Notes On Things I Think About

First, I’d like to apologize for not posting a new blog last Saturday. A few years ago, I moved to the beautiful state of Texas. Last week an Arctic front swept down on us, bringing snow, ice and all-time record low temperatures. It was colder in Dallas and Houston than it was in Alaska. It stalled over us for more than a week.

Texas is a warm weather state. Our internet provider’s equipment was simply not up to the task and the internet went down all over the area. At that, I was lucky. My electricity and other utilities stayed on. But it was much worse for so many others. Millions of people shivered in darkness and freezing cold when they lost electricity, natural gas and even water. I grieve for them and feel unbelievably fortunate.

And now to the “Notes” I promised last week.

I’ll begin with a short note on acrylic nails.

I have something of a grievance against acrylic nails. They were first introduced in the mid-’70’s. A significant number of that generation of women ruined their nails by using them steadily for long periods. As a result, they went out of favor for more than 10 years. Then they cycled back in and went out again for the same reason. Now they’re back.

I’m not going to say I’ve never used them. I actually have had them applied a couple of times, but they’re expensive and a nuisance to maintain. Since I actually have good nails, I stopped.

Then I started seeing the havoc they wreaked on the nails of women I knew who’d had them applied for several years or more. They had damaged their nail beds. The result was deep ridges, disfigured cuticles and worst of all, cupped nails that curled radically downward or twisted or both. All ugly and, as far as I know, irreversible.

Need I say that if you asked me, I’d urge you to stop applying them and If you’re thinking about starting to use them - please don’t.

My next note is on one of my favorite gripes— the way many feminists - and I am an adamant feminist - disparage traditional womanly skills and interests. 

Knitting, crocheting, quilting and home sewing, among many other things, are disparaged as somehow associated with a lack of taste and sophistication -  even impoverishment and deprivation. 

It seems to me that such women are snobs who have been captured by marketeers. They fail to recognize that these skills have traditionally been women’s art. 

Why? Are we so mentally incompetent that we can’t distinguish between proud traditional feminine skills and being poor, down-trodden and rooster-pecked? 

Are our traditional skills now to be mocked by strident female voices that take up where bullying and dismissive male voices left off?

I don’t understand it, but that leads me to my next note: Learning to sew.

I mentioned this possibility in a previous blog. If you’re going to get a hobby, why not learn to sew? It can be so satisfying to create your own clothing.

I do realize that some home sewn garments can look “home made,” but that’s because many women learned to sew from their mothers or some other family member who learned it from some previous relative. Perhaps none of them had ever learned the fine art of garment construction. Also, as with all things, some people are simply better at certain skills than others.

But If a woman was fortunate enough to have a mother who did know how to sew properly, no one ever knew that she made her own clothes unless she chose to tell them.

Well, my time at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) was not all spent learning to draw stylish sketches. One of the most important aspects of the curriculum was learning to sew.

Now, understand, very few of us who went on to become fashion designers would ever sew for a living. As a matter of fact, since the house I designed for was a union shop, I wasn’t even allowed to touch any of the manufacturing equipment when I visited the factory. One non-union employee actually had a grievance filed against her with the union for just leaning on a cutting table!

But, FIT rightly believes that designers should understand not only how a garment should be made, but how to make it. If I made a dress (which I occasionally do), I guarantee, it would not look “home made.”

And that brings me to my point. These days even “inexpensive” clothing is expensive. So if you went to a community college or university extension program for a semester and learned to sew properly, you could make truly fine garments for yourself in cottons, silks and fine wool for about the same price you’d pay for a polyester garment made in China.

And, if you’re creative, you could add your own touches to the standard patterns you’d be using and make “custom designer clothing.” That sounds to me like a worthwhile hobby.

P.S. You don’t have to tell anybody you made it yourself unless you’re so proud, you just have to brag a little. Otherwise, if someone compliments your dress, you might just smile and say, “It’s custom made.”

This next note is a real grumble. It’s about so-called “Vegan Leather.” I am not a vegan but I do appreciate their position on the ethical treatment of animals. However, I believe that most people who exhibit a warm-hearted approach to animals also carry a protective attitude toward the planet. I do.

This creates conundrums for us all. A simple example: Of course I recycle. But, we’re supposed to rinse out cans and other recyclable containers, like huge milk jugs, before putting them into the recycling bin. But, we’re also supposed to conserve water.

I usually put recyclable containers into the dishwasher with the the dishes from the day, but many times there are large plastic containers and cans that force me to run a second load. That’s at least 3 or 4 gallons of water just to clean the recyclables. Rinsing them by hand is no better. What to do? There doesn’t seem to be an answer.

Vegans face a similar problem with products like so-called “Vegan Leather.” A tiny percentage of vegan leather is made from vegetable sources such as mushrooms (yeah, mushrooms!), but it is terribly expensive and doesn’t wear well. The vast percentage of “vegan leather” is made from polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl plastic (vinyl).

As you are no doubt aware, these products are horrible for the planet. Damn! What to do?

I realize that you’re certainly torn on this matter, but when we’re placed in such a situation, we have to try to choose the lesser of two evils.

As long as there are people who eat meat, there will be animal hides, and bones. In modern times, no ranch-raised animals are ever killed only for their hides. Even fur producers use every scrap of the animal - flesh to carnivorous animal food production and bones, teeth and claws to the manufacturers of such products as bone china and even decorative items that used to be made from ivory.

So the leather is there. It’s only a matter of either using it or discarding it and letting it go to waste.

Although polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl plastic (vinyl) and Poly (methyl methacrylate) (acrylics) are used for all kinds of products, a great percentage goes to clothing, shoes, bags, luggage and the like. And its manufacture and post-manufacture presence is among the greatest threats to the planet. Keep in mind that these products are produced from petroleum and they do not degrade in the environment. They are plastic!

My conclusion is that the lesser evil is to wear the leather. But, whatever you choose to do, don’t allow yourself to be deluded by slick marketing that tries to persuade you that there’s something wholesome about “vegan leather.” It is not wholesome, it is polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl plastic (vinyl) and it is deadly to everything on the planet and all who live on it, including the animals we cherish.

- Gabrielle