Sunday, December 14, 2008

From 'The Chap'

thechap.net:

The Primark Effect

MPs have come up with a new term to describe the clogging up of municipal dumps with discarded budget clothing, which will never decompose due to its unrecyclable synthetic constitution. The so-called Primark Effect refers to a chain of stores that peddle instant gratification to the sort of people who need to buy a new T-shirt every few hours to feel fulfilled. Almost instantly bored by their purchase, or terrified that it may already have gone out of fashion, they hurriedly stuff it into a bin liner and hurl it into the dump.

Meanwhile, a tailor thinks he has come up with the antidote: Austen Pickles has created the first ever “carbon-neutral” suit, by committing to offset 300 per cent of the carbon emission from its production. Both these approaches seem to bypass the actual quality of the clothing, one to pander to the eco-warriors and the other to annoy them.

The most ethical approach to tailoring, however, is the one which chaps have been following since time immemorial, whereby suits are handed down through several generations, tweed jackets are worn until they have potatoes growing in the pockets (when they are then pressed into service in the garden). If they are not lucky enough to receive hand-me-downs from their grandfathers, chaps simply pop into a vintage gentlemen’s emporium and buy someone else’s grandfather’s herringbone Harris Tweed three-piece.

No comments:

Post a Comment