often, what does it matter if the furniture only lasts 5 years?
A huge part of also why modern furniture made with wood now is noticeably lower quality is bc the wood they use is from young trees. The centuries old trees ppl were cutting down to make homes and items with years ago are scarce resource and now heavily protected and younger juvenile trees don't have that same quality. (Also doesn't not help that press board is becoming increasingly popular among fast furniture makers like ikea, Walmart, target etc)
The difference between a garment my grandparents have had for sixty years versus stuff I have breaking down in two or three years is truly startling. I'm sure capitalism would have done it anyway but you'd think people would have put up more of a resistance.
frrr like my friend was litteraly wearing a long sleeve leotard that belonged to he rgreat grand mother and it looked pretty recent like the quality back then was super good
I’m wearing clothes my grandmother wore 80 years ago or clothes resewn from fabric that she wore that long ago and the quality of the fabric and clothes color is incredible. I have not seen anything even remotely equal nowadays.
You do not even need to go as far in time than that, I have a wool jacket that my mum bought in Zara in the 80s and it is in perfect state!! It hasn't pilled!! And I repeat, it is from Zara, 100% wool!! Now, even if you are able to find a sweater that contains wool it is always mixed with some other material so that it will pill
@@Ines-pi3xt I remember seeing hats few days ago proudly labeled as "contains wool". I am obnoxious tag checker so I looked into material composition already knowing that it will be less than 50% wool and it turned out to be 4% 😐
honestly this is how it should be. No one needs 100 sweaters. And by reverting to old times and have either very expensive clothing that we cherish and look after because it's good quality and expensive or if we have clothes that we made ourselves and they took us time and effort, we will consume less
Yep, I've come to that conclusion a while back while watching several channels on historical clothing, so I'm working toward making my own 1780's style clothing.
Yes, with the small exception that there are ecological ethical companies who try to source their fabrics well and sow them domestically. However bc of labour costs& their selling price they have limited amounts of each clothing piece so they can never break through on a big scale. I'd say look around in your own country and/or neighbouring countries depending where you're from and seeing if there are any you can find with stuff to your liking. It can be that in your area there's less or none though but it could help!
The most telling thing of the clothing industry's downfall for me is how hard it is to find just a good T-shirt these days. A plain white T-shirt. Everything is paper thin and see-through, weirdly sewn, with collars that stretch out after the first wash on delicate settings. It's honestly genuinely upsetting
American apparel was the only one for me, i have a heavyweight tee thats outlasted many others. Los angeles apparel is now doing what american apparel used to
As an Irish person, I generally watch people of other nationalities talking about our history and culture with my heart in my throat, ready for stereotypes, mispronounciations and general paddywhackery but this was SO GOOD. Thanks for this amazing level of research and nuance and for making an effort with pronouncing Irish names and phrases correctly. What a pleasure to learn so much I didn't know about my beloved Aran jumpers! You're the best!!
Oh god, I feel you. I'm Polish and the amount of mispronunciation in some of the videos about Poland gives me headache. I'm glad you are satisfied with this video. ❤️
My aunt knitted my dad a chuncky wool sweater to go skiing in, 55 years ago. I'm still wearing it today. It's still chunky, warm and has not lost its shape, or its colour.
My mom knitted bunch of sweaters for my dad 25 years ago and he still wears them till today in the winter and ppl envy him and always asking him where did he get them
That is awesome! My dad has a collection of beautiful wool sweaters that he bought back in the 80s and I still wear them til this very day! Still in such great condition!
We were talking about this the other day. My mom gave me clothes she had saved for over 20 years that didn’t fit her anymore. They were in PERFECT CONDITION. No discoloration, not a hole, no fabric thinning. And they were from Zara, Bershka, Springfield. While I bought 3 years ago a Zara shirt that started to breakdown in a couple of months.
Yep, I still have a lot of clothes from the early to mid 2000s that I bought as a teen from fast fashion brands that are still around (Zara, Bershka, Mango, H&M...) and they're still in good condition despite lots of use and washes.
I even see it with H&M that I bought as a teen 10 years ago. Yes it had small holes here and there but overall at least the basics lasted. Not to mention the price was actually low. Now whenever I visit a store again my jaw drops bc they want like 40€ for say, a thin jacket that's worse in quality than the years before. It's funny that I have to go to TJ Maxx now to get actual cheap fast fashion... with better quality! (this sounds like I deliberately only buy fast fashion but due to growing up / changing sizes and saving money that's all I can afford. But I seriously consider sewing and buying ecological clothing now, it's just that they want much more money. And 50€ for a t-shirt is definitely a splurge...).
Same! There was style of blouse that H&M used to carry that was super flattering on me. I must have bought 20 of those blouses in the early 2000's and I still have 3 that look great. @@myrna_m
@@myrna_mI have a long sleeve black shirt from GADZOOKS of all places. I got it as a kid 5 years before they were bought out by Forever 21. It's still kickin'.
The most frustrating thing is that fact that not only is nice clothing hard to come by now, nice materials to MAKE clothing are also getting tough to find. I hate it here
Yes. I used to make custom clothing including wedding gowns and quit largely because even in the NYC garment district there’s not much to choose from anymore. There’s no demand for good stuff. 😔
Yeah allowing other countries to monopolize the textile industry through unfair trade agreements has caused this. America got it’s wealth from making cotton and hemp fabric, now we are forced into poverty by our government’s stupidity.
I still make trousers lined to the knee (fronts only or front and back). I think a lot of makers seem to have forgotten how to make a lined skirt. I've seen them now and again, but they don't properly anchor the lining or it's too small, so the wearer is uncomfortable.
And it has gotten harder to find slips to wear under the see- through fabric. Some people aren't bothered by this, but being in my early 60's, I appreciate that added layer. Especially after I did Civil War reenactments and learned how much cooler multiple layers of.cotton fabric can be than our mixed fabric type clothing.
Just experienced having to wear short black tights under a beautiful white dress for a relative's funeral. It's too hot in the Caribbean for black right now. Linings can be too hot also due to the fabric.
@@GretabpoohI don't see slips anymore here in the increasingly hot Caribbean. I am told to wear short black tights. Linings are also out of style due to the heat. I try to buy cotton and linen.
It's nice getting vintage all cotton button ups from the 90's.... The fit is looser and much more flattering and comfortable, + they tend to be thicker and better made.
Thiss! I remember a store going out of business and finding a shirt for $2 originally priced for $14. Practically thick tights, like for dance and ice skating
I'm a seamstress. I was a teenager in the 80s and we used to have three levels of fashion. Basic, which was well made and of good material, but lacked high end details. "Designer" which one could buy off the peg, which had better materials and nicer details, and then haute couture, which only the wealthy could afford. There were nice, natural fibers at every level. T-shirts could last a decade. Now, as a seamstress, I struggle to find quality fabrics, full stop. It's so frustrating, because I know what quality looks and feels like!
I am REALLY bothered by the coats not keeping us warm thing. I despise being cold and I despise wearing so many layers that I can't wear anything cute and feel like a walking marshmallow.
I purchase mostly second hand clothing but I still succeed with 'old womens clothing' brands. I know eventually that will go to shit as well when the younger generation grows older, but for now those coats are at least of better quality. And they're not that bad either. I've even been considering to purchase one or two extra coats if they're actually premium quality that could last me all my life. It might be boring but I'll at least be warm in my 80's. Something tells me those coats won't be for sale anymore when I'm that old.
Gotta buy from brands that actually cater to the outdoors or people who work outdoors. Buy an insulated jacket that actually shows the insulating materials and how much of it is used. Real insulating clothes will have that info on the tag or the product description online.
@@seyi777 What brands and materials make good coats? Also, hopefully its not expensive. Though, I would be willing to invest in a good coat though as it will last me many years.
We also use heat more now than people did before and spend leas time outdoors… As a kid in northern California I was almost always in just a hoodie at the start of winter. Once rain and snow hit it was a jacket… Now I’m in a liner with a shirt under and a sweater then a coat… Being cold has a lot to do with us and not always the garments.
A problem I've come across in my country is that stores that actually sell good quality clothing at higher prices, but not in the luxury price range, are going bankrupt, because the people who used to shop there are cutting back on their shopping. So luxury brands and fast fashion thrive while the segment in the middle dies. Drives me crazy.
That's been happening for all kinds of things for decades. The solid good quality stuff without luxury cachet has disappeared, as have the stores and brands that used to be known for those things.
@@BlueCyann Should have tons more thumbs up for this comment. It is exactly the case for so many services and goods today. The middle will get squeezed out because they become unprofitable and unable to find a large enough customer base to continue. It's all about the economics of business and markets in a globalized marketplace.
Hello, I come from Italy and I am lucky to have a family working in the textile department of wool, cashmere, etc. The difference between a handmade sweater, compared to one made is machine, is that the first, thanks to its processing, the texture is thicker and three-dimensional, while those made by machine are much more "flat"
i think a big reason people feel that a £200 jacket is very expensive even though historically, adjusted for inflation, it isn’t, is because nowadays they definitely make the jacket much more cheaply and artificially inflate the price, rather than paying £200 for a genuinely good quality item
Also, prices have adjusted to inflation, while salaries have been stagnating if not reducing for quite some time. So a 200£ price (which was yes a big investment in the past but paid itself over time because you basically had to do it once each couple of decades) makes a much bigger dent into a monthly budget and doesn't give any indication on the quality itself which Is, as you said, almost always pretty low anyway
Profit margins on almost all consumer items have increased drastically (almost mirroring the decline in wages, especially considering the increase in skill) over the past century. ‘Built-in-obsolescence’ is now an industry standard.
im only 28 and i remember my mum making a lot of my clothes when i was a child because it was cheaper but by the time i was a teenager the fabric became really expensive and poor quality. its almost like good fabric has been made unavailable to push us to buy fast fashion.
Yes, that’s why I no longer sew. When I was young in the 70’s/80’s, I’d go to a fabric store and find so many gorgeous fabrics it was hard to choose. I could make a simple but beautiful dress in no time just because the fabric was so lovely. Sadly between the fact that people rarely get dressed up anymore, and it’s not worth working on cheap material, there’s no longer any point in sewing.
@@skeptigal4626for me who is short, small at the shoulders but a bit chubby in the middle, sewing is the best way of getting cloths that fits well. But it _is_ sad that the quality of fabric isn't as good today as it was some dacades ago. However I've found some vintage fabric of good qulity very cheep. That's almost like finding a treasure.
I agree. I sewed a lot in the late 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and into the 90’s but then patterns started to get ridiculously expensive and it became hard to find decent fabric. I occasionally make a garment now and I find I can still save by making home decor, but most of my sewing today is repairs and alterations.
I made my daughter clothing when she was a toddler with fabric left over from my childhood, the garments are now on the 5th kid. My 3 then my niece, now my nephew. Think the fabric was purchased in 1989 or so. Likewise, my Oshkosh overalls are on the 8th kid. Me, a friend, 2 brothers, and the other 5 mentioned prior. They look fine, and the reinforcement on the knees has been replaced once after my brothers, once after my kids. Eta: the overalls were apparently used when my mom bought them in 88
I'm 70 and my parents passed in their early 80s many years ago. My mother sewed all her own clothes, clothes for her 5 children, dress shirts, and winter coats. She knew every fabric store in the region and usually hit at least one a week. I was often with her on these expeditions so I've seen the change in fabric stores over the past 60 years. They are all but nonexistent now, most converted into craft stores that sell fabric only for quilting, costume, craft, and maybe some upholstery goods. I remember the dazzling array of bolted woolens, velvets, silks, plaids, and prints. Most of it was gorgeous and not all of it high priced. The cost is prohibitive these days and the available selection is trash. The online fabric selection is extensive but gives me sticker shock. Now that I'm retired and have no public role, I buy men's casual clothing. The workmanship and durability are usually better quality than women's clothing. I can buy larger sizes for comfort, a short sleeve button shirt and a pair of sweat pants and I am good to go.
I'm Mexican (not Mexican-American). I remember my family and I would go to the US to go shopping for clothes about once a year when I was younger because the quality was noticeably higher than the options we had here in Mexico. The years passed, and we stopped doing that since the quality of the clothes in the US became pretty much the same as it is here. You can't even trust "nicer" brands nowadays.
It’s scary to see the quality of clothes from the same brands overtime. A while back it used to be obvious fast fashion places like Forever21 and H&M etc but now it’s all wearable garbage. Something from 10 years ago will hold up for years longer and in much better shape than something you bought THIS very year. And yet we still got inflation.
As a handknitter who is currently knitting their partner a heavy weight cabled cardigan, I can attest that good quality heavy weight 100% wool is expensive! And the more oversized the garment is intended to be worn, the more wool goes into it. To my eye, Billy’s Aran looks more “expensive” because the cables looks more plush and three-dimensional in texture, drapes in a way that means it’s a heavy weight yarn, and has more positive ease in the body and sleeves which means it probably weights twice as much as the other more modern sweater.
Yeah, I am currently knitting on a full merino cardigan for myself. I paid 200€ for the wool alone!!! Peoples ideas of fabric costs are so distorted. Sometimes I see wool jumpers at prices that don't make sense if I consider fabric price alone. We need to appreciate pieces again. These fashion cycles are getting absurd... Doing an entire new wardrobe every year. This just doesn't make any sense...
Can I ask out of interest as someone interested in business of fashion how much does good quality heavy weight wool cost for lets say one ladies or mens cardigan? This is price for retail customer I guess & not price paid by a large manufacturer.
@@zatarawood3588 I’m located in Australia, so my prices will be guided by what’s available to me locally or can be easily shipped to me here. The most economical 100% wool option available to me would be roughly $18AUD per 300m (150m/100g) from Bendigo Woollen Mills. To make a ladies basic cardigan (no cables or heavy texture) would require around 1200-2000m, depending on the desired size of the garment, so about $72-120 AUD, as a starting point. A men’s cardigan would start at around the same meterage, but extend to larger sizes. I recently bought a sweaters quantity of Daruma Falkland in a beautiful cream to make a cabled sweater for myself. It’s 80% wool, 20% alpaca, $14AUD for 85m or $210 for a small/medium sized jumper, before shipping.
It's not just clothing. I have a set of sheets from when I was a little girl made in approximately mid 1970s. They are still almost pristine condition even with regular use. The sheets I've bought within the last 3-5 years have already started pilling or in some cases even ripped in the middle.
Was looking for cotton sheets in September and was astonished by the sheer volume of micro fiber sheets on offer. My mom has sheets from the 60s that still look new and fresh.
@@Ladida386 You can get excellent sheets at commercial suppliers of linen to the hotel industry. Just track them down and go for ones using Egyptian cotton.
I've been looking into linen sheets, which is supposed to be a sturdy fabric, and I've noticed that all the big companies recommend handling them like lingerie.
Even thrifting isn't great now that the garbage clothing is all that people buy and donate or sell to second hand stores. And the thrift stores are all raising prices close to the price of brand new for the same garbage.
i wonder if thrift shops send donations to Africa or whatever... yet plenty of Americans on a budget or dirt poor need clothing, good clothing and not to have to be humiliated foing to a church that will donate clothes for free. Many of us on a budget are happy to pay for our own necessities if it is a reasonable price.
THIS!!!!! I go op shopping and it's just kmart and shein TRASH people wore a couple times and were like oh this is shit, or fits weird or whatever. It's extremely upsetting.
That's honestly how I feel like not gonna pretend I don't go to Walmart for their work wear for outfits. Or just buy super mass produced items quickly because I just want something fast. I have cheaper shirts that I don't wear as often or just wear into the ground over several years. But at the end of the day they are still cheap. I'm just a regular consumer I don't really have the money or care to perfectly curate my clothes. But I'd like to buy clothes from the thrift that feel thick. That have been well worn but still have plenty of life. I'll buy a cool shirt that's obviously over stock, but im tired if the h&m, zara, forever 21 clothes that feel cheap and just disintegrate. I buy a work jacket or pants from Walmart because they are stronger than the shirts. But its like everywhere you go the stitching and thickness of the shirt is always trash. If it weren't for the fact that I like some of few really cheap items I have I'd just do away with them. The thrift at the very keastvakways has good jackets.
As a knitter, those sweaters take FOREVER to knit. I would have to charge hundreds of dollars for a detailed cable knit sweater, just to make sure I made minimum wage. That's not even taking into account how expensive high quality yarn can be.
@@schoolingdiana9086And to the OP's point: you can spend $350 on YARN for a sweater these days, without trying too hard. Having said that, you can do a pure wool sweater for a lot less than that, but once you subtract off the yarn cost, the prices you quoted aren't much for 30-40 hours of work.
@@schoolingdiana9086 But $350-500 might _just barely_ cover the cost of good quality merino or cashmere (which are pretty much the only materials people are willing to pay premium for), never mind that 30-40 hours to complete a complicated cable sweater is extremely low even for a reasonably fast knitter and absolutely not happening if it's a larger (XL+ and/or for a tall person) size. I suspect the low (in comparison to a solo knitter) price is achieved by getting massive quantity discounts on yarn and likely doesn't leave much above minimum wage for the actual knitters.
I knit my own sweaters. When I finished Uni back in 1996 i made my first aran sweater (took me about 2 weeks) and I can & am still using it to this date. The quality of hand-made items (if you use high-quality materials) is undisputed. And lets not forget how good it is for your mental health and tranquility to learn a craft and make your own garments.
