The other day I had no more option that to go and look for a decent winter coat or jacket. The down jacket I have been handed down unfortunately is not in any socially acceptable condition anymore – and on top of that white in colour, … not the best for a notoriously dirty city such as London.
The requirements I had were (in no particular order):
- Warm at temperatures well into the minus °C range.
Preferably again down and with a hood. - Not larger than UK size 8 (= small); ‘convenient’ in that I could wear it both for business as well as leisure; and with a few pockets at all the right places for things like Oyster cards, a mobile phone, gloves, keys etc.
- As ‘ethical’ as possible:
Washable (rather than ‘dry clean only’); long lasting (easily a decade in my case) – both, quality as well as design-wise; mend-able (i.e. seems I’d be able to re-sew etc); preferably second hand (don’t need to add more to the rubbish heap then absolutely needed).
Needless to say that if it were to be new I’d be in trouble considering that what is generally available on the high street does not live up to sensible ethical credentials, and my tight budget (see next point) would not allow me to go down the designer/brand path. - Costing less than £50.
I know this is not a lot of money – but reality bites. As much as I’d loved to spend good money on a truly ethically made coat, spending more was, is, impossible. I could not, and cannot, afford to spend any money on clothing at this point at all – yet I was in dire need of a winter overcoat.
For weeks, months rather, I had been scouring just about any charity shop I came across – without any tangible outcome whatsoever. The days when London enjoyed decently low temperatures and snow were harsh without the fitting equipment. In the end, I reluctantly decided, I would to have a look at the high street anyway.
So, which of the above mentioned requirements did I manage to live up to?
– The jacket is machine washable – no dry cleaning needed.
– It is padded, and inner as well as outer layers are sturdy, hence well suited for cold temperatures.
– In comparison to what is generally available, it is of exceptional good quality – even comparing with many of the branded products I’ve inspected along the way. With the usual care it should last the decade I envision it lasting, if not longer.
– It will never go out of fashion – it’s in good old Barbour style (not the brand though), olive green and in the classic English cut.
– It being a men’s jacket, it has a number of inner and outer pockets.
– It’s an men’s size S.
– I bought the jacket at John Lewis, who has overall a reasonably good reputation for their responsible sourcing practices. They have published (and hopefully adhere to) a sourcing code of practice; they require their suppliers to register themselves with SEDEX (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange); via Sedex, supplier self-assessment and audits take place; and in addition external and internal audits lead to collaboration with suppliers to improve standards.
– I managed to find it in sales at for £29, reduced from £50 – my original budget.
I failed in the following points:
– The jacket is made neither of down nor does it have a hood.
– The cotton in the jacket is non-organic.
– The fabric contains a substantial amount of man-made, oil-based fibres.
– Made in China – exact production location and working conditions unknown. The item itself is not traceable.
– Shipping from China has a rather large carbon footprint.
– The colours used in dyeing the jacket very likely were of chemical, and as such have a rather large environmental footprint.
– The amount of water used to grow the cotton, make the fibre and dye the fabric was probably prohibitive.
Of course, this adventure was a very good case study – and reminder – in so many ways of what can, and cannot, be found in the high street, and the myriad of fairly demanding, not easy to resolve issues that sustainability in fashion encompasses.
This all said, there is a whole collection of insights I gained in the course of searching this one piece of winter gear that would fit ‘my’ bill, not the least during the winter sales season. Here the summary of the lessons I learned.
- Lesson Nr. 1: For quality winter outerwear, the women’s section is not the place to go to. Quality is in tendency rather bad, and the offer not suited for the climate we live in. The good stuff is in the menswear department.
This applies as a consequence equally to what is available in charity shops. - Lesson Nr. 2: Forget buying scarves and hats. For true quality (i.e. warm) stuff, the only option is buying decent, thick wool and DIY (knit, crochet). What is available in the shops is decorative but not suitable for European winters.
- Lesson Nr. 3: In the UK at least, it’s difficult to find something nice (I’m only talking design here) if you are smaller than size 10 (UK, 38 EU).
Again, this applies as a consequence also for what is available in charity shops. - Lesson Nr. 4: Considering that sales prices are consistently 30% off the original price, and that shops count on good sales season performances – the only conclusion is that they are still profitable at 30% lower prices.
This is of course due to the rather high margin they habitually slap onto the products.
But it also means that retail selling is still profitable even if your own margin is less then the factor 3 that is normally added on top of the cost price. - Lesson Nr. 5: People buy stuff they don’t need because it’s ‘cheaper than usually’. This is a rather sad insight, but in the end that’s what consumerist culture is all about.
- Lesson Nr. 6: In general, what is available during the sales period are the low quality left overs. Good quality items sell even if not price reduced.
- Lesson Nr. 7: Planned overproduction is what the game is all about. What a terrible waste of resources!
- Lesson Nr. 8: ‘Less Is More’ & ‘Quality Not Quantity’ may be popular sayings – but at least as far as sales is concerned, no one seems to care much. Quality certainly is a no-topic.
- Lesson Nr. 9: Overall quality of the available goods – apparel is what I’m talking about – is low. Make-Do-And-Mend is hardly a prospect at all, even if you try to plan for it.
- Lesson Nr. 10: People get aggressive for no good reason while shopping in sales. It’s appalling. As if their life depend on a cheap piece of cloth.
