The Bath Crafting Cranny

Another yarn shop in Bath!

It's on the corner of Quiet Street and Queen Square in Bath. They sell Italian wools and also do clothing alterations; the owner, Heidi, is a weaver (Wendy tells me).

It's like buses, none will come for ages...then you get two at once! ;-)

Fashion ethics

There's been some press about a recent Dispatches programme (available through 4oD until 08/12/10).

Dispatches investigates the working conditions of clothing manufacturing units in the UK. With British consumers keen to buy the latest designer looks at cheap prices, this film exposes the real human cost behind high street fashion.

Over three months, secret filming is carried out inside a number of textiles factories and suppliers and the footage shows the poor treatment and illegally low pay of workers as they make clothes destined for major fashion retailers.

The working conditions are dangerous, poorly ventilated, dirty and cramped, and workers are paid as low as under half the minimum wage.

The film also reveals the high street brands whose clothes are being made by these workers.

Dispatches exposes shocking practices, more commonly associated with sweatshops in the developing world, but existing right here in modern Britain.

Of course, it's important to take these things with a pinch of salt, as exposés aren't known for their balanced views, but it does throw up some important points. The most shocking of which is that pay-slips can say £5.73/hr (min. legal wage) when the employee is only receiving £2.5/hr.

Certainly I know that that some jobs (fruit-pickers, etc.) can pay less that the minimum wage once training is over as the employees are paid per item (with the understanding that if the employee is working efficiently, then they will make the min. wage; I heard about this on Farming Today over the summer).

But I'm not sure how an employer can issue a formal pay-slip different to the amount that they pay - which is what seems to happen in these clothes units. And the other situation, of a cash-in-hand payment like the reporter got, is hugely liable to exploitation.

I suppose it just highlights that, no matter what protective legislations are in place, people will always be exploited when thay are desperate for money. It's certainly not a cut-and-dried issue (will the workers of the sweatshop be forced to leave now it's been exposed and find work in even worse conditions?) and I don't like the line forced by Tazeen that cheap clothes creates inethical practice. Certainly we'd be naive to assume that the higher-end clothes shops don't have this: they are profit-based companies, after all.

High-street fashion companies do have a responsibility to investigate thoroughly those suppliers that they use and I hope they chose them with more care in future.

If you'd like more information about how you can help, I recommend reading Labour behind the Label's website. A fascinating read from an active and useful group...

And, while on this subject, I'd highly recommend a book I read recently: Through the Eye of a Needle. It's a beautifully-written book, both poignant and funny, and hugely thought-provoking. I'll write more up about this later (my copy's with a friend - it's a book to be lent to everyone you know).

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Postscript: More in the press today:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/nov/21/monsoon-child-labour-india

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/nov/21/monsoon-supply-chain-retail-comment

Christmas Craft Fair: St. Matthew's Hall, 13 Nov

Lagerfeld

Lovely wee interview with Karl Lagerfeld on the Today programme - fashion is often more interesting in times of economic weakness. (Guess we shouldn't wish a further economic slump...?)

Turn back time: dressmaker

I've yet to watch this - but it promises to be great viewing...I'll write up notes here when I've seen it! :)

Bath Stitch'n'Bitch meetings

The knitting group in Bath meets in the Crystal Palace Tavern (Bath BA1 1NW) at 19.00 on Tuesdays. All abilities are very welcome!

 

If you have any queries - please email me...

There is limited on-street parking around the shops (click on the above photo, right) and nearby car parks on Manvers Street and Avon Street. The nearest train station is Bath Spa and there are several Park and Ride systems in operation in Bath.

 

 

SnB meeting info

I'm afraid there a little bad news: after a lull in attendance to the Sunday knit group we have decided to gently draw the curtains on this group. We may officially restart it at a later date, and there will almost certainly be unofficial Sunday knit clubs - but officially closing it seems the easiest thing to do for now, in order to prevent new knitters turning up when no core members can make it. Please get in touch if you would like to come along on a Sunday and I can spread the word and see if any other knitters are keen for an unofficial knit!

But the *good* news is that the Tuesday group has been growing! :)

So we have decided to tentatively roll it out to every Tuesday rather than just the 1st and 3rd of the month. We'll see how this goes! If there's a big enough core group established over the next few weeks, then we will keep this change to our meeting dates in the new year...watch this space!

Jennie the potter

 
Delighted to see that Jennie the Potter's work is thriving and one of her sheepy mugs was featured in Rhinebeck!

I bought some from her some 3 years back and they make me smile every day :-)

Textile & Fashion Museum: Horrockses Fashion EXPO

When we were last in London I pootled along to the Fashion and Texile Museum's 'Horrockses Fashions' expo. Horrockses Fashions Limited was the manufacturer of one of the most well-respected, ready-to-wear labels of the 1940/1950s and, with their dresses often costing a month's salary back then, were extremely coveted.

As some of you may have picked up, I ♥ the 1950s with a passion. The boldness of the prints, the fullness of the skirts - aaah, beautiful! What's more, the Horrockses dresses were produced at Ivy Mill, in Failsworth, only a mile or so from where my mum grew up and where I lived when I was wee - so I felt even more of a connection to this expo for that reason...

Here are some of my favourite pieces (click on pics to enlarge). But there's plenty more to see, if you have time to pop along to the FTL itself.

This was designed by wonderful Ursula Hertz in the 1950s – it is unusual as it is printed across the width of the fabric and was particularly effective when styled as a skirt:

 

Dress design by Pat Albeck based on costumes from the opera La Traviata:

 
The designs in this pattern book were produced by various printers for Horrockses Fashions produced at Ivy Mill, Manchester. Printers, designers and studios are indicated as well as the printing technique used:

 
Unpicked skirt in a design of newspaper headers and magazine images (designed by Ursula Hertz). The design is printed lengthways on the fabric, which means the skirt only has one seam (almost 5 yds of fabric make up the skirt’s width!!):

 
Strapless sundress and bolero jackets in cotton with a repeating pattern of food and drink (from 1952; food rationing remained in place in the UK until 1954):