Posted on 01/06/2011 8:26:46 PM PST by FromLori
Anyone who has been out holiday shopping knows there are some great deals on clothing.
“I’m amazed at the sales right now,” one enthusiastic shopper said.
However, experts say once the holidays are over, so are the deals.
The problem is the price of cotton. Bad weather last year in India, Pakistan and China destroyed thousands of acres of cotton fields which slashed the global cotton supply. “Cotton is up 70 percent in the last year, which is phenomenal,” explained Babson College Professor Peter Cohan.
Cotton is a staple in the fashion industry. Think about it, jeans, T-shirts and many sweaters are made of cotton. According to Cohan, many manufacturers will have no choice but to pass that extra cost on to consumers.
“I think they’re all going to raise their prices in the spring, because that’s when China expects to raise their prices at least an additional 30 percent,” Cohan said. Some stores will be reluctant to significantly raise prices because they won’t want to lose customers. But, chances are you’ll notice a difference in a lot of the clothes you buy.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburgh.cbslocal.com ...
You may want to reconsider the underwear and shoes part.
I’ve had pretty good luck finding some good brand-name dress and casual shoes at some of the bigger thrift stores. You have to do some looking and trying on but you can often find some good shoes that are not too worn-out that only need a little polishing. If the shoe fits...
I find if you want really good T-shirts (cheap or otherwise) get ‘em used. The ones you find on the thrift rack have survived a process of elimination and tend to be of the well-made variety. Just pick out the ones that fit that have a minimum of obnoxious logos and they’ll last you a good long time.
I’ve been looking for those legendary, oft-referenced boxer shorts bearing the name of “W.J. Clinton” for years but have had no luck as of yet.
“The last Census of Agriculture noted there are 1,393 cotton farms, with average acreage of 500 acres each.
That’s five to eight percent of total U.S. cotton plantings, but about 10 to 14 percent of total U.S. yearly production, due to California’s phenomenally high yields.
California is frequently the second highest producing state in the U.S., behind Texas. But California typically outshines the rest of the country—indeed, the world—with its impressive yields. Yield of 1,200 to 1,300 pounds per acre is not uncommon, compared to the average U.S. yield of 615 pounds.
Where does it happen?
California’s cotton is produced primarily in seven counties that make up the San Joaquin Valley, and three—Fresno, Kings, and Kern—account for most of that.”
http://www.calcot.com/ourcotton.asp?post=cavar&flag=ourcotton
IMO, the rising price of cotton can be blamed on the politicians who shut off the water to California’s Central Valley.
We are going to feel the effects all over the country in the form of rising prices for food and clothing.
Thank goodness we can still grow our own food.
For now.
If there were a snake skin shortage it would be important.
We have a new cotton storage warehouse in town that I was told is full to capacity. (72,000 bales)
Most of the local growers contracted the cotton at $.80 per pound, price was at $1.50 per pound for a while and near $1.30 now.
so the cotton in a men’s shirt
costs 84 cents
..........
if you can’t afford that,
perhaps people should wear grass or leaves
Please don’t tell me we are making cotton into fuel now also.
What a comfy world that would be...
that would be better than exporting it
Luckily, there’s not.
;]
Well Lori, We take cotton t-shirts and hoodies and tie dye them. We have been in the business for many, many years—yeah I listen to the Grateful Dead too. Anyway, we have been seeing the effects of pricing on wholesale cotton products. I don’t know what we will do later this spring. As it is, prices have been rising 10-20 percent since last spring and are expected to increase even more. We really can’t raise prices, so its called margin compression. If things don’t improve, I will be left to be a greeter at Wal Mart—but frankly I don’t have the temperament to work for someone else.
I've bought all three of those at thrift stores :) I buy new clothes too, but for baby/kid clothes and school uniform type stuff, thrift is great.
More failure from the Commie Free Trader crowd. The US never faced a cotton shortage before the Commie Free Traders started the Free Trade nonsense....the US was the top producer of cotton in the world....and made most of our clothing and textiles
Value added by manufacturing in 2009 was $1.584 trillion.
So manufacturing is 10% of the total GDP.
About 11.2% in 2009.
So compared to Argentina, their manufacturing is almost twice ours as a % GDP:
Argentina Manufacturing; value added (% of GDP) in Argentina 21.3
SO we are below third world status...
Thank you Free Trade™, what a wonderful 20 years its been!
Yes.
SO we are below third world status...
If you think our $14 trillion GDP versus Argentina's $328 billion GDP means we're below third world status or our GDP per capita of $37,867 versus Argentina's GDP per capita of $9,894 means we're below third world status, your weak education may be to blame.
Nothing compared to what it used to be
Reminiscences Of An American Industrial Nation - How In A Few Short Years America Lost Its Manufacturing Sector
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/reminiscences-american-industrial-nation
When we go back to your ideal world, what percentage of our GDP will be manufacturing?
Damn, now I have a taste for Sal & Carvao's. (Brazilian, but close enough).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.