I finally knit a beanie this week and actualy having a hat that fits my massive head is wonderful and if anything it's too warm most of time right now. One size fits definitly not me has been a pain for ages. I've also been knitting socks for a while and they actually just last ages where store socks never last more than a year when I'm wearing them for work. They've lasted longer than two pairs of walking boots.
I'm very slowly learning to knit. =D Do date, I have completed a very wiggly cat blanket. Cat blankets are awesome because cats don't care if you make mistakes.
I used to believe that handmade was always higher quality, but years ago I noticed even knitting yarn and fabric you can buy at fabric stores is also cheaply made and also more expensive. I believe this happened when people in general stopped making their own clothing out of necessity and it became a hobby. Now it’s an expensive hobby. And if you want actual quality materials you have to find stores that sell to designers instead of to regular individuals, and you’re going to pay crazy prices. Where I live we have some very high end fabric and yarn stores. I can’t afford to shop in them. So I go to Joann’s instead and get the cheap hobby stuff and make things that do not look or feel like the things my Mom was able to make.
Patagonia does free repairs for their clothes as well, doesn't matter if you bought it directly from them or not! They'll even go so far as to completely replace a zipper on a coat. I met someone on their repair team recently and it was really impressive to hear how far they'll go to keep their clothes going.
To keep your wool garments last: After use, let them lay unfolded overnight to “breathe”. If not dirty or smelly, you can keep on using them. Don’t wash until dirty or smelly the day after use. Wool is not like cotton, wool is sort of self cleaning. So only wash when necessary!
I actually lost a sweater that I LOVED a few years ago because I forgot that wool has to be washed and handled differently, so...yeah, listen to this person's advice. It was a floofy red cable-knit that actually fit me comfortably. ...then I washed it the standard way, and now it'd fit a pygmy woman or a large doll. Oof.
@@robinchesterfield42 Oh, no, so sad. You are not the only one to do this. I did it many years ago, but luckily it was a casual sweater, not homemade. But I never forget this experience.
Huh, my lazy, slobby self has been doing this with my wool flannels for years. I wash them after like 20+ uses because they're always getting aired out draped over something after I'm done wearing them.
As an old person, I concur. I still have one of those Aran hand knits my father brought back as a souvenir in1977. I wore it non-stop for about 12 years (2-3 times a week) and still pull it out on colder days. Still in great shape.
As an Irish woman, the amount of historical and cultural research you went into for this video was amazing to see! Irish history is rarely talked about and almost never fully understood properly, the pronunciations were also very good! the amount of effort that went into this video was really incredible
Agree, I'm just Irish- American but have been wearing Aran sweaters my whole life. My kids wear them, too. I didn't know a lot of the political history but mainly wore them because they're warm. The lanolin makes it so you stay warm even if you get wet.
Another tip I recently learned is that if you find a vintage sweater made of 100% wool but you don't like the style or it doesn't fit you, you can actually unravel the yarn from it and use it in a knitting project. That way you get a cheap and sustainable product that is perfectly tailored to your body and style!
Even the difference between fast fashion from the 2000s and today is outrageous. I got some shoes from back then second hand and they’re by far the best shoes I remember owning! Like 2000s cheap fast fashion is way better quality than even more expensive fast fashion today. It’s unbelievable and I feel like most people my age have never actually experienced quality garments. Like if I think fast fashion from the 2000s is incredible how much more am I missing out on?
I still have some tops (H&M) from mid to late 2000s and they are still in great condition. Hell, I have my mother's cardigan from the 1990s, I've meded it a couple of times, but otherwise it's still good.
Yep, if you didn't have money, clothes from Walmart still would last long enough to pass down multiple generations. Mom wears a dress, the oldest daughter wears it, all the way down to the youngest if everyone takes good care of the dress.
@@paintedmoments_ Yup! I still have jeans and band tees I bought from Hot Topic in the early 00s when I was in high school. They look proper vintage now, but no holes or anything. Just cracking on the design and some fraying along the hems of the jeans and ribbing on the shirt neckbands. Nowadays I've got some band tees I got from Target like five years ago and they've got holes in them at the seams and the hems are falling apart. I thought maybe it was just me but I'm glad to see I'm not alone. Target and Hot Topic should be selling clothing of similar quality, since they're similar price points.
As a grad student in archaeology I'm DELIGHTED you took us all the way back to the copper age! did not expect that!! (recreating artifacts is actually a whole field in itself, experimental archaeology)!
I highly recommend the German produced documentary on reproducing the oldest known pants. They’re from a Chinese burial site and were what we call jodhpurs for horseback riding. Saw it on UA-cam.
I LOVE YOU! Finally someone is saying what I’ve been thinking for years. Clothing has gone to shit, especially in the last decade. Polyester and acrylic EVERYWHERE. I’ve started sewing my own in pure self-defense. But you know what? My Mom has a couple of fisherman sweaters left that she knitted herself in the sixties. What a treasure! I’m def stealing those. 😂
Quality has dropped so much that if you are well-dressed you really stand out. It can be distancing. I have clothes that are decades old and people always ask me where did you get that? I've got most recently a jacket that's leather, it's completely on trend picked it up for $40 it would be a 1980s or maybe early 1990s model. Just fantastic quality. I was going to shift the closure studs but it's fine as is, with a roomy fit so I can wear it over a thick hand knit sweater.
@@deborahcurtis1385Wow, that’s a great buy. Good for you! 👍 I once bought a long coat made from Italian wool for like 20 bucks. It was a bit big and the buttons are terrible, but damn, I couldn’t resist that. I know, it’s weird. These days, if you wear leather boots and a nice wool coat, you stick out like a sore thumb. 🤷♀️
@deborahcurtis1385 if it's a roomy bomber cut it's probably 80s. Early 90s the leather jackets in shops became very tightly fitted in the body and slightly cropped. I have few and they look like petite Barbie doll jackets compared to today.
@@okaycola2 But it's much more expensive in the long run to buy cheap stuff that's fast fashion. I was shocked to go to a preloved shop the other day and it was full of rubbish! The staff looked defeated. The rubbish isn't moving because low quality it's lost shape and that's the end.
Love from Mongolia here. Really happy how you stated that wool is more durable than cashmere. Cashmere is expensive but wool is always sharper and warmer! some of the comments make me really said cus it shows how some people don’t understand how other countries who aren’t as privileged work. Cashmere and wool are really important in Mongolia due to the climate. Obviously I understand that people from other countries purchase cashmere and wool but in a country where it reaches -40c these materials are really important for survival.
I believe cashmere wool was historically used for layers close to the skin (winter underwear, socks) due to its softness. Makes sense that durability would be pushed over in preference to comfort.
this is something I struggle to understand as well. Like you don't need cashmere to survive milder European winters. Wools will do just fine. Yet it became a symbol of luxury (but I doubt if the quality is still there). I have a cashmere sweater from Mongolia (unfortunately, I accidentally shrunk it, so I have to give it to somebody else) and it is much thicker than all cashmere I've seen sold in Europe. Another thing I read (please tell me if it's true or not) is that cashmere is too fragile to be dyed, and natural undid cashmere can only be white, beige, grey or black. If a cashmere sweater has a bright colour, it automatically means reduced quality.
As someone in their 50's, clothes buying has seriously changed. We saved up money to buy one quality item and we were so excited that you would tell all your friends that you finally bought it. There were many small independent boutiques and many would allow you to put a deposit down and pay for your item over a few months. We cherished those items! I kept some items. My niece couldn't believe the difference in size or quality. She considers herself a US size 4 but, the 1980's size 4 turned out to be a modern size OO.
I’m in my mid 20s. I grew up with fast fashion. And yet, I feel like the situation has gotten worse enough that we might need a new name for it, like hyper-fast fashion. I had what used to be the typical suburban high schooler experience, where the mall was THE hang out spot. And that was during the glory days of Forever21, American Eagle, Zara, H&M etc to boot. Despite that, our consumption habits were different. We didn’t buy as many items as frequently as the average teenager today. Cost was part of it, as 8$ tops were a rarity, not the norm, but I think shorter trend cycles and online shopping also changed things a lot, and for the worst. Back when trends were dictated by the fashion industry instead of social media, there were, at most, 1 or 2 new “must haves” per season. If you wanted to be fashionable, you’d buy your Lita boots, your galaxy leggings, or whatever it was, and that’s it, you’d be set for the year! Whereas now, instead of that, there are dozens of aesthetics and subcultures, each with their own micro-trends that only seem to last weeks. The other reason is that before online shopping, what time we did spend at the mall was actually wildly inefficient if judged purely by how much shopping got done! We’d go to the mall, debate getting a drink, hang out by the food court, walk to a shop, show each other stuff, wait around while our friends were in the dressing room, go to the food court again, you get the idea. It was a social experience, whereas shopping online is typically done alone, on a website optimised to get you to buy as much as possible with as little effort and time as possible. Shopping being the main social experience available (due to the lack of third places in suburbia) was in itself problematic, but shopping as a way to get dopamine, alone in your room, in the midst of a loneliness epidemic, is even worse. And that goes both for young people’s mental health and the environment, because of course having all your feel good chemicals come from buying stuff is going to lead to more overconsumption than if you were getting some socialisation at the same time. And to be clear, I’m not blaming teenagers at all! I think they have it worse than we did, because through no fault of their own, too much of their lives now happen online.
I buy my clothes with that mindset now-- searching for quality and intention to take care for a long time. Nothing fits right and I always have to bring my clothing for alterations, but they look so much better afterwards.
And don't forget getting to go through the print catalogs picking all the cute outfits, and maybe you get one or two for birthday or Christmas. Good times, good times. 😄
was NOT expecting a rundown on the past 100 years of irish history in a video about clothing quality. i love you miss mina queen of background research and in-depth analysis ♡
When I'm a fashion girly and a woman in stem and my worlds collide because Mina is putting definitions of tensile strength and thermal conductivity in her video
This is why love her; she includes science, history, sociality, financials AND consumerism, environmentalism, (I could go on), lessons in her videos. It helps create a really in depth perspective on her topics. I don't always 100% agree with her assertions on certain matters; but I do always value her input.
As someone who got her masters degree in experimental archaeology, but who came to the video to hear your takes on the enshittification of clothing, I LOVED that this started with Otzie. I love your insights and how fully you cover the topic at hand, from a frozen ice man from thousands of years ago, to the IRA, to sustainable fashion, you cover all the bases.
As a European, I don't mind at all if your tone is not 150% enthusiastic, it's the substance that counts! I think Americans have this cultural pressure to be *excited* all the time and it's just unrealistic; not every day can be your best day :) Thanks for the great work!
@@crazysavvyloverleeIt definitely comes from our work culture. Jobs in America want you to stand, smile, and be super personal in a robotic way all the time so you always make a sale, but it’s impossible to do that all the time. Humans aren’t made that way. Maybe one day that’ll change.
We really don't. UA-camrs are not reflective of real life. They're trying to imitate tv presenters whether they realize it or not. Nobody has to act anything but polite at work, these other commenters are being rediculous.
honestly switching to making my own clothes has taught me the value of patience when building personal style. like i now have to wait until i’ve saved up for materials, found patterns that suit the vision, and finished knitting/sewing the garment before i can wear it and it really makes me consider what i actually want to wear not just what i liked the look of on someone else and wanted in that moment
I suppose it means you also cherish every piece of clothing you make, meaning you are less likely to throw it away. So good for you, the environment and your wallet/purse. Plus, is nice when things have character and a story to them.
Whole heartedly agree!! I crochet and doing it really helped with my patience and appreciation of clothing and how it's made. It made me understand more about clothing I ACTUALLY want.
As a knitter, I don't try to sell my creations because the price would be $200+ for a pair of socks! I do it as a hobby and for gifts, and sometimes as an incentive for people to give to the food bank I volunteer for. People are used to paying $50 for a "nice" sweater and to make one that will last decades costs ~$150+ in quality yarn even if you make it yourself. Making what I can for myself definitely taught me to take care of my clothes and only wash things that haven't been worn directly on the skin when they're actively dirty (a stain) or once a season before storing them again, and then handwashed with the nice delicate detergent.
OH my goodness I am thinking about this constantly 😭 Clothes look further and further away from real, at some point they’ll be holograms. Fabrics get thinner, more unpleasant to the touch, and try to mimic being the same good ol’ luxury garments when in fact, they’re just the ghost of the ones made in the 80s and 90s when the quality of fashion was at its peak imo
@SewingandSnakes Hmmm maybe it was better around here cause my country used to be under socialist regime and the clothes were SOLIDD. Great cuts, too. Well, I was actually born in 1993 and I’m basing my opinion on the clothes I borrowed from my grandparents and parents and still wear to this day, as well as the fact that I tend to gravitate towards garments made in the 80s and 90s in thrift shops, because they feel better on the skin. Still, I’m sure not all were perfect, just like you say.
Exactly! I swear even the polyester somehow managed to get worse over the last 10 years. From what I know, it initially appeared as a cheaper alternative to silk and at some point I remember polyester garments feeling somewhat nice to the touch. Right now, whenever I check a polyester garment in a store it feels truly terrible. So I, just like Mina, try to stay away from synthetics altogether.
@SewingandSnakesAgreed, I'm a vintage clothes person, and every era I'm familiar with had good and bad quality, good and bad materials, good materials produced poorly, and even "bad" materials produced well. In the 90's specifically I remember the black fake leather of shoes specifically didn't last more than 2 wears, haha.
I've started making my own clothes because I'm tired of 1). clothes that don't fit and 2). flimsy products made from thin, flimsy material. Since I've started sewing, I've noticed the quality difference in store-bought clothes. Even a $500 tank top will be of shoddy construction.
pros and cons. your phone, this website, and every modern system were created with a profit motive. shit costs money. this is a necessary consequence of leaving the stone age. pick one. you can't have both.
As an Irish person, your pronunciations were quite good!! I remember you pronouncing Samhain properly in your Halloween costume video and knew you were a person of great research.
I 3rd this as another Irish person! I was happily impressed and not expecting such a history lesson on the Aran sweater/jumper. I think the documentary Man of Aran helped popularise the Aran sweater internationally too.
adding to this, i've heard some absolute butcherings of the language so it's really nice to see an american respect the language enough to pronounce it right, never mind give an accurate picture of the history! maith thú, mina! and in case ur wondering, gaeltarra éireann is pronounced 'gayl-ta-ra eh-rinn' also didn't know where to cram this in the above comment but thought it would be funny to mention that i met gerry adams and sinn féin as a whole have a huge presence in my hometown lol
I feel like mainstream/inexpensive clothes were still okay up to the mid-2000’s - I still have sweaters from Old Navy and hoodies from Aeropostale from like 2003!
There's a lot of really good resources here on youtube. Personally, I'm mostly self taught via the Vogue Sewing Manual, which you can find in antique stores for under $30.
It depends on what style of clothing you like. Personally I think it's very difficult for a consumer to get the same variety and prices for stuff like jersey knit fabric that a corporate buyer can, plus you need an overlocker to sew those type of fabrics well, not just a regular sewing machine, so if you genuinely like wearing T-shirts and stretch fabric it's hard to get better or cheaper doing it yourself. A lot of sportswear/technical fabric is also proprietary and inaccessible. Not judging, just sharing why I personally ended up deciding it wasn't worth sewing in my own clothes when I did a lot of research on it circa 2015. However, if you love love love stuff like 60s shift dresses, you'll be golden for sewing your own.
Seeing this after my sister got yet another shein package, but this time for something she doesn't even remember buying. I took it out of the package (that came with no packing slip?) and when I tell you it literally felt like PAPER, nastiest piece of new clothing I've ever felt. Then she tells me that's normal quality....I tried not to judge but internally I was going MAD
Doing my PhD on agricultural history in Ireland and so it's great to hear such a well-researched and consise history of the Aran jumper alongside your nuanced guidance on sustainable buying!
As someone who sews and knits, l thought l'd be most interested in the clothing part of this but, l'm completely blown away by Otzi's shoes. Anyway, l just wanted to say that thrift shops are a great way to find cheaper sources of wool. Buy an ugly hand-knitted pullover and unravel it. Wind it into hanks, wash it and hang a weight on it as it dries to get the kinks out and it will knit like new. If you want to know how much wool is in your yarn. Soak a piece of it in acetone overnight and, how much of the piece is left the next day, will indicate how much is wool ie, if nothing is left it's pure wool. 😊
Even fast fashion quality used to be better. I grew up in a country without H&M, so whenever I would visit my aunt in Germany we would bring back things that lasted years. Now it's melting away within a season.
Oh my God, exactly! H&M used to have such nice clothing that lasted years! I still have a linen pant suit that is by now at least 14 years old and it still looks as good as new. Nowadays even seemingly good quality items are done within a year or so.
I'm severely depressed and living barely above or at the poverty line, so sadly I don't have the energy or money to invest in anything more than new cheap underwear from walmart and used clothes from goodwill that I don't spend much time vetting aside from if they fit. It's part of how companies across the board have been getting away with this all- they're taking advantage of the fact that most of us don't have the time, money, or energy to actually go out and find or make quality sustainable alternatives. My dad has a leather trenchcoat he's worn regularly since he was a teenager. My mom still has a lot of the clothes she wore when I was a baby. Meanwhile my favorite shirt from when I was a teen just a few years ago is literally in tatters. Same for my favorite shorts. Same for like 5 random pairs of jeans. I'm not doing a lot of rough stuff in my clothes, I'm usually just chilling, but almost everything I owned before 2018 has torn itself to threads. And so I go and buy more of the same, because I can't afford to pay more than $14 on any single piece of clothing and still be able to eat well that day. And thus the cycle continues.
