Yes, I'm guilty

Yes. I love to shop at thift shops. Yes, I resell some of the items that I buy. The mantra, "reduce, reuse, recycle," means more to me than just jumping up and down on the kitty litter boxes in order to take them to the 'convenience center' with a clear conscious. My philosophy is this: for every item that I resell, that's an item that's being reused and replaces an item that would be bought new off the shelf. I scour the racks looking for American-made goods and feel that for every American-made item that finds a new life, that's one less cheap Chinese item to clog the national closet. For those who know me, they know that I have my own personal boycott against Chinese-made goods. I've passed up some wonderful items because of its place of origin. My conscience is clear and I give myself a mental pat on the back when I do so. Do most people feel this way? I don't know; I can only speak for myself, but my love of country contributes to this feeling and this action.


Ours is also a label-obsessed nation....and brand names sell. I know...I have my own favorites and I can't pass up a pair of Enzo Angiolini 'Liberty' flats...even those that don't fit me! Guess what? I resell them :). Would you like to know how many pairs I personally have? That I've found at Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.? Let's see: there's the lime green pair; two pink pairs; the navy pair with red plaid vamp; the brown pair with brass studs; the black patent pair; the two ivory pairs; the other blue pair, and that's just off the top of my head. Liberty flats, for those who know fashion, are kind of stuffy and nontrendy. I've been buying the same style of shoe for ohhhhhhhhh, at least 15 years. I like them. They're kind of dorky, and scream "Matron!", but I love'm and you just wouldn't believe how many pairs I find! But I digress.


What I want to address is the troubling observation I recently made. Labels that have been cut out of clothes. Why would one do this? If one makes a donation to a charity shop or thrift shop, why would one care to cut labels from garments? Is it a hateful little idea that to do that means that it can't be resold? Or do they think that the peasantry who will shop for these items won't care that the label is removed? Even more annoying than the brand label being cut out, is the size, material content, and care label being removed too. All I want to know is why? I want that woman who did that to tell me why she did it. The only reason I can think of is contempt. Contempt for those who will ultimately buy those garments.