Globalized Pants

So I recently replaced two pairs of work pants. The two new additions are both 100 percent cotton flat front 'chino' style pants from two different major retailers. They're finished nicely and are nearly indistinguishable in build quality.

One stated its construction as: fabric made in Italy, assembled in China.

The other stated its provenance as: Made in Bahrain.

Now, neither Bahrain or Italy has a statistically significant cotton industry: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/agr_cot_pro-agriculture-cotton-production

So statistically, the cotton that the pants were made out of probably came from China, the US or India.

In the first case, the cotton was shipped halfway around the globe from any of the top three producing countries to Italy, then back around to the other side of the globe as fabric to be made in to pants in China, then once more around to the US for retail sale.

In the second, assuming the fabric was also woven in Bahrain, the cotton potentially did not even have to make one complete trip around the world, if it was originally grown in India or China. Though it could have circled the globe from US to Bahrain and back to the US as clothes as well.

It would be interesting to know what it cost to make each pair of pants, from the growing of cotton to the fabric to the sewing to the transportation around the world.

The retail price for each was about the same - the first was $98 (Brooks Brothers), the second was $89 (Banana Republic). Given the logistics necessary for the pants to exist, I can believe those numbers.

However, the actual purchase price for each pair was $39.20 and $14.99 respectively.

I'd imagine it is either a marvel of global supply chain management or a money-losing proposition for the company to sell pants at that price.

The final purchase prices along with their manufacturing path also bring up the question of what is a premium brand, but that may be for another time.

Good link.

http://unreasonablefaith.com/2009/01/21/how-to-stump-anti-abortionists-with-one-question/

That is all for now.

hm - imagine that

Apparently I wear pants with a 36" waist now. First time in a decade. This is after Christmas even.

Good choice

Local NPR story on the Israel offensive against Hamas ended with the transition music of (Thievery Corporation) Marching the Hate Machines Into The Sun...

Not sure what percentage of the NPR audience would recognize that track.

Holidays/Travels

It was good to see all the friends and family over the holidays, but I'm glad to be back. After a week of driving everywhere and drinking in the humidity, it was refreshing to wake up to a cool cloudy day, throw on a wool coat and hat in case of rain, and walk. The route was typical - market to get fruit and vegetables for the early part of the week, park to gaze at the snowy mountains across the sound, home for lunch... then wander over to the downtown mall area and watch people rush the end of year sales. (That and I'm still on a casual search for a 3 button tweed jacket in a primarily grey hue)

While in NC Allison asked about nostalgia - if there were any places that I missed. This was in Raleigh, so that was pretty simple - no. We went to the usual places - NeoMonde, O'Malleys, so on, but that's because they're good rather than there being any specific memories associated with them. This isn't new, and it is how I've thought since probably grade school, but I perpetually live in the future - nearly everything I do in the present is merely working toward a better life later.

I started to see this trend about my last year in Raleigh... and started getting away from the computers/books weekend mornings to walk. Living on Hillsboro St made this feasible... walked the neighborhood streets to see normal families live normal weekend lives... walked downtown to the small farmers market... walked through parks and past ongoing baseball/soccer games... it seemed a way to get some sense of social normalcy after a decade of living in textbooks and computer based jobs. Looking back... the times spent wandering around on a not-yet-sweltering-hot spring/summer/fall morning were perhaps what I appreciated most during my time there.

This trend continued after the move back Charlotte and was successful for a while, but after the first year or so the free time graph went to zero and stayed there. Moving to the house didn't help matters, since it required its own share of time in addition to work and school... so I left that life.

It may be a side effect of the technology driven life I've chosen, but for an hour a day, and many a weekend morning, it is important to see the world at walking pace.