I’m so sorry 😢I’m in the same boat! Disabled and living far below the poverty level and it’s so depressing. Can’t afford good skin care, nice clothes or even healthy food for the entire month. I feel so shabby anytime I have to leave the house. My clothes are cheap and it’s shows .I’m 53 and alone and and it’s very frustrating. Things just continue to grow worse. And I keep getting Denied disability even tho I live in severe chronic pain and am unable to support myslef 10:34 here the good o’l US of A where I was born and raised and yet I’ve seen time n time again ppl who are not even sick at all getting disability. Sorry I guess I just needed to vent! I’ll be praying for you and for things to get better for all of us 🙏
A small advice for making new clothes last longer, regardless of the amount spent on them: is to use them only when outside the house. Inside, use the "old" clothes. This reduces washings but more importantly reduces wear. Also, if possible, air dry them as it helps too. I'm not disabled, but I highly dislike shopping for clothing. I adopted this strategy to avoid having to shop as much. I also shop taking into consideration hardwearing materials, but it comes from trial and error unfortunately.
@@apples_and_orchards3205I am so.sorry life is so hard for you. I could see I would be in the same situation by this point if I stayed in the US...I retired disabled at 50 from chronic pain from botched disc repair amd have lived with pain ever since. I am 25yrs older now living on regular Social Security abroad in Latin America. I was able to cobble tpgether a good lofe here far better tham it would be in the USA now. I bought a small house , the property tax is $97 a YEAR. Fresh fuits and vegetables are grown for the US market right next to me...Imbuy thrm in the mercado inexpensively .. were I vegetarian I could live on very little...my protein is eggs and chicken mostly. Sometimes fish, farm raised tilapia also produced here for the US market, coffee grown for the US market so I have a good diet. Many people from the US living on just social security come but cannot adapt. I learned Spanish slowly. I have friends here American retirees and locals. I didnt even know my neighbors in the US. It has been a good life for me bit would not suit everyone I know...I wish there was a solution for you as there was for me....
I'm from the North of Ireland and this is the first time I've ever heard an American on UA-cam talk about our past in such a well researched and eloquent way lol. Even the pronunciation of the Gaelige was pretty good!! Thank you for putting so much effort into that part of the video, we appreciate it so much when other countries understand what we went through (and are still very much dealing with today) ♥️
I’m from NI too and really didn’t expect to hear about our history when I clicked on the video lol especially done in such a thoughtful way! usually if Americans bring it up it’s obvious they haven’t actually done much (if any) research
I was a vintage clothier for years and yes the older cashmere sweaters especially ones that came out of Scotland are great. However I live in 🇨🇦 and I am in love with alpaca. We have two farms near me and I only wear alpaca socks. There are summer and winter weights and as a senior now my feet feel great no matter how far I walk. You can also wear these socks for at least 3 days without washing….yes with no smell on socks or feet. Also alpaca have no lanolin in them and that is great as I am allergic to lanolin. But they are hand wash only. Peru makes a lot of alpaca wool products but I suggest the baby alpaca for softness. Best of all I have visited my local alpaca farms and the lovely animals are well cared for🇨🇦
I loved this video started with Ötzi! Ancient people absolutely knew how to dress themselves to survive--they just didn't always have the means. I learned a deep appreciation for this when working on medieval clothing reconstructions (as a hobby). On another note: a friend of mine has a small farm with sheep, which he holds to organic standards. These sheep have to be sheared twice per year, but the wool is often thrown out. Processing it is too expensive in our country, and people prefer the squishy merino wool. This time I took a bag of the wool, which I will try to use for pillow filling (after processing of course). We'll see how that works out.
@@hdubbs9174 What breed are the sheep? For pillow fillings you need fleece with ton of crimp, like Texel. If the fleece is smooth and/or shiny it will flatten with time and your pillow might even become uneven and uncomfortable. Something awesome you can do with any wool is felting it into wool clogs, or even boots! You can felt any shape you want with a bit of practice!
@@avgeek-and-fashionThe sheep are a type of mountain sheep, with coarse, wavy hair. I'm familiar with horsehair mattresses, where coil is added to the hair to increase the "springy" attributes of the mattress. Wool also has the tendency to "beard" or leak out of fabric. To combat these two challenges I was planning on creating a loose batting. The pillows would be mostly for the sofa, not necessarily for sleeping. The pillows on our beds are 80x80cm and that seemed a little ambitious for a first try. I had considered felting, but there are several points against that: the wool is dark, not "cleanly" sorted by color, and I lack the blocks required to shape the felt.
@@hdubbs9174 Oh this sounds so interesting!! Are you on Ravelry? I'd love to chat more about the sheep and your pillows there! I'd totally buy one of your sofa cushions! Felting with dark colours looks fantastic! If you colour the dark grey, you get a dark tweed with grey mottles and it looks absolutely STUNNING! Don't worry about the felt blocks, you can always felt flat and then form over pillows, balloons or even a regular shoe, whatever you have laying around! 🙂Just form it while it is still wet and it will block in place. 🙂
Each time I watch mina I feel like Anne Hathaway listening to Meryl Streep explaining that her sweater is not JUST blue. Today I learned my sweater is a symbol of the Irish conflict(I did not know it came from Ireland), thanks mina❤
Whoever said you could buy a sweater like Billy Crystal's for $20 in the 1980s is out of their mind. That looks like a Lands End or LL Bean and would have run at least a couple hundred each, even then, thanks to erstwhile lifetime guarantee (a policy since cancelled due to abuse of it). Remember that the 80s were all about conspicuous consumption. Levi's sold a sweater closer to the knockoff for around $80 in 1986. I know because I remember buying it. 😅
Its true for the u.k. I used to have one. Clothing stores like British Home Stores,C&A and co were selling really thick chunky,pure new wool jumpers with beautiful cable knit patterns quite reasonably priced.
I am a dressmaker and a very fascinating thing I noticed is that different generations have ver different reactions to it. Most of my age (in their 20s) either don’t understand anything about it or find it fascinating (why are you doing it?) my parents Generation often tell me how they can’t even Thread a needle or ask for free stuff. But people maybe 70 plus are just like “that’s a normal paying job” and I think that’s a good indicator on how our perception of clothing and how it is made has changed since the fifties.
This makes a lot of sense. I’m 43, on the “can’t thread a needle” side. I’m finally starting to learn now, so that I can alter and repair my own garments. I’m looking back at this and wondering how this happened! I’m wondering if my grandmother never taught my mom or if my mom just didn’t care to learn.
I can't sew very well, but I do think threading a needle and doing very basic repairs (sewing a button back on, fixing rips in less visible places) should be a life skill everyone should aim to learn. It's so useful, and means you're slower to throw things out. On a related note, it's interesting to see that yarn crafts seem to be having something of a resurgence, particularly among women in their 20s and 30s. I know quite a few people who knit or crochet (or both), whereas 10 years ago I only knew a couple. (I only picked it up in the last 5-6 years.) Maybe dressmaking will be next? Though having said that, I do also have some friends who make some of their own clothes, so maybe it already is on the rise.
@@ruth649i too think that making clothes yourself is „coming back in style“ especially as quality garments are getting more expensive and people want to be more sustainable. And I think thats great
I wish the fashion industry as a whole can revert back to its old methods, in the days before fast fashion. When quality production outweighed profits. I studied fashion design at FIT, and the more I learn about modern fashion and its operations, the crappier it all feels. So much of the industry needs to change, restructure to meet ethical, environmental and quality standards. I appreciate this in depth analysis Mina! I learned a lot, and will definitely aim to shop more responsibly and mindfully!
We can still purchase clothing from local artisans like in the old days, but then we would have to stop buying cheap items from Asia. Clothing was always expensive; however, sending our manufacturers overseas created that illusion of cheap clothing.
@@pabrodi This! There is likely more high quality clothing around than there has ever been, but this is clothing you get from certain local suppliers and is not cheap (and it shouldn't be). People nowadays are just too used to getting lots of cheap shitty clothing instead of few high quality pieces.
I read something during the AIDS crisis that over 80% of the top pattern cutters in New York died due to AIDS complications. After that period, I noticed that clothes construction became much less complex. Fewer interesting seaming techniques and a lot of very simplistic items. That would make sense since pattern cutting is such an important skill in determining the most cost effective use of the material and sizing.
Not to stereotype and be misinformed but wouldn’t that mean that a vast majority might have been a part of the lgbt? Which would mean that the lgbt community would have contributed quite a lot to fashion in general. (Sorry if this is ignorant, i don’t know how to phrase this)
@@noranizaazmi6523I believe its spread through bodily fluids, like blood, so if someone with AIDS pricked themselves with a needle and someone else pricked themselves with the same needle they could get it that way
@@noranizaazmi6523LGBT people contribute a lot to the arts in general, you can see the effects of AIDS when you look at art output of cities during that time period as well
I’m sorry, but I don’t think pattern cutters in NY dying affected the industry to such an extent. Clothes getting worse is a phenomenon happening in ALL the world, even in non american brands
@@noranizaazmi6523 Lgbtq+ people have existed since people have existed. Queer people have influenced every aspect of living, weither or not we know specifically how. Queer people have always had influence in fashion, especially because fashion is one of the closest outlets we have in terms of self expression. Everything around you is indirectly the product of queer people or has or had a major influence from queer people
It is fact that clothes quality has gone down but people tend to forget that the average person nowdays does not care for their clothes in the right way. Clothes uses to be handwashed with minimal stretching. Now clothes are thrown into washing machine and tumble dried, sometimes even put to dryer. That is not how to keep garment in good condition!
mina i’m irish and i just wanted to say you did such a great job of pronouncing irish words!! most non-irish people completely butcher it and don’t even try so this was really refreshing
Yes, she did a really good job - the best I’ve heard from a non-Irish person. Plus, her explanation of Irish history was on point. Mind you, someone should have explained that Gaeltarra Éireann is simply ‘Gael-tara Erin’.😊
19:30 might be good to mention that polyesther is so cheap because its practically a bi-product of the oil industry, so investment into polyesther infrastructure is actually just squeezing more out of oil production
Fun fact for consumers: Crocheting cannot be done by a machine. If a sweatet is crocheted, it has to be handmade. That doesn't mean it's made of sustainable wool or anything, but of you're looking for handmade, that's a key thing to know.
To add to this point, if you are buying Crochet anywhere than directly from the person who crafted it you are likely paying for what amounts to modern day slave labor. Fast fashion crochet is the most unethical thing
HAND KNITTING IS NOT A DYING CRAFT! Our community stands proud and is growing every year. We welcome every newcomer, but be warned knitting is highly addicting :) Btw there is company Darn Tough that makes wool scocks and they have lifetime warranty, when sth is wrong with socks you just send it back to them and they send you a new pair.
I came to this comment section to find a fellow knitter(s)! Hello :) I reckon no time like the present to pick up a new craft. With the added benefit of being your own quality control and being able to make garments exactly the way you want. I love all my hand knit sweaters.
I guess UA-cam decided to show me a knitting channel... anyway, I never throw any piece of clothing away, I just keep them in a box until I find a use for them. I have Tshirts that were useless after a month, and I have hand-me-down bass pro Tshirts from my grandfather that I keep wearing on a regular basis because the fabric is still actually nice. The branding is a shame, but they're the nicest Tshirts I own. It's a disgrace
@@wabisabi432 yep! I had a guy doing an assessment on our home a few weeks ago and he told me how when him and his father used to do maintenance work on new builds sometimes he would find that the walls are made up the cardboard instead of wood. and I think that should be illegal.
Before I even knew- this is why I’ve only shopped at thrift stores since I was young. I would always end up HATING the fast fashion clothes I tried to wear and have such bad sensory issues. However, a 1972 sweater I found at goodwill-I’m on top of the world 👌
(Zara, or Anthro?)I paid $60 for a plain white t shirt 5 years ago. I wear it a lot and when it got dingy I dyed the material, but wow is that criminal.
Even cotton t-shirts are hard to find. I've purchased several from a well-known department store that were labelled "cotton" and as you say I felt like I was wearing a plastic bag. I know what wearing cotton feels like, and those are not cotton.
I have Smartwool socks; the heals blow out (I walk a lot). Instead of buying new merino wool socks, I bought wool darning thread and found a darning egg. I have mended at least 8 pairs of socks so far. Buying darning wool is way less expensive than new socks.
And darn tough will replace their socks that are worn out, true, not as sustainable as darning them, but great in terms of investment. I've had I think 4 pairs replaced.
I remember seeing Martin Freeman wearing an Aran sweater in the first episode of Sherlock, deciding to knit one for myself, then looking into buying the wool for it, crying in poor, then making one out of an acrylic blend. It’s nowhere near as beautiful as if I could have used proper wool, but I still love it. And I know how to mend it, know the one spot where I accidentally perl stitched where it should be knit, and will literally wear it until it falls apart. There are drawbacks and concerns in making your own clothing but it is so satisfying.
This video is TOO relevant to my life right now. I've been trying to only purchase clothing made with natural materials and it is SO HARD. Like I've been hunting for a cardigan, and even though I feel like I'm not looking for anything too specific, I can't find anything that matches what I'm looking for that isn't 100% acrylic and it's driving me nuts. Nearly cried when I saw one that was exactly what I was looking for and it was shein lmao fml
Maybe try buying some wool and finding a pattern so you can learn to knit, it would take quite sometime but then again you’ve been searching for a cardigan for a long time anyways…
@@kimberlyperrotis8962 please don't replace your entire wardrobe on the premise that your garments contain synthetic fibers. yes it would have been better if your clothes were made with natural fibers in the first place. but if you get rid of your clothes, where will they go ? best case scenario, you take the time to sell them and they go to someone else who'll wear it until it breaks down and gets repurposed in some way (quite unlikely). worst case scenario, you donate your garments to charity, but they'll likely end up in landfills, polluting much more than they do now. while it isn't ideal, please don't throw away your clothes just because they're synthetic if you like them. the most sustainable thing you can do is keep your clothes and wear them for a long time, repair them when they break, and, when they're irreparable, repurpose them (as cushion stuffing, plushie stuffing, or rags for example). but please, don't throw textiles in the bin.
My 92 yr old mother was describing her favorite suits and dresses from her debut into the work force in the 50’s. They were so classy and well tailored but cost her almost a weeks wages.
The scary thing for me is that my weeks wages amounts to about $400 (lot of factors, can’t explain it all here). That will get some decent items of quality but not a full suit like our mothers and grandmothers got. Even making things myself isn’t a total cure because quality fabrics are hard to come by at any price point. My cotton dresses are all relatively cheap and have held up well, but outerwear? I’m still stuck in fast fashion hell.
My grandma owned a small alpaca farm in South America, which her family had owned for generations, and, as a result, learnt how to knit with the best alpaca wool imaginable. I also learned to knit with alpaca wool; most of my actually good sweaters were knitted by either me or my grandma from baby alpaca wool (which is an alpaca’s first shedding) and, after emigrating to Europe, I very anxiously wait for the time I’m able to return to the family farm on Christmas and sometimes easter JUST so I can refill my alpaca wool thread stack, which is sooo expensive in Belgium. I’ve never understood how fashion retailers could charge upwards of thousands of dollars for these fabrics, SPECIALLY considering they buy it from the families that produce them for dirt cheap, and have them knitted for even less money.
I love knitting with alpaca and the softness of the finished object but I'm not a very experienced knitter and wonder if there's some sort of code I've yet to crack. This year I knit my first sweater, an oversized raglan, and I love it but... it came off the needles already an obnoxiously huge size and with wear it's looking more and more like a dress for a chimpanzee. I still love it but I've put all my other sweater projects on hold until I figure out how to deal with this, for obvious reasons, lol. Have you got any tips for swatching if wanting to substitute alpaca for untreated wool, particularly in garments that won't be blocked and also washed as little as possible? I'd be so grateful for any secret alpaca knowledge I could apply in my projects! Maybe I should look into different yarn manufacturers too for all I know but all I know about alpaca really isn't all that much.
thisss is exactly why i find the prices of clothing (specially from bigger brands, not really individuals, that i understand) nowadays absolutely ridiculous, since they most likely arent paying much to the producers, makers and employees… apart from the fact that so many designers are just ripping one another, etc
I want to point out that while you want to avoid acrylic and polyester mixes, polyamide is commonly added specifically to lengthen the lifespan of a wool garment. It makes the yarn more resistant to wear. It might not compost as easily but you don't need to throw it out after 2 years either (or 2 weeks if socks). If you want something that needs to handle at least some physical wear, 10-30% polyamide is your friend.
I can vouch for this! I have owned a wool/ polyamide coat for 10 years now, and it still looks almost brand new! I guess the fabric may not look quite as smooth and perfect as it did on its first day, but there’s no pilling whatsoever. Admittedly, though, I only wear it in the fall (the neckline and the sleeves just don’t sit tight enough to skin to keep the cold out in our Canadian winters), but still, for the amount of wear, I think it still looks amazing!
