have you ever wondered about so called name "labels" in fashion.

Today, my daughter took me shopping with her to Bridge Road, Richmond (Melb) supposedly the home of factory outlets and discount shops of well known labels.

As we strolled through store after store after store, it became apparent to me that most of the garments and accessories were made in China.

Now after all, "made in China" is exactly that, "made in China" and most of the garments are made of the same material, same stitching, similar styles but the price for a garment, say a skimpy top that looks as though they ran out of material before they got to the mid-drift,can vary up to $30 in price difference depending on the "label"

Now, to my way of thinking, I would imagine that manufactures would make items for many number of resellers and so called "fashion brands" around Australia and probably the world, for that matter.

If they were making clothes for both a cheap known brand and a high profile brand, what would they do to make one better than the other...maybe drop a stitch or 2 in the cheaper brand.Nope, don't think so.... maybe just sow in a different label!!!

The other thing that amused me was the tag on garment of one of the higher profile brands stating "Made in China from imported
materials".

Redcraze,

There is something else to consider as well.

As soon as a "Versace" or "DKNY" fashion statement is released, they are immediately copied stitch for stitch by the cheaper or unknown labels to provide a just as good quality garment at less than half the price.

The only decision you have to make is the quality of stitching and material.

If you can tell absolutely no difference in quality or cut of the garment, then the cheaper garment will often save you a lot of money.
There are cheaper imitations, that are cut completely differently, stitching that falls apart, and material that is printed the same, but is far inferior in quality.

It's a case of weighing up the savings.

What always amazes me is when you go into a department store and look at say the mens t-shirts - you can get a good quality one for say $15. Walk down to the next section and essentially the same garment costs you $30-40 because it is in the "Womens Wear" section. Same material, same amount of material, probably made in the same factory by the same underpaid Asian staff but it costs 2 or 3 times as much!