RantAboutStuff

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/news/cheap-cheerful-and-ethical-primark-says-it-can-be-done-1639764.html

You may have heard the news that Primark has recently employed its first 'Ethical Trading Director' in a desperate attempt to retain customers after they discovered their favourite shop was using sweatshop labour. Primark was associated with child labour - made goods, and in 2005 was said to be the least ethical of popular clothing shops in the UK. Were people really that stupid to believe that they could get a pair of jeans for under £5, no strings attached? Or could it be said that the larger percentage of Primark lovers really couldn't care less?

     This leads onto the topic of disposable clothes. Fashions are changing so quickly that a fashionable top could barely last one week before going out of date. People are buying poor quality, cheap clothes, and throwing them away after wearing them once or twice. And what is the point of fashion anyway?

     I remember a book I read as a young child: The Sneetches by Dr Seuss. At the time it seemed an absolutely bizarre story, about these creatures, some with stars on their bellies, some without. The ones with 'stars upon thars' thought they were superior, and isolated the others. So along came a monkey called Sylvester McMonkey McBean with a machine giving them stars so they could all be the same. Then when the original star-bellied sneetches found out, they used his machine to get rid of their stars, but the others followed until they all ended mixed up, and McBean drove away with a load of their cash.

     Now this strange fable does actually have a message. Everybody tries to copy the popular fashion, spending their salaries on clothes, make-up and accessories. Most of us can admit to enjoying a bit of shopping now and then, but sometimes it can get a bit OTT, and ultimately, the only people who benefit are McBean-type businessmen who happily rake in the money, thanks to idiotic 'fashionistas' and underpaid third-world workers.

     But Primark was the worst shop for human rights in 2005, so how about now? Well, it's about in the middle, so what about the other shops? Yes, it's not just Primark, but other retailers too. Retailers who will charge £100 for the same pair of jeans as Primark, call it designer, and get away with it.

   So who can we trust???