It's so infuriating that clothes are *like that* now. I have an old jean jacket from my uncle when he was my age, and even jus the difference between the 80s quality of levi's and today is SICKENING
I have a leather jacket my dad's Italian friend gave him in the early 2000s he'd inherited from God knows how far back. It's a petit women's jacket I've worn for over 15 years but not so much nowadays with how pandemic weight gain made it tight around the hips and burst. I'm saving it for my babies and grandbabies and pray to God they won't get rid of it! 😢 And should they I hope they gift it like it's first family did to me.
I finally found a diet that works so was able to pull out my outgrown clothing from the ‘90s. 1. I lost the weight! 2. ‘90s wide leg trousers and styles are back in. And 3. Wool was wool, not synthetics so the clothing is great quality. I’m a happy camper.
I found a graphic tee from the 70s when helping a friend clean out her aunts house. It was like something you would have found at hot topic (if it had existed back then lol) and even after being worn and washed so many times, it was in amazing shape! The cotton fabric was about 3 times thicker than what we find in stores today. The graphic was still legible and looked great. And it was almost 40 years old. All our shit is probably going in the trash when our relatives find it in a basement somewhere 😂
I also recommend having many creative projects in the works at the same time. Switching it up is so important for the creative process. No it's not called adhd, it's the artistic process lol
My grandfather was born in 1919 in the Swedish far north. When he was little they used hay for shoe insulation in winter. They had a special chair by the entrance with built in storage for hay, making it easy to replace or add some extra before stepping outdoors.
I'm pretty sure my partner gifted me a bear hat from you last year, in case anyone else is reading this you can be assured she knows what she's talking about. she makes a brilliant hat
Super cheap clothing has made people think that's normal and that all clothes should be super cheap. The amount of times I've seen a review like "Super cheap feeling" on a cheap item I'm just like....yeah no shit 😅 of course it feels cheap, it is.
Also, people use to own far fewer items of clothing, so it wasn’t too wild to spend the equivalent of $200 on a coat! And our wages adjusted for inflation have stagnated or fallen over the decades, so we literally can’t afford as good stuff. 🙃
It doesn't help that the actual quality to price ratio has gone down, clothes are much more expensive for much worse quality than they were like 30 years ago
I was surprised that you didn't say much about sweater construction, other than rolled vs ribbed cuffs. Seams are the first thing I look at in a knit garment. Overlocked seams mean that the sweater was assembled from individual pieces cut from yards of knitted material, as opposed to assembled from pieces knit to that specific shape needed. For instance: A sleeve knit to shape has only two yarn ends total -- one at the start of the sleeve and one at the end. A sleeve cut from knit fabric has two ends per row -- hundreds of potential fraying points per sleeve. A quick look at the inside of a garment will tell you. When I find overlocked edges on a sweater, I drop it and run.
I recently hand knitted a bottle green aran jumper for my dad and I can confirm that it takes soo long. I started the project in May and chipped away at it until September. It was definetly worth it, because it will last him a long time compared to a normal shop bought jumper, but this is not something everyone has access too.
As an Irish person, living in Ireland, this is excellent. Very high quality research and analysis on Irish history, politics, fashion, and nationalistic romanticism/romanticise nationalism. Art is a massive part of our culture and the success of our independence movement in the early 20th century, whereas movements over previous centuries always failed.
Speaking as a knitter who happens to be working on a sweater right now… it definitely takes more than “days.” 😅 Thank you for this video though! Love it!
Mina you did a really great job of Aran knitting history and explaining fiber quality. As a fiber artist, when it comes to humane fibers, healthy and well cared for animals produce high quality fibers. In America we have a lot of small local mills and farms that produce amazing yarn. As a plus size person I would love to shop quality but very few sustainable companies make plus sized options, luckily I know how to produce my own fabrics and garments.
As someone who hand spins and knits my own sweaters from local wool whose farms I've visited and farmers I know, I wouldn't say hand knitting is a dying craft at all. Niche, yes but not dying. I volunteered with my local Fibershed at a recent festival and I think education is essential. Thank you for this entertaining and informative video. Such an important topic!
I think, like a lot of things people consider "dying" it skipped a couple generations and we are seeing the fallout of that. Most of the groups I'm a part of are either 70+ or
@@MsKateC2KI mean, Etsy might be a good place to start. Checking out local craft fairs would also be a good place to go. Some farmer's markets might also have wool knitwear as well. Cottage Industries have cottage solutions.
Thinking about your comment, it is true. I’m in Illinois and I think about how Sears should have been what Amazon is today. They totally avoided the internet to their detriment.
As someone who knits her own sweaters, I spent around 80 to 150 euros on good yarn only. And a big sweater can take around a month to be knitted, so that's why handmade quality knits cost that much!
My Grandma used to knit us Aran jumpers (British not Irish) when were kids, they each got passed on to the younger siblings and grand children. They lasted years!
Mina, I see you girl, with your socio-economic consciousness trying to do your best to balance between environmental priorities and social realities and as a environmental specialist all I can say you’re doing such a great job educating people without shaming them, without pompousness and without this fake-hippy vibes, YOU’RE LITERALLY SHARING VALUABLE INFO you should be so proud of yourself for it. Really, don’t sweat it, no one will think you’re a hypocrite, THANK YOU so so much for making this kind of info, that needs so much research, so accessible!! Thank you for making this choice, never feel bad about it!
Clothing is just part of many things declining in quality. A lot of older adults remark on how cars and household appliances from the past can hold up for decades, whereas newer counterparts break down in a matter of years. I feel like I've witnessed this too even as a younger millenial.
Well, actually cars last longer now and are wayyyy safer, and get better gas mileage. My car from 2007 has over 220k miles. The only issue is they are harder to work on now because they are more complicated with all the modern technology. And of course different cars and brands have different issues but old cars had their own issues too.
@@abrielle13 Those are great points! It definitely depends on the make and model for sure, but I totally agree with the safety feature enhancements for one and better mileage!
My toaster (older than me, from a neighbor) lost both sets of outside heating elements a few days ago so I'm flipping the bread around halfway through while I resign myself to buying a new one. And my mom's toaster (new) also started malfunctioning recently, which doesn't give me much hope for my replacements longevity 😭
This is why i started shopping vintage, it can be hard in my size US 10-12 but I cant justify buying a lot of modern clothes. Because as much as i love some department store dresses I cant justify spending $300-650+ on a polyester, rayon, or other synthetic fabric dress. Quality is less, price is way more. Even a ton of fast fashion is $60+ dollars now
Please allow me to reccomend my colleague Bad Moon Vintage! She specializes in plus snd mid size vintage, but I will say, I do carry as much plus and mid size as comes my way as well.
FYI while rayon/viscose is synthetic it’s NOT plastic. It’s made from trees (including bamboo). The best type of rayon to get is lyocell/Tencel which has less toxic production than other forms (although some manufacturers use a closed loop for the chemicals involved). Also all rayon is biodegradeable. If you have a choice between rayon and polyester, rayon is a more sustainable choice overall.
Omg so much this. I had an interview the other week at a boutique where they sold rayon and polyester dresses for almost $1000. Like who is going to pay that much for plastic???
Not just clothing- furniture and houses, too. I only buy 1920 and under furniture and homes. Currently in an 1880 Vic. So well crafted. 100 year old hardwoods, 3 inch thick horsehair plaster, 2 inch thick mahogany oak floors. Crafters cared and had actual pride in work. New homes and furniture feels and looks like trash. I wish someone still made real clothing, besides the rare shops. Love how you craft your videos, so well done. Subbed.
Not what I was expecting, but fascinating to watch as a European/Scandinvian knitter :) I have a couple of tips on how to prolong the life of your sweaters/knits:
- "Invest" (I say invest, but they are generally quite cheap) in a depiller/fabric shaver. It is a little battery operated machine that shaves of the pilling on your sweaters/knits, even wool coats, so they look like new again.
- As a rule of thumb in the knitting community: the softer the yarn the more likely it is to pill (fabric density as you mentioned and ply, as well as other factors also play a role).
- Store your knits flat (not hanging) to preserve their shape.
- After washing your knits (based on the care instruction), lay them flat on a towel roll up the towel with the sweater and step a couple of times on your towel-sweater-burrito, then unroll and dry sweater flat. (towel-sweater-burrito is optional, but speeds up the drying, laying flat preserves the shape).
- Pure wool limits the build-up of odor and doesn't need to be washed after every wear.
Regarding quality: well-crafted handknit garments are often considered heirloom pieces, not just for the rest of the lifetime and a handknit sweater (of course depending on size, needlesize, complexity, skill-level etc.) is generally considered to take 30-40 hours to complete for a well-versed knitter.
As far as I know, wool prices for many Northern-European sheep breeds have crashed, this is due to consumer preferences for softer yarns in garments (a lot of merino) - so that is also something to consider. Given the often thinner fabric and proneness to pilling from softer yarn, this shift towards softer yarn could have something to do with the perceived quality decrease.
It was really funny to hear you say that the Aran sweater Ben is wearing is giving wearing heat-tech underneath (I'm paraphrasing). Most yarn from more hardy sheep, living in northern regions is generally coarser (however also warmer) , and I can imagine that the sweater Billy is wearing, given that the wool would be coarser, actually would inspire many people to wear something underneath, to avoid it being too itchy. On the other hand, most modern store bought sweaters are softer, and the chance that it could be worn next to skin is higher :) If I wear a sweater that is hand-knit in a coarser yarn, I generally tend to wear something long sleeved underneath.
I could say so much more, but will end here, but also the sheep-Grease made me laugh so much, so thanks for that :D
Peer Gynt from Sandnes Garn is the GOAT of yarns for me. Smells so nice and wooly and lasts foreverrrrrr!
@@annemmmone of my faves too. But I love all rustic wool like that. That one happens to come in many pretty colors 😊
Also apparently lavender and cedar keep away moths!😊
these are all really useful tips, one thing though: the depiller actually shaves off the ends of the fabric and while that may look nicer, it actually reduces the amount of fabric of the garment and since you just cut them off, more ends will end up being unwound and making the same fuzzy texture, and so the cycle is renewed. maybe if it has faced some particularly gruesome event that has left it a little defaced, use it, but not regularly as it'll reduce its size much faster.
i would say the best way to deal with this is to just take care of your clothes and buy good yarn in the first place (one that has been produced with quality on mind more than time).
personally: for wool, it's worth it even though i'm not a fan of this texture i would much rather wear it than some synthetic fabric with a third the lifespan and half the thermal insulation. plus i'm more than happy to only wash a piece of clothing as little as once a month or two even after wearing it every day.
Also: always wear something underneath. That reduced the times you have to wash the clothes you want to preserve
It’s upsetting how expensive nice clothing is now and also how even “nicer brands” don’t use great materials now. I want things that will last and feel good, but everything feels like thin plastic now
Yes 😭😭. Plastic makes you sweat a lot, too! I try to avoid it as much as possible nowadays.
@@sancochita7392i😅😅
And the plastic absorbs and holds on to odor, too. I’ve had polyester shirts that looked fine, but they stank no matter how I washed them :(. I had to throw them out and it was such a waste.
it's so annoying!!! can't even consider saving for pieces worth investing
That's why I mainly thrift my clothes
what i hate most is that most of the material is made of PLASTIC, which makes ppl sweaty, doesnt regulate body heat and becomes stinky bc the plastic fiber absorb sweat and therefore bacteria.
And after a while the smell doesn't even go away in the wash anymore. So unless you want to stink all the time, the clothes need to go in the trash even though it's not actually broken.
@@Iva744 exactlyyyy!!!
Exactly! I'm overweight and I have autism. That means i cannot find anything that makes me feel truly comfortable even if its cute 🥺
@@ash2xx1I'm sorry but what does autism have to do with this?
@gildanonofyabiznez6430 Autism often comes with many sensory sensitivities that make you hyperaware of materials against your skin, and it can become distracting or overwhelming if something you're wearing feels bad or makes you sweaty, for example. Polyester magically does both! It sucks.
I have consumer guilt because I want good quality cloths that aren’t harmful to the environment, but they purposely price quality cloths like that so high that it’s impossible for me to afford them. and with the cost of living right now, all I can really do is take care of the cloths that I currently have until they quite literally fall apart-and realistically, cheaper quality cloths will do just that.
Out of control late stage capitalism makes it impossible for non-wealthy people to just exist. It's good you are taking care of your clothes. I have shirts that I bought for about $20 that have lasted decades just from doing delicate cycles with like colors and only detergent and maybe some stain remover or tiny bit of whitener if needed (no sofetener, scent beads, etc), then hang drying or drying on low heat. If something desperately needs to be softened oflr fluffed, wool dryer balls are the way to go.
Edit: also garment bags are a must for super delicate fabrics and bras.
The solution: thrift! It's often as cheap as or even cheaper than fast fashion, but often for better quality items that already proved their resilience. And it's way better for the environment. In exchange, make sure you resell or responsibly donate your old clothes if they're still good but you don't wear them anymore.
@@jekentmenietje Thrifting isnt great where I live, the clothes are sent there for a reason or nothing is in my size
Seconding on the thrift not being sustainable if you fall out of common size ranges. I would love to go thrifting more often but it‘s just not happening for me as there are no plus size clothes available in all the thrift stores I‘ve been to. Once you go beyond a 44/46“ bust, it‘s hard to find anything.
I learnt to sew a few years ago because I couldn‘t afford the clothes out of natural fibres I so desperately wanted and like to put on my body (due to sweating in the summer for example). And I‘ll wear those clothes to death as well, and then try to repair them, because I cannot afford the time and money I put into these to go to waste so easily. No shame on wearing your clothes until they fall apart!
@jekentmenietje thrifting comes with its own set of problems, the pricing has gotten really insane because of resellers becoming more and more common and snatching up anything that might sell for more and the trend of size 2s and 4s going into thrift stores and buying up bigger clothing to literally cut up and make smaller and then resell on Depop for way more. People who need thrift stores are getting screwed sideways because thrifting has become trendy.
It's not just clothing, it's pretty much everything. Ever notice how amazingly good quality old furniture is with strong, solid wood? They don't make anything like they used to anymore because if the standard of things is low quality, they don't last as long and companies make more money the more often we have to buy replacements.
This is known as planned obsolescence. Everything is designed to break down quickly for increased consumption which translates into more profit
right? the solution is to stop buying the cheaply made products and thrift used ones of better quality.
I agree, mostly. You can buy quality furniture now. Nobody wants to pay for it. Marketing tells us we need to remodel every handful of years, so we don't buy couches that last forever and gets reupholstered every decade or two.
@@TerryPagel This is a good point that I haven't heard before. How many people would be fine with just having the same bureau for the rest of their lives? To be frank, probably a lot of men. But if you feel the need to change the look of your home every so often, what does it matter if the furniture only lasts 5 years?
A huge part of also why modern furniture made with wood now is noticeably lower quality is bc the wood they use is from young trees. The centuries old trees ppl were cutting down to make homes and items with years ago are scarce resource and now heavily protected and younger juvenile trees don't have that same quality. (Also doesn't not help that press board is becoming increasingly popular among fast furniture makers like ikea, Walmart, target etc)
The difference between a garment my grandparents have had for sixty years versus stuff I have breaking down in two or three years is truly startling. I'm sure capitalism would have done it anyway but you'd think people would have put up more of a resistance.
frrr like my friend was litteraly wearing a long sleeve leotard that belonged to he rgreat grand mother and it looked pretty recent like the quality back then was super good
I’m wearing clothes my grandmother wore 80 years ago or clothes resewn from fabric that she wore that long ago and the quality of the fabric and clothes color is incredible. I have not seen anything even remotely equal nowadays.
You do not even need to go as far in time than that, I have a wool jacket that my mum bought in Zara in the 80s and it is in perfect state!! It hasn't pilled!! And I repeat, it is from Zara, 100% wool!! Now, even if you are able to find a sweater that contains wool it is always mixed with some other material so that it will pill
@@Ines-pi3xt I remember seeing hats few days ago proudly labeled as "contains wool". I am obnoxious tag checker so I looked into material composition already knowing that it will be less than 50% wool and it turned out to be 4% 😐
@@CureSmilefulI see so many items like that and it's so disrespectful.
So unless there is a big revolution in clothing industry the only way to have ethical clothes is to buy vintages or make them yourself... omg
Yep, but new fabric has its issues e.g. with labour usage
Essentially, in that regard we are back to how it always was throughout all of Human History before the industrial revolution
honestly this is how it should be. No one needs 100 sweaters. And by reverting to old times and have either very expensive clothing that we cherish and look after because it's good quality and expensive or if we have clothes that we made ourselves and they took us time and effort, we will consume less
Yep, I've come to that conclusion a while back while watching several channels on historical clothing, so I'm working toward making my own 1780's style clothing.
Yes, with the small exception that there are ecological ethical companies who try to source their fabrics well and sow them domestically. However bc of labour costs& their selling price they have limited amounts of each clothing piece so they can never break through on a big scale. I'd say look around in your own country and/or neighbouring countries depending where you're from and seeing if there are any you can find with stuff to your liking. It can be that in your area there's less or none though but it could help!
