Peak middle class marketing

[kindlypudding]

I am in this demographic, but it fucking irritates me.
I suppose it could be called consumer class appropriation, how so many goods are aimed at the MC with taglines including factory workers, craftsmen, etc.

I look at a woolly hat, typical shop that I like and have purchased from, and there's a foot long description about the wool process. OK, we are the main target for ethical, climate related messaging, but it's beginning to feel cheap, worn out and fucking patronising.

Here's one from Navy&Grey -
"The wool arrives in Scotland by boat where it is spun and dyed on the banks of Loch Leven in Kinross by Todd & Duncan, one of the finest Scottish Mills which has been spinning yarn for 150+ years.
85% of the dyes used by Todd & Duncan are organic and the water used for washing and dyeing the wool is cleaned and purified before returning to Loch Leven to be used again".

And here's another from Toast -
"Established in 2009, Bleu de Chauffe, the name taken from French workwear jackets worn by 19th century factory workers..."

You could almost say it is a fetishisation of the working class, or at least pre war. It supposes I am thick headed, desperate to show my privileged, ethical plumes. I chose the bag quoted above because I love it, it has served me well and the softness of the strap reminds me of my old horse's reins long ago. This squarely places me within the target market, and whilst a lot of these products are beautiful, the cloying, oozingly false pretensions about the environment leave me cynical.
It's like when you read a Guardian article about capitalism and clothes, and all the commenters claim to only ever buy second hand and patch up their own repairs. This is great, but along come san actual poor person who has been doing that anyway for years. It feels like just another road to excessive consumption, but with a more insidious intent.

Like Mr. Peterman in Seinfeld

I’m confused - what is a “fulla”?!

Why are they important wool from Saffas? All the sheep here! Including 20lbs just from wee Fiona no longer the 'lonliest sheep in the world' a Nice wee heartening read for anyone like me awake at daft o'clock! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-67332287.amp

“Fella” with an accent ..(?)

@Flickersy Yes, yes, yes!!!!! Pants are things we wear to keep our bums warm (not so much with a thong, granted, but who wears those?!!)

We are NOT american!

@isittimetoflounceyet Does Suella know there are sheep illegally entering Scotland by boat??!!

It's the clothing equivalent of the Hovis advert!

I'm hoping the boat bringing the wool to Scotland is a rowing boat, crewed entirely by volunteers.

Fulla probably is fella (man, bloke, chap -take your pick). Sounds antipodean

I agree. I like it. Provenance isn’t pathological, is it? I like it around food items in particular. If I buy a lovely cheese I like to know that it was aged in a cave with monks dutifully fretting over it.

Shopping is dull so adding a little backstory or history to an item (even if it is wanky) adds interest and some level of evocative attention to the item. Poor wee immigrant sheep.

I always get the rage when I read 'hand cut chips'. 😂

I honestly don't care if my chunks of potato were cut by a machine or by a human.

The wool arrives in Scotland by boat

We import cheap fleece to maximise profit. Don't ask about the environmental impact.

where it is spun and dyed on the banks of Loch Leven in Kinross by Todd & Duncan, one of the finest Scottish Mills which has been spinning yarn for 150+ years.

Still more profitable than paying for fleeces from Scotland, the UK, the British Isles, Europe, Scandinavia or anywhere in between.

85% of the dyes used by Todd & Duncan are organic

15% aren't. We won't mention that this doesn't stop 100% of dyes and fixatives being dangerous chemicals. Don't ask for the COSHH documents. Not going to tell you if those organic ones are actually used on this range, either. They use them somewhere in the factory, though.

and the water used for washing and dyeing the wool is cleaned and purified before returning to Loch Leven to be used again

Uhhhh. Picture a bunch of cheerful, red cheeked, flame haired and tartan clad washerwomen. Honest. And let's not mention the toxicity of dyes to marine life that makes the factory have to meet legislation.

Oh, and where is it knitted into a hat?

Pretentious wankers. Them for advertising like that, others for falling for it.

I quite like the back story stuff. I prefer to know my (expensive) jumper has been manufactured in the uk, with local people, local craft, local stuff etc. rather than bought of Ali express and put in to a boutique for 10x the cost

Plus - here we are talking about it. So they’re doing something right.

I always feel that this kind of wittering comes from people called Justin and Tamara and aim it at people with more money than sense who believe that because it's possibly made in the UK it's better quality ( I'm looking at you Finisterre).

@kindlypudding I hear you. I have had similar thoughts. Lots of apparent desire to be connected with the source of things but only a heavily sanitised version. It's like they Beatrix Pottered the humans. I could live with this but it then ends up with them holding opposing views about things like killing animals ("Oh, no! How could you send a lovely sheep to slaughter?") A resistance to the economic realities of all these things.

Oh get over yourself. You know what was meant.

I’m not sure I agree it’s fetishising poverty, but it is fetishising heritage, arts and crafts style production. And the message is definitely one of ‘you clever people, who have £200 to spend on a wool knit, are superior in every way to the Primark-wearing proles’.

Where did anybody get the idea they're handmade with care? There's absolutely nothing about that - it's only referring to the company that deals with the spinning and dyeing part of the process in general terms.

Don’t worry about the sheep. Only their woolly coats are immigrants. Their owners are safely munching grass alongside the elephants.

It is peak wankery, yes.

I just hope the same people are actually shopping at their local greengrocers, butchers, hardware shop, bakery etc, rather than getting in their Land Rovers once a week to go to Tesco.

Fine if you want to go into a romantic reverie about wizened old artisans spinning wool on a remote Scottish isle, yeah whatever. But could you also please support the local people grafting to keep independent business alive.

Wtaf?

Thoroughly middle class thread with fancy words and trenchant observations, and I'm here for every word of it.

“Lovingly sewn together by our authentically enslaved children who are so passionate about our clothes that they sleep on the floor under their workstations.”

If I buy a lovely cheese I like to know that it was aged in a cave with monks dutifully fretting over it.

😂

Yes, Primark provenance has a reputation. That doesn’t mean that the others are any better. Just have more skilled copy writers and more effective PR.