What has happened to the textile industry in this country is a crime. The market is all cheap polyester crap made in China now. Gone are the beautiful cottons, linens, wools, dyes and fabrics made in America and Europe.
This is my complaint. North Carolina used to have some of the most wonderful fabric stores and the US produced such nice fabric. The garbage that is being sold today is so poor in quality that I am reduced to going to thrift stores, flea markets and yard sales to find cotton fabric which is worth anything.
And the quality of the fabric from name brand clothing items will not withstand wear or cleaning beyond a couple of times.
Makes you laugh to see the UGG boots of Australia are made in China!!
I live near "The Sock Capital of the World"... not but a few companies left in town now and they are down to just a skeleton crew. Moved to South America most of it to compete with China.
They had removed the production step of sewing the toe (Complett machines and Turn Sew Turn machines) to machines that sewed the toe in while knitting it. That helped for a while, but only about 5 years.
Town is now pushing 20% unemployment... Free trade ain't fair trade.
BTW... there was not one union job in town, it wasn’t the union’s fault the jobs left.