The most telling thing of the clothing industry's downfall for me is how hard it is to find just a good T-shirt these days. A plain white T-shirt. Everything is paper thin and see-through, weirdly sewn, with collars that stretch out after the first wash on delicate settings. It's honestly genuinely upsetting
Anne Taylor
Hanes or Gildan
American apparel was the only one for me, i have a heavyweight tee thats outlasted many others. Los angeles apparel is now doing what american apparel used to
Muji
Uniqlo airism and oversized U line
As an Irish person, I generally watch people of other nationalities talking about our history and culture with my heart in my throat, ready for stereotypes, mispronounciations and general paddywhackery but this was SO GOOD. Thanks for this amazing level of research and nuance and for making an effort with pronouncing Irish names and phrases correctly. What a pleasure to learn so much I didn't know about my beloved Aran jumpers! You're the best!!
Oh god, I feel you. I'm Polish and the amount of mispronunciation in some of the videos about Poland gives me headache. I'm glad you are satisfied with this video. ❤️
My aunt knitted my dad a chuncky wool sweater to go skiing in, 55 years ago. I'm still wearing it today. It's still chunky, warm and has not lost its shape, or its colour.
Same time frame for the sweaters my grandmother knitted my dad. They still look like they were just knitted.
My mom knitted bunch of sweaters for my dad 25 years ago and he still wears them till today in the winter and ppl envy him and always asking him where did he get them
That is awesome! My dad has a collection of beautiful wool sweaters that he bought back in the 80s and I still wear them til this very day! Still in such great condition!
We were talking about this the other day. My mom gave me clothes she had saved for over 20 years that didn’t fit her anymore. They were in PERFECT CONDITION. No discoloration, not a hole, no fabric thinning. And they were from Zara, Bershka, Springfield. While I bought 3 years ago a Zara shirt that started to breakdown in a couple of months.
Yep, I still have a lot of clothes from the early to mid 2000s that I bought as a teen from fast fashion brands that are still around (Zara, Bershka, Mango, H&M...) and they're still in good condition despite lots of use and washes.
I even see it with H&M that I bought as a teen 10 years ago. Yes it had small holes here and there but overall at least the basics lasted. Not to mention the price was actually low. Now whenever I visit a store again my jaw drops bc they want like 40€ for say, a thin jacket that's worse in quality than the years before. It's funny that I have to go to TJ Maxx now to get actual cheap fast fashion... with better quality! (this sounds like I deliberately only buy fast fashion but due to growing up / changing sizes and saving money that's all I can afford. But I seriously consider sewing and buying ecological clothing now, it's just that they want much more money. And 50€ for a t-shirt is definitely a splurge...).
Same! There was style of blouse that H&M used to carry that was super flattering on me. I must have bought 20 of those blouses in the early 2000's and I still have 3 that look great. @@myrna_m
@@myrna_mI have a long sleeve black shirt from GADZOOKS of all places. I got it as a kid 5 years before they were bought out by Forever 21. It's still kickin'.
all my dads old ass clothes look so brand new😭While clothing i bought a couple months ago already look worn out
The most frustrating thing is that fact that not only is nice clothing hard to come by now, nice materials to MAKE clothing are also getting tough to find. I hate it here
Thats neoliberal ideology for u
Yes. I used to make custom clothing including wedding gowns and quit largely because even in the NYC garment district there’s not much to choose from anymore.
There’s no demand for good stuff. 😔
@@karigrandiihow?
@@karigrandii yeah the nebulous boogeyman “neoliberal ideology” is why people idly shop for fast fashion “deals” and order Shein hauls.
Yeah allowing other countries to monopolize the textile industry through unfair trade agreements has caused this. America got it’s wealth from making cotton and hemp fabric, now we are forced into poverty by our government’s stupidity.
I'm so glad we're talking about this! Remember when pants and skirts had an additional inner lining? Everything is see-through these days!
I still make trousers lined to the knee (fronts only or front and back). I think a lot of makers seem to have forgotten how to make a lined skirt. I've seen them now and again, but they don't properly anchor the lining or it's too small, so the wearer is uncomfortable.
And it has gotten harder to find slips to wear under the see- through fabric. Some people aren't bothered by this, but being in my early 60's, I appreciate that added layer. Especially after I did Civil War reenactments and learned how much cooler multiple layers of.cotton fabric can be than our mixed fabric type clothing.
Just experienced having to wear short black tights under a beautiful white dress for a relative's funeral. It's too hot in the Caribbean for black right now.
Linings can be too hot also due to the fabric.
@@GretabpoohI don't see slips anymore here in the increasingly hot Caribbean. I am told to wear short black tights.
Linings are also out of style due to the heat.
I try to buy cotton and linen.
Lining helps with the hang and the longevity of the item.
Even growing up in the 2010s i noticed how shirts in malls were getting more and more thinner and translucent in density for just basic graphic tees
i thought it was just "in fashion" to wear crop tops and see through stuff!
@@liz_violet The production owners set these trends themselves. Convinient
It's nice getting vintage all cotton button ups from the 90's.... The fit is looser and much more flattering and comfortable, + they tend to be thicker and better made.
Thiss! I remember a store going out of business and finding a shirt for $2 originally priced for $14. Practically thick tights, like for dance and ice skating
And compare Levi's jeans from 90 to Levi's of today's...
I'm a seamstress. I was a teenager in the 80s and we used to have three levels of fashion. Basic, which was well made and of good material, but lacked high end details. "Designer" which one could buy off the peg, which had better materials and nicer details, and then haute couture, which only the wealthy could afford. There were nice, natural fibers at every level. T-shirts could last a decade.
Now, as a seamstress, I struggle to find quality fabrics, full stop. It's so frustrating, because I know what quality looks and feels like!
Not to mention the cost of fabrics. It used to be less expensive to make clothes, now in a lot of cases it's more expensive.
My mum is in her 80s and I'm so grateful for her massive stockpile of fabric, it's impossible to find that quality today.
It is *so* frustrating
I even had a sewing teacher tell me low quality chiffon was actually silk!!
I am REALLY bothered by the coats not keeping us warm thing. I despise being cold and I despise wearing so many layers that I can't wear anything cute and feel like a walking marshmallow.
I purchase mostly second hand clothing but I still succeed with 'old womens clothing' brands. I know eventually that will go to shit as well when the younger generation grows older, but for now those coats are at least of better quality. And they're not that bad either.
I've even been considering to purchase one or two extra coats if they're actually premium quality that could last me all my life. It might be boring but I'll at least be warm in my 80's. Something tells me those coats won't be for sale anymore when I'm that old.
Honestly. Target has never let me down and there’s soooo many pockets!
Gotta buy from brands that actually cater to the outdoors or people who work outdoors. Buy an insulated jacket that actually shows the insulating materials and how much of it is used. Real insulating clothes will have that info on the tag or the product description online.
@@seyi777 What brands and materials make good coats? Also, hopefully its not expensive. Though, I would be willing to invest in a good coat though as it will last me many years.
We also use heat more now than people did before and spend leas time outdoors… As a kid in northern California I was almost always in just a hoodie at the start of winter. Once rain and snow hit it was a jacket… Now I’m in a liner with a shirt under and a sweater then a coat… Being cold has a lot to do with us and not always the garments.
A problem I've come across in my country is that stores that actually sell good quality clothing at higher prices, but not in the luxury price range, are going bankrupt, because the people who used to shop there are cutting back on their shopping. So luxury brands and fast fashion thrive while the segment in the middle dies. Drives me crazy.
This right here. There’s nothing in between crap and designer
That's been happening for all kinds of things for decades. The solid good quality stuff without luxury cachet has disappeared, as have the stores and brands that used to be known for those things.
It’s super true
Isn't it so ironic that so many people still believe this is the economical system of innovation and completion forced advancement and improvements.
@@BlueCyann Should have tons more thumbs up for this comment. It is exactly the case for so many services and goods today. The middle will get squeezed out because they become unprofitable and unable to find a large enough customer base to continue. It's all about the economics of business and markets in a globalized marketplace.
Hello, I come from Italy and I am lucky to have a family working in the textile department of wool, cashmere, etc. The difference between a handmade sweater, compared to one made is machine, is that the first, thanks to its processing, the texture is thicker and three-dimensional, while those made by machine are much more "flat"
thanks for sharing!
And funny coincidence, I live near the place where today the Ötzi is exposed
@@gremlita so you complain about the price of "clothing" and yet go to paris for 48hrs and buy a spendy handbag. BUT PLEASE TELL ME MORE.
@@anamegoeshereuhh. Weird way to troll but okay
@@kagitsune how was i trolling?
i think a big reason people feel that a £200 jacket is very expensive even though historically, adjusted for inflation, it isn’t, is because nowadays they definitely make the jacket much more cheaply and artificially inflate the price, rather than paying £200 for a genuinely good quality item
Also, prices have adjusted to inflation, while salaries have been stagnating if not reducing for quite some time. So a 200£ price (which was yes a big investment in the past but paid itself over time because you basically had to do it once each couple of decades) makes a much bigger dent into a monthly budget and doesn't give any indication on the quality itself which Is, as you said, almost always pretty low anyway
Profit margins on almost all consumer items have increased drastically (almost mirroring the decline in wages, especially considering the increase in skill) over the past century. ‘Built-in-obsolescence’ is now an industry standard.
A 200€ jacket used to last you a lifetime that's not an exaggeration
£200 is a good price for a high quality item. The problem is a lot of the £200 peices aren't even good quality
The bad thing is that a high price item might not be good quality after all.
im only 28 and i remember my mum making a lot of my clothes when i was a child because it was cheaper but by the time i was a teenager the fabric became really expensive and poor quality. its almost like good fabric has been made unavailable to push us to buy fast fashion.
Yes, that’s why I no longer sew. When I was young in the 70’s/80’s, I’d go to a fabric store and find so many gorgeous fabrics it was hard to choose. I could make a simple but beautiful dress in no time just because the fabric was so lovely. Sadly between the fact that people rarely get dressed up anymore, and it’s not worth working on cheap material, there’s no longer any point in sewing.
@@skeptigal4626for me who is short, small at the shoulders but a bit chubby in the middle, sewing is the best way of getting cloths that fits well. But it _is_ sad that the quality of fabric isn't as good today as it was some dacades ago. However I've found some vintage fabric of good qulity very cheep. That's almost like finding a treasure.
I agree. I sewed a lot in the late 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and into the 90’s but then patterns started to get ridiculously expensive and it became hard to find decent fabric. I occasionally make a garment now and I find I can still save by making home decor, but most of my sewing today is repairs and alterations.
I made my daughter clothing when she was a toddler with fabric left over from my childhood, the garments are now on the 5th kid. My 3 then my niece, now my nephew. Think the fabric was purchased in 1989 or so.
Likewise, my Oshkosh overalls are on the 8th kid. Me, a friend, 2 brothers, and the other 5 mentioned prior. They look fine, and the reinforcement on the knees has been replaced once after my brothers, once after my kids.
Eta: the overalls were apparently used when my mom bought them in 88
I'm 70 and my parents passed in their early 80s many years ago. My mother sewed all her own clothes, clothes for her 5 children, dress shirts, and winter coats. She knew every fabric store in the region and usually hit at least one a week. I was often with her on these expeditions so I've seen the change in fabric stores over the past 60 years. They are all but nonexistent now, most converted into craft stores that sell fabric only for quilting, costume, craft, and maybe some upholstery goods. I remember the dazzling array of bolted woolens, velvets, silks, plaids, and prints. Most of it was gorgeous and not all of it high priced. The cost is prohibitive these days and the available selection is trash. The online fabric selection is extensive but gives me sticker shock. Now that I'm retired and have no public role, I buy men's casual clothing. The workmanship and durability are usually better quality than women's clothing. I can buy larger sizes for comfort, a short sleeve button shirt and a pair of sweat pants and I am good to go.
I'm Mexican (not Mexican-American). I remember my family and I would go to the US to go shopping for clothes about once a year when I was younger because the quality was noticeably higher than the options we had here in Mexico. The years passed, and we stopped doing that since the quality of the clothes in the US became pretty much the same as it is here. You can't even trust "nicer" brands nowadays.
It’s scary to see the quality of clothes from the same brands overtime. A while back it used to be obvious fast fashion places like Forever21 and H&M etc but now it’s all wearable garbage. Something from 10 years ago will hold up for years longer and in much better shape than something you bought THIS very year.
And yet we still got inflation.
Wear traditional clothes instead of fast fashion. Besides, traditional never goes out of style
Everything is made in China
As a handknitter who is currently knitting their partner a heavy weight cabled cardigan, I can attest that good quality heavy weight 100% wool is expensive! And the more oversized the garment is intended to be worn, the more wool goes into it. To my eye, Billy’s Aran looks more “expensive” because the cables looks more plush and three-dimensional in texture, drapes in a way that means it’s a heavy weight yarn, and has more positive ease in the body and sleeves which means it probably weights twice as much as the other more modern sweater.
Yeah, I am currently knitting on a full merino cardigan for myself.
I paid 200€ for the wool alone!!!
Peoples ideas of fabric costs are so distorted. Sometimes I see wool jumpers at prices that don't make sense if I consider fabric price alone. We need to appreciate pieces again.
These fashion cycles are getting absurd... Doing an entire new wardrobe every year. This just doesn't make any sense...
@@lasagnasquare5604 Every year? lol Have you heard of the "mini-season" now? You now have to get a new wardrobe every four months! lol
Can I ask out of interest as someone interested in business of fashion how much does good quality heavy weight wool cost for lets say one ladies or mens cardigan? This is price for retail customer I guess & not price paid by a large manufacturer.
@@zatarawood3588 good question!
@@zatarawood3588 I’m located in Australia, so my prices will be guided by what’s available to me locally or can be easily shipped to me here. The most economical 100% wool option available to me would be roughly $18AUD per 300m (150m/100g) from Bendigo Woollen Mills. To make a ladies basic cardigan (no cables or heavy texture) would require around 1200-2000m, depending on the desired size of the garment, so about $72-120 AUD, as a starting point. A men’s cardigan would start at around the same meterage, but extend to larger sizes. I recently bought a sweaters quantity of Daruma Falkland in a beautiful cream to make a cabled sweater for myself. It’s 80% wool, 20% alpaca, $14AUD for 85m or $210 for a small/medium sized jumper, before shipping.
It's not just clothing. I have a set of sheets from when I was a little girl made in approximately mid 1970s. They are still almost pristine condition even with regular use. The sheets I've bought within the last 3-5 years have already started pilling or in some cases even ripped in the middle.
It's so hard to find that kind of material.
Was looking for cotton sheets in September and was astonished by the sheer volume of micro fiber sheets on offer. My mom has sheets from the 60s that still look new and fresh.
@@Ladida386 You can get excellent sheets at commercial suppliers of linen to the hotel industry. Just track them down and go for ones using Egyptian cotton.
@@deborahcurtis1385 Oh, wow! Thank you for this advice! 🙏🫶
I've been looking into linen sheets, which is supposed to be a sturdy fabric, and I've noticed that all the big companies recommend handling them like lingerie.
Even thrifting isn't great now that the garbage clothing is all that people buy and donate or sell to second hand stores. And the thrift stores are all raising prices close to the price of brand new for the same garbage.
exactly my experience. you pay same, or sometimes more for secondhand bad quality clothing now T-T
For real! We cant win :(
i wonder if thrift shops send donations to Africa or whatever... yet plenty of Americans on a budget or dirt poor need clothing, good clothing and not to have to be humiliated foing to a church that will donate clothes for free. Many of us on a budget are happy to pay for our own necessities if it is a reasonable price.
THIS!!!!! I go op shopping and it's just kmart and shein TRASH people wore a couple times and were like oh this is shit, or fits weird or whatever. It's extremely upsetting.
That's honestly how I feel like not gonna pretend I don't go to Walmart for their work wear for outfits. Or just buy super mass produced items quickly because I just want something fast. I have cheaper shirts that I don't wear as often or just wear into the ground over several years. But at the end of the day they are still cheap. I'm just a regular consumer I don't really have the money or care to perfectly curate my clothes. But I'd like to buy clothes from the thrift that feel thick. That have been well worn but still have plenty of life. I'll buy a cool shirt that's obviously over stock, but im tired if the h&m, zara, forever 21 clothes that feel cheap and just disintegrate. I buy a work jacket or pants from Walmart because they are stronger than the shirts. But its like everywhere you go the stitching and thickness of the shirt is always trash. If it weren't for the fact that I like some of few really cheap items I have I'd just do away with them. The thrift at the very keastvakways has good jackets.
As a knitter, those sweaters take FOREVER to knit. I would have to charge hundreds of dollars for a detailed cable knit sweater, just to make sure I made minimum wage. That's not even taking into account how expensive high quality yarn can be.
They start at $350 for an adult hand knitted sweater and go upwards to $500-ish. There are lots of people who pay for them.
@@schoolingdiana9086And to the OP's point: you can spend $350 on YARN for a sweater these days, without trying too hard. Having said that, you can do a pure wool sweater for a lot less than that, but once you subtract off the yarn cost, the prices you quoted aren't much for 30-40 hours of work.
Fast-fashion (made from dirt-cheap materials by basically slaves in foreign assembly-lines) has really ruined people's expectations of clothing costs.
@@schoolingdiana9086 But $350-500 might _just barely_ cover the cost of good quality merino or cashmere (which are pretty much the only materials people are willing to pay premium for), never mind that 30-40 hours to complete a complicated cable sweater is extremely low even for a reasonably fast knitter and absolutely not happening if it's a larger (XL+ and/or for a tall person) size. I suspect the low (in comparison to a solo knitter) price is achieved by getting massive quantity discounts on yarn and likely doesn't leave much above minimum wage for the actual knitters.
