The Good Old Days...

I happen-ed to be in the local Value Village when I came across this vest. It still has the tags on it.

This item is from more than a decade ago. Actually, more than fifteen years ago. How do I know? A vest just like this one was once part of my wardrobe. And I have a picture with it on, holding my then-baby-nephew at the hospital. The only reason that I no longer have it is because I outgrew it gained some weight. But I came across it hanging on the rack packed in between layers of cheaply made rejects.

Oh the contrast! You won't find quality pieces like this in the stores now-a-days. The vest is completed lined. It has front and back facings and fabric covered buttons. And are you sitting down? The front of the vest has an interlining. This vest is not a designer piece. And the best part of this garment when I owned one just like this is that the fabric never pilled--never.

This vest was a piece from The Work Connection line carried by EATON'S back-in-the-day. I still to this day mourn the loss of Eaton's from the Canadian retail landscape.

Retail has changed over the years since Eaton's demise. Our landscape has become polluted with low-end retailers offering low prices. It sounds good at the surface but for lower prices you'll have to sacrifice something. You never get something for nothing.

Millions of jobs in North America were traded off and shipped overseas in a plan to exploit cheap labour. In returned they shipped back poorly made clothing from even less impressive fabrics. Many styles that come back are less than imaginative. And there you have another reason why I sew.

But when I came across this vest with the tags still on, I had to pick it up. It was mostly a nostalgic purchase. And it fits. I plan to proudly wear it as a tribute to when clothes were well-made in Canada and as a reminder to never take short cuts in my sewing.

Happy Sewing!