Dickies Store

I bought a couple of pairs of shorts and used them turn and turn about all summer for two summers, so far. They have been far superior to pairs costing twice as much. They are a highly recommended supplier. The returns system works well when items did not fit the intended wearer- they were a gamble as the person has size issues.

The returned items were not for me but as workwear for my elder daughter who is not the tallest item in the bus. She weighed about 3lbs when she was born and though she weighs a bit more now, her daughter is the smallest child in her class. The son, our GS is not yet 8 months old but probably more than half her weight and 2/3rds his sister’s height. He scars the husky rigid now he is crawling. The husky likes him and they nuzzle up to each other, but when he takes off across the floor she retires to her cave under the stairs.

Just before Christmas I got another load of polo shirts at a fiver a piece.

I got caught in a heavy shower today, the Industry300 Winter Jacket proved it’s totally waterproof. Trousers looked (and felt) like I’d jumped in a swimming pool by the time I got home though.

I have a dickies coat, love it. It must ne get om to ten years old. It now lives I’m my boot and is used for if I get caught short dog walking/breakdown jacket.

It was £40 from my local builder’s yard, was working on my roof at the time, and needed a cheap coat, and have luck would have it, is actually in the style of what became fashionable about 2 to 3 years after I got it. I have many far more expensive coats but it fits great, is warm and waterproof to this day. Never been treated either.

I also had a pair of dickies jean/trousers in the late 90s early 2000s back then they were quite expensive, and I never liked them but needed a pair of trousers to got out in an emergency. Bought them and a pair timberland just so I could go out for a pint. I think that was before they made a play for the work gear segment in the UK. I could be wrong on that. But them trouser was defo not workmanlike, like the Dickies stuff of a few years later was. Maybe just a different like of stuff they have since stopped selling.

Ah yes Fruit of the Loom, I used to buy their cotton goods when I was overseas back in the 1970s. They were excellent, but over time the quality declined and I thought that they went bust back in the 1980s. Someone said they started to make cheaper stuff in the Far East. If they have regained their quality and name that must be good news.

I got a company logo windcheater back in 2000. The company is no more but apart from a worn lining and a missing zip pull the thing still looks wearable 18 years later. Expecting it to wear out a while back my wife bought me a Berghaus ‘system’ fleece with the removable extra lining.  I did not want to wear it for dog walking, going to the tip or other hacking about activities as long as my old one was ‘good enough’. It is surprising how some things just feel indestructible. Perhaps that is why they tell me a fashion industry was started to persuade people to replace serviceable clothes before they need replacing. It will not catch on (well not with me,) if something fits, well sort of and hangs together, it is good enough for me to wear.

Interesting Bob. I am aware of the shall we say ‘troubles’ of the well intentioned. Several years back child labour rules came in in one country. It appears that the employer(s) in at least one case were trying to do the right thing. Village girls were being recruited and housed in a boarding school, they worked part of the time in a factory, morning and afternoon alternate shifts with school ing on the other half day. Given board a lodging they had few expenses and were kept safe. However the goodie goodie squad came along and said the girls were too young. The factory closed, the girls were sent home and lost their education, the village families lost their cash earner and everyone lost out.

So, I am not automatically against Far East work, what I was commenting on was the drop in quality of Fruit of the Loom back in possibly the 1980s. Steve says they are now good and that band merchandise is now good quality from them. I bought a Beach Boys shirt back in the mid 80s. The cotton was obviously crap, the fabric had gone all sorts of odd colours when I last looked so it was not even good for car wash rags. Cue some disappointment, I had been there on the Mall for Bush’s inauguration party I think, another memory lost.

Getting quality clothes is a real issue, but I am not surprised after my time out in the Far East. The joke went like this, premium quality clothing goes to Japan’s big names, number one quality goes to Japan’s other outlets and the USA. number 2 quality goes to Europe and anyone else who demands quality. When the cleaner clears the floor shove the sweepings in a box marked for the UK, they buy anything as long as the price is low enough.

Japanese baby clothes lasted for months of wear and still looked new, two or three weeks of for UK baby stuff, shirts, baby grows etc. and they look like the aftermath of a months’ party.

It is the fabric quality, not the name that counts, if it feels like a recycled Kleenex tissue in the shop’s shelf, you can bet it will wash and wear (once) like one.  Years ago I shared a flat for a short while with someone whose friend managed a boutique. The friend told him his shop sold fashion not quality so don’t expect it to last a month. My experience of Primark goods is that they are cheap for a reason  as my eldest daughter found out. Some other shops are expensive for no justifiable quality reason. Some goods are less expensive because of the different construction methods used though most people would not see the difference. The retail jungle is very much buyer beware space.

Years ago at SWMBO’s direction we bought an expensive named make microwave it developed major issues with three months. To be fair the makers gave us a full refund after Curries tried to dodge their responsibilities. A Tesco special for well less than a third of the price lasted for years and has only recently been replaced. So pick wisely and the cheap item can work out better. Just don’t tell me the £1,700 (list price) shower door the builder used was better than the £90 replacement I fitted when the first one failed. The first one was the dreadful, bake on flake off white finish. The second was basic anodised aluminium which suffered no ill effect over many years. I suspect that the builder’s choice was affected by some sort of deal they got.