@@schoolingdiana9086 they're not machines, they need to be paid a living wage too which that cost there doesn't cover.
I knit my own sweaters. When I finished Uni back in 1996 i made my first aran sweater (took me about 2 weeks) and I can & am still using it to this date. The quality of hand-made items (if you use high-quality materials) is undisputed. And lets not forget how good it is for your mental health and tranquility to learn a craft and make your own garments.
Totally true!
I finally knit a beanie this week and actualy having a hat that fits my massive head is wonderful and if anything it's too warm most of time right now. One size fits definitly not me has been a pain for ages.
I've also been knitting socks for a while and they actually just last ages where store socks never last more than a year when I'm wearing them for work. They've lasted longer than two pairs of walking boots.
I'm very slowly learning to knit. =D
Do date, I have completed a very wiggly cat blanket. Cat blankets are awesome because cats don't care if you make mistakes.
I used to believe that handmade was always higher quality, but years ago I noticed even knitting yarn and fabric you can buy at fabric stores is also cheaply made and also more expensive. I believe this happened when people in general stopped making their own clothing out of necessity and it became a hobby. Now it’s an expensive hobby. And if you want actual quality materials you have to find stores that sell to designers instead of to regular individuals, and you’re going to pay crazy prices. Where I live we have some very high end fabric and yarn stores. I can’t afford to shop in them. So I go to Joann’s instead and get the cheap hobby stuff and make things that do not look or feel like the things my Mom was able to make.
You are a fast knitter. A sweater takes me a month 😮.
Patagonia does free repairs for their clothes as well, doesn't matter if you bought it directly from them or not! They'll even go so far as to completely replace a zipper on a coat. I met someone on their repair team recently and it was really impressive to hear how far they'll go to keep their clothes going.
this is true for many outdoor wear brands! It makes buying sweaters from them worthwhile as well :)
Good to know, my Patagonia hat snap broke, are you saying they will fix it?! It’s one of my favorite hats lol
@@thecoldglassofwatershow yep, you can either ship it to them (you’ll need to pay shipping) or bring it into a Patagonia store for free!
To bad Patagonia mostly sells synthetics, cause I like the design of their clothes but hate polyester. :)
To keep your wool garments last: After use, let them lay unfolded overnight to “breathe”. If not dirty or smelly, you can keep on using them. Don’t wash until dirty or smelly the day after use. Wool is not like cotton, wool is sort of self cleaning. So only wash when necessary!
I actually lost a sweater that I LOVED a few years ago because I forgot that wool has to be washed and handled differently, so...yeah, listen to this person's advice. It was a floofy red cable-knit that actually fit me comfortably.
...then I washed it the standard way, and now it'd fit a pygmy woman or a large doll. Oof.
@@robinchesterfield42 Oh, no, so sad. You are not the only one to do this. I did it many years ago, but luckily it was a casual sweater, not homemade. But I never forget this experience.
Huh, my lazy, slobby self has been doing this with my wool flannels for years. I wash them after like 20+ uses because they're always getting aired out draped over something after I'm done wearing them.
Correct, wool is not cotton. But even cotton isn't available for most clothing. Clothing is now made of synthetics!
@@SirenaSpades I have a lot of clothes made more or less of cotton. Woven materials are often of cotton.
Poor Ben Schwartz, dude just wanted to recreate a photo but made twitter have a clothing epiphany lol
I was just about to mention Ben Schwartz! Poor guy 😂
I saw him at radio city! He’s so funny
Loll so true
😊
I know! I think Billy and Ben look so cute honestly 😹
As an old person, I concur. I still have one of those Aran hand knits my father brought back as a souvenir in1977. I wore it non-stop for about 12 years (2-3 times a week) and still pull it out on colder days. Still in great shape.
Truly, what an incredible garment.
My family are immigrants from Eastern Europe and I got a bunch of real knitted sweaters from my parents. They are in very good quality still.
As an Irish woman, the amount of historical and cultural research you went into for this video was amazing to see! Irish history is rarely talked about and almost never fully understood properly, the pronunciations were also very good! the amount of effort that went into this video was really incredible
Would you recommend Aran sweaters?? I've been browsing through the website this whole video lol
Agree, I'm just Irish- American but have been wearing Aran sweaters my whole life. My kids wear them, too. I didn't know a lot of the political history but mainly wore them because they're warm. The lanolin makes it so you stay warm even if you get wet.
I was just about to say this, proper research
Another tip I recently learned is that if you find a vintage sweater made of 100% wool but you don't like the style or it doesn't fit you, you can actually unravel the yarn from it and use it in a knitting project. That way you get a cheap and sustainable product that is perfectly tailored to your body and style!
Yes! I've seen people do this with fast fashion too
Even the difference between fast fashion from the 2000s and today is outrageous. I got some shoes from back then second hand and they’re by far the best shoes I remember owning! Like 2000s cheap fast fashion is way better quality than even more expensive fast fashion today. It’s unbelievable and I feel like most people my age have never actually experienced quality garments. Like if I think fast fashion from the 2000s is incredible how much more am I missing out on?
I agree, I was just thinking we have a couple things from Hot Topic from the early 2000s that have held up better than their new stuff now.
I still have some tops (H&M) from mid to late 2000s and they are still in great condition. Hell, I have my mother's cardigan from the 1990s, I've meded it a couple of times, but otherwise it's still good.
Yep, if you didn't have money, clothes from Walmart still would last long enough to pass down multiple generations. Mom wears a dress, the oldest daughter wears it, all the way down to the youngest if everyone takes good care of the dress.
You’re missing out on EVERYTHING. Honestly. All my clothes are amazing bc they’re all from the past
@@paintedmoments_ Yup! I still have jeans and band tees I bought from Hot Topic in the early 00s when I was in high school. They look proper vintage now, but no holes or anything. Just cracking on the design and some fraying along the hems of the jeans and ribbing on the shirt neckbands.
Nowadays I've got some band tees I got from Target like five years ago and they've got holes in them at the seams and the hems are falling apart. I thought maybe it was just me but I'm glad to see I'm not alone. Target and Hot Topic should be selling clothing of similar quality, since they're similar price points.
As a grad student in archaeology I'm DELIGHTED you took us all the way back to the copper age! did not expect that!! (recreating artifacts is actually a whole field in itself, experimental archaeology)!
I highly recommend the German produced documentary on reproducing the oldest known pants. They’re from a Chinese burial site and were what we call jodhpurs for horseback riding. Saw it on UA-cam.
I LOVE YOU! Finally someone is saying what I’ve been thinking for years. Clothing has gone to shit, especially in the last decade. Polyester and acrylic EVERYWHERE. I’ve started sewing my own in pure self-defense. But you know what? My Mom has a couple of fisherman sweaters left that she knitted herself in the sixties. What a treasure! I’m def stealing those. 😂
Quality has dropped so much that if you are well-dressed you really stand out. It can be distancing. I have clothes that are decades old and people always ask me where did you get that? I've got most recently a jacket that's leather, it's completely on trend picked it up for $40 it would be a 1980s or maybe early 1990s model. Just fantastic quality. I was going to shift the closure studs but it's fine as is, with a roomy fit so I can wear it over a thick hand knit sweater.
@@deborahcurtis1385Wow, that’s a great buy. Good for you! 👍 I once bought a long coat made from Italian wool for like 20 bucks. It was a bit big and the buttons are terrible, but damn, I couldn’t resist that. I know, it’s weird. These days, if you wear leather boots and a nice wool coat, you stick out like a sore thumb. 🤷♀️
That’s what people buy…..it’s cheap!!
@deborahcurtis1385 if it's a roomy bomber cut it's probably 80s. Early 90s the leather jackets in shops became very tightly fitted in the body and slightly cropped. I have few and they look like petite Barbie doll jackets compared to today.
@@okaycola2 But it's much more expensive in the long run to buy cheap stuff that's fast fashion. I was shocked to go to a preloved shop the other day and it was full of rubbish! The staff looked defeated. The rubbish isn't moving because low quality it's lost shape and that's the end.
Love from Mongolia here. Really happy how you stated that wool is more durable than cashmere. Cashmere is expensive but wool is always sharper and warmer!
some of the comments make me really said cus it shows how some people don’t understand how other countries who aren’t as privileged work. Cashmere and wool are really important in Mongolia due to the climate. Obviously I understand that people from other countries purchase cashmere and wool but in a country where it reaches -40c these materials are really important for survival.
I believe cashmere wool was historically used for layers close to the skin (winter underwear, socks) due to its softness. Makes sense that durability would be pushed over in preference to comfort.
this is something I struggle to understand as well. Like you don't need cashmere to survive milder European winters. Wools will do just fine. Yet it became a symbol of luxury (but I doubt if the quality is still there). I have a cashmere sweater from Mongolia (unfortunately, I accidentally shrunk it, so I have to give it to somebody else) and it is much thicker than all cashmere I've seen sold in Europe. Another thing I read (please tell me if it's true or not) is that cashmere is too fragile to be dyed, and natural undid cashmere can only be white, beige, grey or black. If a cashmere sweater has a bright colour, it automatically means reduced quality.
As someone in their 50's, clothes buying has seriously changed. We saved up money to buy one quality item and we were so excited that you would tell all your friends that you finally bought it. There were many small independent boutiques and many would allow you to put a deposit down and pay for your item over a few months. We cherished those items! I kept some items. My niece couldn't believe the difference in size or quality. She considers herself a US size 4 but, the 1980's size 4 turned out to be a modern size OO.
I’m in my mid 20s. I grew up with fast fashion. And yet, I feel like the situation has gotten worse enough that we might need a new name for it, like hyper-fast fashion.
I had what used to be the typical suburban high schooler experience, where the mall was THE hang out spot. And that was during the glory days of Forever21, American Eagle, Zara, H&M etc to boot.
Despite that, our consumption habits were different. We didn’t buy as many items as frequently as the average teenager today. Cost was part of it, as 8$ tops were a rarity, not the norm, but I think shorter trend cycles and online shopping also changed things a lot, and for the worst.
Back when trends were dictated by the fashion industry instead of social media, there were, at most, 1 or 2 new “must haves” per season. If you wanted to be fashionable, you’d buy your Lita boots, your galaxy leggings, or whatever it was, and that’s it, you’d be set for the year!
Whereas now, instead of that, there are dozens of aesthetics and subcultures, each with their own micro-trends that only seem to last weeks.
The other reason is that before online shopping, what time we did spend at the mall was actually wildly inefficient if judged purely by how much shopping got done!
We’d go to the mall, debate getting a drink, hang out by the food court, walk to a shop, show each other stuff, wait around while our friends were in the dressing room, go to the food court again, you get the idea. It was a social experience, whereas shopping online is typically done alone, on a website optimised to get you to buy as much as possible with as little effort and time as possible.
Shopping being the main social experience available (due to the lack of third places in suburbia) was in itself problematic, but shopping as a way to get dopamine, alone in your room, in the midst of a loneliness epidemic, is even worse. And that goes both for young people’s mental health and the environment, because of course having all your feel good chemicals come from buying stuff is going to lead to more overconsumption than if you were getting some socialisation at the same time.
And to be clear, I’m not blaming teenagers at all! I think they have it worse than we did, because through no fault of their own, too much of their lives now happen online.
@@msd7544excellent and insightful observations.
I buy my clothes with that mindset now-- searching for quality and intention to take care for a long time. Nothing fits right and I always have to bring my clothing for alterations, but they look so much better afterwards.
Ah yes, the layaway method. My mom used that a lot.
And don't forget getting to go through the print catalogs picking all the cute outfits, and maybe you get one or two for birthday or Christmas. Good times, good times. 😄
was NOT expecting a rundown on the past 100 years of irish history in a video about clothing quality. i love you miss mina queen of background research and in-depth analysis ♡
When I'm a fashion girly and a woman in stem and my worlds collide because Mina is putting definitions of tensile strength and thermal conductivity in her video
LITERALLY FUCKING SAME
Sat there after just doing it in materials for engineering module all 👁👄👁
Same here!! And I love your profile pic by the way!! @brookep6086
Yes, I went to school for chemical engineering and love materials and textiles.
This is why love her; she includes science, history, sociality, financials AND consumerism, environmentalism, (I could go on), lessons in her videos. It helps create a really in depth perspective on her topics.
I don't always 100% agree with her assertions on certain matters; but I do always value her input.
As someone who got her masters degree in experimental archaeology, but who came to the video to hear your takes on the enshittification of clothing, I LOVED that this started with Otzie. I love your insights and how fully you cover the topic at hand, from a frozen ice man from thousands of years ago, to the IRA, to sustainable fashion, you cover all the bases.
Everything i learn about modern fashion compeles me to break out the sewing machine.
YES
i have, i get more grateful every year my great grandma taught me
IKR?! 💪
I'm just starting to learn how.
DO IT.
As a European, I don't mind at all if your tone is not 150% enthusiastic, it's the substance that counts! I think Americans have this cultural pressure to be *excited* all the time and it's just unrealistic; not every day can be your best day :) Thanks for the great work!
Also European here, I 1000% second this!
I find the need to be happy go lucky at work absolutely exhausting. I really hate our obsession with service with a smile’.
@@crazysavvyloverleeIt definitely comes from our work culture. Jobs in America want you to stand, smile, and be super personal in a robotic way all the time so you always make a sale, but it’s impossible to do that all the time. Humans aren’t made that way. Maybe one day that’ll change.
We really don't. UA-camrs are not reflective of real life. They're trying to imitate tv presenters whether they realize it or not.
Nobody has to act anything but polite at work, these other commenters are being rediculous.
I think it’s more a UA-camr thing than an American thing.
honestly switching to making my own clothes has taught me the value of patience when building personal style. like i now have to wait until i’ve saved up for materials, found patterns that suit the vision, and finished knitting/sewing the garment before i can wear it and it really makes me consider what i actually want to wear not just what i liked the look of on someone else and wanted in that moment
I suppose it means you also cherish every piece of clothing you make, meaning you are less likely to throw it away. So good for you, the environment and your wallet/purse. Plus, is nice when things have character and a story to them.
Whole heartedly agree!! I crochet and doing it really helped with my patience and appreciation of clothing and how it's made. It made me understand more about clothing I ACTUALLY want.
As a knitter, I don't try to sell my creations because the price would be $200+ for a pair of socks! I do it as a hobby and for gifts, and sometimes as an incentive for people to give to the food bank I volunteer for. People are used to paying $50 for a "nice" sweater and to make one that will last decades costs ~$150+ in quality yarn even if you make it yourself. Making what I can for myself definitely taught me to take care of my clothes and only wash things that haven't been worn directly on the skin when they're actively dirty (a stain) or once a season before storing them again, and then handwashed with the nice delicate detergent.
I bet there would be a market for $200+ socks!
And here's why people switched over to buying crap. Because people like you think you deserve to be paid $200 for a frikkin pair of socks.
OH my goodness I am thinking about this constantly 😭 Clothes look further and further away from real, at some point they’ll be holograms. Fabrics get thinner, more unpleasant to the touch, and try to mimic being the same good ol’ luxury garments when in fact, they’re just the ghost of the ones made in the 80s and 90s when the quality of fashion was at its peak imo
@SewingandSnakes Hmmm maybe it was better around here cause my country used to be under socialist regime and the clothes were SOLIDD. Great cuts, too. Well, I was actually born in 1993 and I’m basing my opinion on the clothes I borrowed from my grandparents and parents and still wear to this day, as well as the fact that I tend to gravitate towards garments made in the 80s and 90s in thrift shops, because they feel better on the skin. Still, I’m sure not all were perfect, just like you say.
Yup that's why I mainly thrift my clothes
Exactly! I swear even the polyester somehow managed to get worse over the last 10 years. From what I know, it initially appeared as a cheaper alternative to silk and at some point I remember polyester garments feeling somewhat nice to the touch. Right now, whenever I check a polyester garment in a store it feels truly terrible. So I, just like Mina, try to stay away from synthetics altogether.
@SewingandSnakesAgreed, I'm a vintage clothes person, and every era I'm familiar with had good and bad quality, good and bad materials, good materials produced poorly, and even "bad" materials produced well. In the 90's specifically I remember the black fake leather of shoes specifically didn't last more than 2 wears, haha.
I've started making my own clothes because I'm tired of 1). clothes that don't fit and 2). flimsy products made from thin, flimsy material. Since I've started sewing, I've noticed the quality difference in store-bought clothes. Even a $500 tank top will be of shoddy construction.
This is a really long winded way to say "human greed has made life worse for all of us."
😂 yes
Capitalism actually
@@ladylongsleeves3175 A gross manifestation of human greed.
@@ladylongsleeves3175 .....what is the difference.
pros and cons. your phone, this website, and every modern system were created with a profit motive. shit costs money. this is a necessary consequence of leaving the stone age. pick one. you can't have both.
As an Irish person, your pronunciations were quite good!! I remember you pronouncing Samhain properly in your Halloween costume video and knew you were a person of great research.
I second this!
I 3rd this as another Irish person! I was happily impressed and not expecting such a history lesson on the Aran sweater/jumper. I think the documentary Man of Aran helped popularise the Aran sweater internationally too.
Yea I'm impressed by your research and effort in the pronunciation!
adding to this, i've heard some absolute butcherings of the language so it's really nice to see an american respect the language enough to pronounce it right, never mind give an accurate picture of the history! maith thú, mina! and in case ur wondering, gaeltarra éireann is pronounced 'gayl-ta-ra eh-rinn'
also didn't know where to cram this in the above comment but thought it would be funny to mention that i met gerry adams and sinn féin as a whole have a huge presence in my hometown lol
I really want Americans to be able to pronounce Ö though, it irks me to no end to hear it pronounced like an Oh when it is an Uh.
I feel like mainstream/inexpensive clothes were still okay up to the mid-2000’s - I still have sweaters from Old Navy and hoodies from Aeropostale from like 2003!
I feel like everything changed with forever 21....
I'm always more convinced that I have to start to learn how to sew my own clothing.
It’s easier than you think
There's a lot of really good resources here on youtube. Personally, I'm mostly self taught via the Vogue Sewing Manual, which you can find in antique stores for under $30.
@@blazertundraand there are pdf’s available of these manuals usually
It depends on what style of clothing you like. Personally I think it's very difficult for a consumer to get the same variety and prices for stuff like jersey knit fabric that a corporate buyer can, plus you need an overlocker to sew those type of fabrics well, not just a regular sewing machine, so if you genuinely like wearing T-shirts and stretch fabric it's hard to get better or cheaper doing it yourself. A lot of sportswear/technical fabric is also proprietary and inaccessible.
Not judging, just sharing why I personally ended up deciding it wasn't worth sewing in my own clothes when I did a lot of research on it circa 2015. However, if you love love love stuff like 60s shift dresses, you'll be golden for sewing your own.
I just started. First by hand because I dont have sew machine.
Seeing this after my sister got yet another shein package, but this time for something she doesn't even remember buying. I took it out of the package (that came with no packing slip?) and when I tell you it literally felt like PAPER, nastiest piece of new clothing I've ever felt. Then she tells me that's normal quality....I tried not to judge but internally I was going MAD
Use it as a teaching moment! Show her something amazing to compare to!
Please judge. This is horrific.
I dislike plastic clothing. Where I live cotton/linen is still affordable. And tailoring is an option. Shein is banned in our country.
@@tinag7506oh wow, really? That's interesting! Do you have other websites like Shein?
@@tinag7506 i wish this were true for more places
Doing my PhD on agricultural history in Ireland and so it's great to hear such a well-researched and consise history of the Aran jumper alongside your nuanced guidance on sustainable buying!
Good luck on your PhD! What's your dissertation topic?
As someone who sews and knits, l thought l'd be most interested in the clothing part of this but, l'm completely blown away by Otzi's shoes. Anyway, l just wanted to say that thrift shops are a great way to find cheaper sources of wool. Buy an ugly hand-knitted pullover and unravel it. Wind it into hanks, wash it and hang a weight on it as it dries to get the kinks out and it will knit like new. If you want to know how much wool is in your yarn. Soak a piece of it in acetone overnight and, how much of the piece is left the next day, will indicate how much is wool ie, if nothing is left it's pure wool. 😊
Even fast fashion quality used to be better. I grew up in a country without H&M, so whenever I would visit my aunt in Germany we would bring back things that lasted years. Now it's melting away within a season.
Oh my God, exactly! H&M used to have such nice clothing that lasted years! I still have a linen pant suit that is by now at least 14 years old and it still looks as good as new.
Nowadays even seemingly good quality items are done within a year or so.
I'm severely depressed and living barely above or at the poverty line, so sadly I don't have the energy or money to invest in anything more than new cheap underwear from walmart and used clothes from goodwill that I don't spend much time vetting aside from if they fit. It's part of how companies across the board have been getting away with this all- they're taking advantage of the fact that most of us don't have the time, money, or energy to actually go out and find or make quality sustainable alternatives.
My dad has a leather trenchcoat he's worn regularly since he was a teenager. My mom still has a lot of the clothes she wore when I was a baby. Meanwhile my favorite shirt from when I was a teen just a few years ago is literally in tatters. Same for my favorite shorts. Same for like 5 random pairs of jeans. I'm not doing a lot of rough stuff in my clothes, I'm usually just chilling, but almost everything I owned before 2018 has torn itself to threads.
And so I go and buy more of the same, because I can't afford to pay more than $14 on any single piece of clothing and still be able to eat well that day.
And thus the cycle continues.
Wishing for good things coing yr way! Thank you for sharing n big hugs!
I’m so sorry 😢I’m in the same boat! Disabled and living far below the poverty level and it’s so depressing. Can’t afford good skin care, nice clothes or even healthy food for the entire month. I feel so shabby anytime I have to leave the house. My clothes are cheap and it’s shows .I’m 53 and alone and and it’s very frustrating. Things just continue to grow worse. And I keep getting Denied disability even tho I live in severe chronic pain and am unable to support myslef 10:34 here the good o’l US of A where I was born and raised and yet I’ve seen time n time again ppl who are not even sick at all getting disability. Sorry I guess I just needed to vent! I’ll be praying for you and for things to get better for all of us 🙏
A small advice for making new clothes last longer, regardless of the amount spent on them: is to use them only when outside the house. Inside, use the "old" clothes. This reduces washings but more importantly reduces wear.
Also, if possible, air dry them as it helps too.
I'm not disabled, but I highly dislike shopping for clothing. I adopted this strategy to avoid having to shop as much.
I also shop taking into consideration hardwearing materials, but it comes from trial and error unfortunately.
Thanks for being so candid. Wish I could give you a hug and help you feel even a bit better.
@@apples_and_orchards3205I am so.sorry life is so hard for you. I could see I would be in the same situation by this point if I stayed in the US...I retired disabled at 50 from chronic pain from botched disc repair amd have lived with pain ever since. I am 25yrs older now living on regular Social Security abroad in Latin America. I was able to cobble tpgether a good lofe here far better tham it would be in the USA now. I bought a small house , the property tax is $97 a YEAR. Fresh fuits and vegetables are grown for the US market right next to me...Imbuy thrm in the mercado inexpensively .. were I vegetarian I could live on very little...my protein is eggs and chicken mostly. Sometimes fish, farm raised tilapia also produced here for the US market, coffee grown for the US market so I have a good diet. Many people from the US living on just social security come but cannot adapt. I learned Spanish slowly. I have friends here American retirees and locals. I didnt even know my neighbors in the US. It has been a good life for me bit would not suit everyone I know...I wish there was a solution for you as there was for me....
I'm from the North of Ireland and this is the first time I've ever heard an American on UA-cam talk about our past in such a well researched and eloquent way lol. Even the pronunciation of the Gaelige was pretty good!! Thank you for putting so much effort into that part of the video, we appreciate it so much when other countries understand what we went through (and are still very much dealing with today) ♥️
Derry girl here! I live in Australia now but still very in touch with my north of Ireland heritage 💚
I’m from NI too and really didn’t expect to hear about our history when I clicked on the video lol especially done in such a thoughtful way! usually if Americans bring it up it’s obvious they haven’t actually done much (if any) research
I completely agree...well researched......from Co Meath
I was a vintage clothier for years and yes the older cashmere sweaters especially ones that came out of Scotland are great. However I live in 🇨🇦 and I am in love with alpaca. We have two farms near me and I only wear alpaca socks. There are summer and winter weights and as a senior now my feet feel great no matter how far I walk. You can also wear these socks for at least 3 days without washing….yes with no smell on socks or feet. Also alpaca have no lanolin in them and that is great as I am allergic to lanolin. But they are hand wash only. Peru makes a lot of alpaca wool products but I suggest the baby alpaca for softness. Best of all I have visited my local alpaca farms and the lovely animals are well cared for🇨🇦
I loved this video started with Ötzi! Ancient people absolutely knew how to dress themselves to survive--they just didn't always have the means. I learned a deep appreciation for this when working on medieval clothing reconstructions (as a hobby).
On another note: a friend of mine has a small farm with sheep, which he holds to organic standards. These sheep have to be sheared twice per year, but the wool is often thrown out. Processing it is too expensive in our country, and people prefer the squishy merino wool. This time I took a bag of the wool, which I will try to use for pillow filling (after processing of course). We'll see how that works out.
Let us know how it goes!
@@DAMfoxygrampa I will try my best to remember to update this comment!
@@hdubbs9174 What breed are the sheep? For pillow fillings you need fleece with ton of crimp, like Texel. If the fleece is smooth and/or shiny it will flatten with time and your pillow might even become uneven and uncomfortable. Something awesome you can do with any wool is felting it into wool clogs, or even boots! You can felt any shape you want with a bit of practice!
@@avgeek-and-fashionThe sheep are a type of mountain sheep, with coarse, wavy hair. I'm familiar with horsehair mattresses, where coil is added to the hair to increase the "springy" attributes of the mattress.
Wool also has the tendency to "beard" or leak out of fabric. To combat these two challenges I was planning on creating a loose batting.
The pillows would be mostly for the sofa, not necessarily for sleeping. The pillows on our beds are 80x80cm and that seemed a little ambitious for a first try.
I had considered felting, but there are several points against that: the wool is dark, not "cleanly" sorted by color, and I lack the blocks required to shape the felt.
@@hdubbs9174 Oh this sounds so interesting!! Are you on Ravelry? I'd love to chat more about the sheep and your pillows there! I'd totally buy one of your sofa cushions!
Felting with dark colours looks fantastic! If you colour the dark grey, you get a dark tweed with grey mottles and it looks absolutely STUNNING! Don't worry about the felt blocks, you can always felt flat and then form over pillows, balloons or even a regular shoe, whatever you have laying around! 🙂Just form it while it is still wet and it will block in place. 🙂
Each time I watch mina I feel like Anne Hathaway listening to Meryl Streep explaining that her sweater is not JUST blue. Today I learned my sweater is a symbol of the Irish conflict(I did not know it came from Ireland), thanks mina❤
😂❤
the fact that when a quality item wears out and when I go to replace it there's nothing like it anymore, makes me feel older than I am
Whoever said you could buy a sweater like Billy Crystal's for $20 in the 1980s is out of their mind. That looks like a Lands End or LL Bean and would have run at least a couple hundred each, even then, thanks to erstwhile lifetime guarantee (a policy since cancelled due to abuse of it). Remember that the 80s were all about conspicuous consumption. Levi's sold a sweater closer to the knockoff for around $80 in 1986. I know because I remember buying it. 😅
Its true for the u.k. I used to have one. Clothing stores like British Home Stores,C&A and co were selling really thick chunky,pure new wool jumpers with beautiful cable knit patterns quite reasonably priced.
If the sweater were made of acrylic yarn, as it appears to me, $20 wouldn't be such a huge stretch.
@@PomaleeDondoesn’t look like wool to me either, I was thinking cotton. I had a yellow cotton sweater in the late 80s that looked a lot like that
I am a dressmaker and a very fascinating thing I noticed is that different generations have ver different reactions to it. Most of my age (in their 20s) either don’t understand anything about it or find it fascinating (why are you doing it?) my parents Generation often tell me how they can’t even Thread a needle or ask for free stuff. But people maybe 70 plus are just like “that’s a normal paying job” and I think that’s a good indicator on how our perception of clothing and how it is made has changed since the fifties.
This makes a lot of sense. I’m 43, on the “can’t thread a needle” side. I’m finally starting to learn now, so that I can alter and repair my own garments.
I’m looking back at this and wondering how this happened! I’m wondering if my grandmother never taught my mom or if my mom just didn’t care to learn.
Where are you? And how can I order something?
Yeah, seems like many of the the 1968-1980 generation did not care about „traditional women“ crafts!
I can't sew very well, but I do think threading a needle and doing very basic repairs (sewing a button back on, fixing rips in less visible places) should be a life skill everyone should aim to learn. It's so useful, and means you're slower to throw things out.
On a related note, it's interesting to see that yarn crafts seem to be having something of a resurgence, particularly among women in their 20s and 30s. I know quite a few people who knit or crochet (or both), whereas 10 years ago I only knew a couple. (I only picked it up in the last 5-6 years.) Maybe dressmaking will be next? Though having said that, I do also have some friends who make some of their own clothes, so maybe it already is on the rise.
@@ruth649i too think that making clothes yourself is „coming back in style“ especially as quality garments are getting more expensive and people want to be more sustainable. And I think thats great
I wish the fashion industry as a whole can revert back to its old methods, in the days before fast fashion. When quality production outweighed profits. I studied fashion design at FIT, and the more I learn about modern fashion and its operations, the crappier it all feels. So much of the industry needs to change, restructure to meet ethical, environmental and quality standards. I appreciate this in depth analysis Mina! I learned a lot, and will definitely aim to shop more responsibly and mindfully!
We can still purchase clothing from local artisans like in the old days, but then we would have to stop buying cheap items from Asia.
Clothing was always expensive; however, sending our manufacturers overseas created that illusion of cheap clothing.
@@pabrodi This! There is likely more high quality clothing around than there has ever been, but this is clothing you get from certain local suppliers and is not cheap (and it shouldn't be). People nowadays are just too used to getting lots of cheap shitty clothing instead of few high quality pieces.
I read something during the AIDS crisis that over 80% of the top pattern cutters in New York died due to AIDS complications. After that period, I noticed that clothes construction became much less complex. Fewer interesting seaming techniques and a lot of very simplistic items. That would make sense since pattern cutting is such an important skill in determining the most cost effective use of the material and sizing.
Not to stereotype and be misinformed but wouldn’t that mean that a vast majority might have been a part of the lgbt? Which would mean that the lgbt community would have contributed quite a lot to fashion in general. (Sorry if this is ignorant, i don’t know how to phrase this)
@@noranizaazmi6523I believe its spread through bodily fluids, like blood, so if someone with AIDS pricked themselves with a needle and someone else pricked themselves with the same needle they could get it that way
@@noranizaazmi6523LGBT people contribute a lot to the arts in general, you can see the effects of AIDS when you look at art output of cities during that time period as well
I’m sorry, but I don’t think pattern cutters in NY dying affected the industry to such an extent. Clothes getting worse is a phenomenon happening in ALL the world, even in non american brands
@@noranizaazmi6523 Lgbtq+ people have existed since people have existed. Queer people have influenced every aspect of living, weither or not we know specifically how. Queer people have always had influence in fashion, especially because fashion is one of the closest outlets we have in terms of self expression. Everything around you is indirectly the product of queer people or has or had a major influence from queer people
It is fact that clothes quality has gone down but people tend to forget that the average person nowdays does not care for their clothes in the right way. Clothes uses to be handwashed with minimal stretching. Now clothes are thrown into washing machine and tumble dried, sometimes even put to dryer. That is not how to keep garment in good condition!
mina i’m irish and i just wanted to say you did such a great job of pronouncing irish words!! most non-irish people completely butcher it and don’t even try so this was really refreshing
Right??
Yes, she did a really good job - the best I’ve heard from a non-Irish person. Plus, her explanation of Irish history was on point.
Mind you, someone should have explained that Gaeltarra Éireann is simply ‘Gael-tara Erin’.😊
From a knitter from Ireland...thank you Mina for a well researched and informative video....your Irish history is spot on...
My parents have clothes in their closets from almost 40 years ago that still look almost brand new! Says a lot about clothing quality nowadays...
19:30 might be good to mention that polyesther is so cheap because its practically a bi-product of the oil industry, so investment into polyesther infrastructure is actually just squeezing more out of oil production
Fun fact for consumers: Crocheting cannot be done by a machine. If a sweatet is crocheted, it has to be handmade. That doesn't mean it's made of sustainable wool or anything, but of you're looking for handmade, that's a key thing to know.
To add to this point, if you are buying Crochet anywhere than directly from the person who crafted it you are likely paying for what amounts to modern day slave labor. Fast fashion crochet is the most unethical thing
Yeah, it takes dozens of hours to make a sweater.
Most fast fashion crochet I've encountered is actually machine knit made to look like crochet. falsely advertised as crochet
There is literally a machine that does crochet. Look it up if you don't believe me.
@@animeaftermidnight2765 machine can only do simple chains, they cant do double crochet etc...
perhaps you're maybe talking about knitting machines ?
HAND KNITTING IS NOT A DYING CRAFT!
Our community stands proud and is growing every year.
We welcome every newcomer, but be warned knitting is highly addicting :)
Btw there is company Darn Tough that makes wool scocks and they have lifetime warranty, when sth is wrong with socks you just send it back to them and they send you a new pair.
Hey there my fellow knitter! You are right, knitting is addicting 😂❤ I'm actually knitting while watching this 😅
Crochet too ❤!
@@nahson944 I'm also knitting rn ❤ I have very wooly sweater on the needles
Wearing Darn Tough socks right now lol! I also just started knitting socks so I can have the fun of making them for about the same price! 😂
I came to this comment section to find a fellow knitter(s)! Hello :) I reckon no time like the present to pick up a new craft. With the added benefit of being your own quality control and being able to make garments exactly the way you want. I love all my hand knit sweaters.
The longer you live, you know for a fact that clothes are made worse now. Even if you spend more money. Lesson: don’t throw anything away!!!
Not just clothing, pretty much everything... cars, houses, appliances... everything 😢
Everything falls apart way too soon. It’s deliberate.
@@wabisabi432yes! I follow someone on tiktok who refurbishes fridges from 1930s onwards, and they’re more electricity efficient too!
I guess UA-cam decided to show me a knitting channel...
anyway, I never throw any piece of clothing away, I just keep them in a box until I find a use for them.
I have Tshirts that were useless after a month, and I have hand-me-down bass pro Tshirts from my grandfather that I keep wearing on a regular basis because the fabric is still actually nice. The branding is a shame, but they're the nicest Tshirts I own. It's a disgrace
@@wabisabi432 yep! I had a guy doing an assessment on our home a few weeks ago and he told me how when him and his father used to do maintenance work on new builds sometimes he would find that the walls are made up the cardboard instead of wood. and I think that should be illegal.
Before I even knew- this is why I’ve only shopped at thrift stores since I was young. I would always end up HATING the fast fashion clothes I tried to wear and have such bad sensory issues. However, a 1972 sweater I found at goodwill-I’m on top of the world 👌
Finding clothes woth nice fabric and stitching is SO HARD unless you're very rich.
@SewingandSnakesI hope you know that I see and understand the point you’re making, but, “all it took was 20 years” is sending me
@SewingandSnakes Stitching a “t-shirt” in 20 min is mind boggling. I’m guessing you don’t hand stitch.
@SewingandSnakes20 Minutes is crazy we need you in the uniqlo sweatshop asap
@SewingandSnakes Oh, that'd amazing. I should learn how to sew!
@SewingandSnakes Sounds like the origin story from a proud sweatshop worker
You know how hard it it to just find a cotton shirt? (Non-T-shirt’s) Everything is frigging polyester. You feel like you’re in a plastic bag!!
Trying to find 100% cotton underwear is even hard these days, many times the only options you have are granny panties
(Zara, or Anthro?)I paid $60 for a plain white t shirt 5 years ago. I wear it a lot and when it got dingy I dyed the material, but wow is that criminal.
@@hollyk7052right!
@@Pandaluver67899yes!!! I’ve seen someone on UA-cam who makes linen underwear.
Even cotton t-shirts are hard to find. I've purchased several from a well-known department store that were labelled "cotton" and as you say I felt like I was wearing a plastic bag. I know what wearing cotton feels like, and those are not cotton.
I think it mostly comes down to planned obsolescence. Unlearning economics did a great recent video on this.
I have Smartwool socks; the heals blow out (I walk a lot). Instead of buying new merino wool socks, I bought wool darning thread and found a darning egg. I have mended at least 8 pairs of socks so far. Buying darning wool is way less expensive than new socks.
I’m a big fan of Darn Tough socks! They tend to last a lot longer than my Smartwool socks
And darn tough will replace their socks that are worn out, true, not as sustainable as darning them, but great in terms of investment. I've had I think 4 pairs replaced.
I remember seeing Martin Freeman wearing an Aran sweater in the first episode of Sherlock, deciding to knit one for myself, then looking into buying the wool for it, crying in poor, then making one out of an acrylic blend. It’s nowhere near as beautiful as if I could have used proper wool, but I still love it. And I know how to mend it, know the one spot where I accidentally perl stitched where it should be knit, and will literally wear it until it falls apart. There are drawbacks and concerns in making your own clothing but it is so satisfying.
That’s an amazing thing to do :-) I’ve been crocheting a cardigan for the last 3 years I’m hoping to finish it this winter 😆
@@emmaplover 3 years 😆You can do it! The pay off will be so worth it when it's done
This video is TOO relevant to my life right now. I've been trying to only purchase clothing made with natural materials and it is SO HARD. Like I've been hunting for a cardigan, and even though I feel like I'm not looking for anything too specific, I can't find anything that matches what I'm looking for that isn't 100% acrylic and it's driving me nuts. Nearly cried when I saw one that was exactly what I was looking for and it was shein lmao fml
We are in the exact same boat. I’m starting to believe that they don’t make cute, slouchy cardigans with all natural fabrics!
I can relate. I’m having to replace my entire wardrobe, but won’t buy anything with even 1% synthetic in it. It’s so difficult and very expensive🙂
I find synthetic fabrics, especially polyester, to be a sensory nightmare. It is so difficult finding natural fibers and materials these days, though!
Maybe try buying some wool and finding a pattern so you can learn to knit, it would take quite sometime but then again you’ve been searching for a cardigan for a long time anyways…
@@kimberlyperrotis8962 please don't replace your entire wardrobe on the premise that your garments contain synthetic fibers. yes it would have been better if your clothes were made with natural fibers in the first place. but if you get rid of your clothes, where will they go ? best case scenario, you take the time to sell them and they go to someone else who'll wear it until it breaks down and gets repurposed in some way (quite unlikely). worst case scenario, you donate your garments to charity, but they'll likely end up in landfills, polluting much more than they do now.
while it isn't ideal, please don't throw away your clothes just because they're synthetic if you like them. the most sustainable thing you can do is keep your clothes and wear them for a long time, repair them when they break, and, when they're irreparable, repurpose them (as cushion stuffing, plushie stuffing, or rags for example). but please, don't throw textiles in the bin.
Watching this on break in the stockroom at my job, surrounded by cheaply made sweaters about to come out on the floor hits absolutely hard lol
My 92 yr old mother was describing her favorite suits and dresses from her debut into the work force in the 50’s. They were so classy and well tailored but cost her almost a weeks wages.
The scary thing for me is that my weeks wages amounts to about $400 (lot of factors, can’t explain it all here). That will get some decent items of quality but not a full suit like our mothers and grandmothers got.
Even making things myself isn’t a total cure because quality fabrics are hard to come by at any price point. My cotton dresses are all relatively cheap and have held up well, but outerwear? I’m still stuck in fast fashion hell.
She could spend that because as a single working gal she lived with her parents until her marriage as was common in 1957.
My grandma owned a small alpaca farm in South America, which her family had owned for generations, and, as a result, learnt how to knit with the best alpaca wool imaginable.
I also learned to knit with alpaca wool; most of my actually good sweaters were knitted by either me or my grandma from baby alpaca wool (which is an alpaca’s first shedding) and, after emigrating to Europe, I very anxiously wait for the time I’m able to return to the family farm on Christmas and sometimes easter JUST so I can refill my alpaca wool thread stack, which is sooo expensive in Belgium.
I’ve never understood how fashion retailers could charge upwards of thousands of dollars for these fabrics, SPECIALLY considering they buy it from the families that produce them for dirt cheap, and have them knitted for even less money.
I love knitting with alpaca and the softness of the finished object but I'm not a very experienced knitter and wonder if there's some sort of code I've yet to crack.
This year I knit my first sweater, an oversized raglan, and I love it but... it came off the needles already an obnoxiously huge size and with wear it's looking more and more like a dress for a chimpanzee. I still love it but I've put all my other sweater projects on hold until I figure out how to deal with this, for obvious reasons, lol.
Have you got any tips for swatching if wanting to substitute alpaca for untreated wool, particularly in garments that won't be blocked and also washed as little as possible? I'd be so grateful for any secret alpaca knowledge I could apply in my projects! Maybe I should look into different yarn manufacturers too for all I know but all I know about alpaca really isn't all that much.
Yes because greed and becoming wealthy off the labour of the poor is the name of the game .
@@diannefitzmaurice9813 Of course! I should’ve phrased it differently; I understand it _logically_ but I can’t really _grasp it_
It's robbery in broad daylight
thisss is exactly why i find the prices of clothing (specially from bigger brands, not really individuals, that i understand) nowadays absolutely ridiculous, since they most likely arent paying much to the producers, makers and employees… apart from the fact that so many designers are just ripping one another, etc
I want to point out that while you want to avoid acrylic and polyester mixes, polyamide is commonly added specifically to lengthen the lifespan of a wool garment. It makes the yarn more resistant to wear. It might not compost as easily but you don't need to throw it out after 2 years either (or 2 weeks if socks). If you want something that needs to handle at least some physical wear, 10-30% polyamide is your friend.
Also, polyamide is interchangeable with nylon. I was confused and suspicious until I looked it up. Nylon is a great fiber for strength.
Yeah if I'm buying yarn to knit socks I always go for a whool + synthetic mix. It'll last much longer.
I can vouch for this!
I have owned a wool/ polyamide coat for 10 years now, and it still looks almost brand new! I guess the fabric may not look quite as smooth and perfect as it did on its first day, but there’s no pilling whatsoever.
Admittedly, though, I only wear it in the fall (the neckline and the sleeves just don’t sit tight enough to skin to keep the cold out in our Canadian winters), but still, for the amount of wear, I think it still looks amazing!
It's so infuriating that clothes are *like that* now. I have an old jean jacket from my uncle when he was my age, and even jus the difference between the 80s quality of levi's and today is SICKENING
I have a leather jacket my dad's Italian friend gave him in the early 2000s he'd inherited from God knows how far back. It's a petit women's jacket I've worn for over 15 years but not so much nowadays with how pandemic weight gain made it tight around the hips and burst. I'm saving it for my babies and grandbabies and pray to God they won't get rid of it! 😢 And should they I hope they gift it like it's first family did to me.
I finally found a diet that works so was able to pull out my outgrown clothing from the ‘90s. 1. I lost the weight! 2. ‘90s wide leg trousers and styles are back in. And 3. Wool was wool, not synthetics so the clothing is great quality. I’m a happy camper.
Literally every pair of jeans I've bought in the past 10 years have ripped in various olaces within just 2 years of wearing. Its
I found a graphic tee from the 70s when helping a friend clean out her aunts house. It was like something you would have found at hot topic (if it had existed back then lol) and even after being worn and washed so many times, it was in amazing shape! The cotton fabric was about 3 times thicker than what we find in stores today. The graphic was still legible and looked great. And it was almost 40 years old. All our shit is probably going in the trash when our relatives find it in a basement somewhere 😂
as a fellow creative i feeel the mental health break. If I push myself too much, I start to hate everything I'm doing, and just can't think straight.
heavy on this comment
That part
I also recommend having many creative projects in the works at the same time. Switching it up is so important for the creative process. No it's not called adhd, it's the artistic process lol
@@AquaticStarchild adhd gang lol
My grandfather was born in 1919 in the Swedish far north. When he was little they used hay for shoe insulation in winter. They had a special chair by the entrance with built in storage for hay, making it easy to replace or add some extra before stepping outdoors.
I'm pretty sure my partner gifted me a bear hat from you last year, in case anyone else is reading this you can be assured she knows what she's talking about. she makes a brilliant hat
@@buttershy_ Oh my gosh thank you! 😍 You just made my day!
Same in France, wool socks in clogs filled with hay were a staple in farms.
Super cheap clothing has made people think that's normal and that all clothes should be super cheap. The amount of times I've seen a review like "Super cheap feeling" on a cheap item I'm just like....yeah no shit 😅 of course it feels cheap, it is.
I saw a review of a $15 clear plastic tote bag on Amazon that complained it was "cheaply made." How much do you want the tote bag to be? $2?
Also, people use to own far fewer items of clothing, so it wasn’t too wild to spend the equivalent of $200 on a coat! And our wages adjusted for inflation have stagnated or fallen over the decades, so we literally can’t afford as good stuff. 🙃
It doesn't help that the actual quality to price ratio has gone down, clothes are much more expensive for much worse quality than they were like 30 years ago
after being a poor teen at forever21 it took me a few years to re-learn that those were not normal or ethical prices for clothing 😅
@@kagitsunefast fashion emphasizes consumption.
I was surprised that you didn't say much about sweater construction, other than rolled vs ribbed cuffs. Seams are the first thing I look at in a knit garment. Overlocked seams mean that the sweater was assembled from individual pieces cut from yards of knitted material, as opposed to assembled from pieces knit to that specific shape needed. For instance: A sleeve knit to shape has only two yarn ends total -- one at the start of the sleeve and one at the end. A sleeve cut from knit fabric has two ends per row -- hundreds of potential fraying points per sleeve. A quick look at the inside of a garment will tell you. When I find overlocked edges on a sweater, I drop it and run.
I recently hand knitted a bottle green aran jumper for my dad and I can confirm that it takes soo long. I started the project in May and chipped away at it until September. It was definetly worth it, because it will last him a long time compared to a normal shop bought jumper, but this is not something everyone has access too.
Keep at it! It takes me about 3 weeks to knit a sweater and I’m not even fast! I can attest to practice making proficiency.
That’s awesome!
As an Irish person, living in Ireland, this is excellent. Very high quality research and analysis on Irish history, politics, fashion, and nationalistic romanticism/romanticise nationalism. Art is a massive part of our culture and the success of our independence movement in the early 20th century, whereas movements over previous centuries always failed.
Speaking as a knitter who happens to be working on a sweater right now… it definitely takes more than “days.” 😅 Thank you for this video though! Love it!
At least 6 weeks for an adult size.
Mina you did a really great job of Aran knitting history and explaining fiber quality. As a fiber artist, when it comes to humane fibers, healthy and well cared for animals produce high quality fibers. In America we have a lot of small local mills and farms that produce amazing yarn. As a plus size person I would love to shop quality but very few sustainable companies make plus sized options, luckily I know how to produce my own fabrics and garments.
As someone who hand spins and knits my own sweaters from local wool whose farms I've visited and farmers I know, I wouldn't say hand knitting is a dying craft at all. Niche, yes but not dying. I volunteered with my local Fibershed at a recent festival and I think education is essential. Thank you for this entertaining and informative video. Such an important topic!
I think, like a lot of things people consider "dying" it skipped a couple generations and we are seeing the fallout of that. Most of the groups I'm a part of are either 70+ or
Do you know any good places to buy hand knit online by any chance?
@@MsKateC2KI mean, Etsy might be a good place to start. Checking out local craft fairs would also be a good place to go. Some farmer's markets might also have wool knitwear as well. Cottage Industries have cottage solutions.
Damn, i have never been made to feel more old than having "Sears" explained to me as though it wasnt a literal icon in the retail space fore years 😅
Thinking about your comment, it is true. I’m in Illinois and I think about how Sears should have been what Amazon is today. They totally avoided the internet to their detriment.
It’s probably so the video has context 10,20, 40 years from now! Or for people in another country :)
As someone who knits her own sweaters, I spent around 80 to 150 euros on good yarn only. And a big sweater can take around a month to be knitted, so that's why handmade quality knits cost that much!
My Grandma used to knit us Aran jumpers (British not Irish) when were kids, they each got passed on to the younger siblings and grand children. They lasted years!
Mina, I see you girl, with your socio-economic consciousness trying to do your best to balance between environmental priorities and social realities and as a environmental specialist all I can say you’re doing such a great job educating people without shaming them, without pompousness and without this fake-hippy vibes, YOU’RE LITERALLY SHARING VALUABLE INFO you should be so proud of yourself for it. Really, don’t sweat it, no one will think you’re a hypocrite, THANK YOU so so much for making this kind of info, that needs so much research, so accessible!! Thank you for making this choice, never feel bad about it!
Clothing is just part of many things declining in quality. A lot of older adults remark on how cars and household appliances from the past can hold up for decades, whereas newer counterparts break down in a matter of years. I feel like I've witnessed this too even as a younger millenial.
and phones + other tech too, they stop working so fast now
Well, actually cars last longer now and are wayyyy safer, and get better gas mileage. My car from 2007 has over 220k miles. The only issue is they are harder to work on now because they are more complicated with all the modern technology. And of course different cars and brands have different issues but old cars had their own issues too.
@@abrielle13 Those are great points! It definitely depends on the make and model for sure, but I totally agree with the safety feature enhancements for one and better mileage!
My toaster (older than me, from a neighbor) lost both sets of outside heating elements a few days ago so I'm flipping the bread around halfway through while I resign myself to buying a new one. And my mom's toaster (new) also started malfunctioning recently, which doesn't give me much hope for my replacements longevity 😭
@@emilyrln Definitely understand the apprehension!
This is why i started shopping vintage, it can be hard in my size US 10-12 but I cant justify buying a lot of modern clothes. Because as much as i love some department store dresses I cant justify spending $300-650+ on a polyester, rayon, or other synthetic fabric dress. Quality is less, price is way more. Even a ton of fast fashion is $60+ dollars now
That's the thing that freaks me out. Even the fast fashion stuff is so pricey. Even cheapo halloween costumes cost like $70 now. It's ridiculous.
Please allow me to reccomend my colleague Bad Moon Vintage! She specializes in plus snd mid size vintage, but I will say, I do carry as much plus and mid size as comes my way as well.
FYI while rayon/viscose is synthetic it’s NOT plastic. It’s made from trees (including bamboo). The best type of rayon to get is lyocell/Tencel which has less toxic production than other forms (although some manufacturers use a closed loop for the chemicals involved). Also all rayon is biodegradeable. If you have a choice between rayon and polyester, rayon is a more sustainable choice overall.
Omg so much this. I had an interview the other week at a boutique where they sold rayon and polyester dresses for almost $1000. Like who is going to pay that much for plastic???
My 1970's wrap skirt is the nicest, thickest cotton fabric I own. It's so nice. It's also the most expensive skirt I own, but I love it so much.
Not just clothing- furniture and houses, too. I only buy 1920 and under furniture and homes. Currently in an 1880 Vic. So well crafted. 100 year old hardwoods, 3 inch thick horsehair plaster, 2 inch thick mahogany oak floors. Crafters cared and had actual pride in work. New homes and furniture feels and looks like trash. I wish someone still made real clothing, besides the rare shops.
Love how you craft your videos, so well done. Subbed.