The Closet Price Tag | Calvin Klein sweater $100
I’m starting a new self-observing shopping section on this blog, to keep track of my spendings on the clothes that I buy. Starting with the first official purchase of the year, I’d like to know how long garmens will last considering of my somewhat rough handling of them. I call it “The Closet Price Tag” and made a special page for it to give a summary of my purchases.
The first purchase of the year goes to the Calvin Klein’s cable knit sweater. Bought on sale for $100 at the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. 80% lambswool and 20% cashmere. Made in China. Dry Clean only.
Only A Handful of Stores
It’s perhaps the first and only Calvin Klein store I’ve ever seen or been to, as the brand has been out of the limelight for a while, it’s only recently re-emerging and repositioning itself in the market. Considering its previous success with its perfume and jeans line in the 1980s and 1990s, I’m surprised that CK had never officially opened any stand alone retail stores. As of late, since Francisco Costa, who had taken over as head designer for the brand, I’ve come to really appreciate the minimalistic look with luxurious fabrics on the runway. I’ve heard little about their bridge collections, so I was pleased to visit the Calvin Klein store in Vegas.
According to Wikipedia, the following brand names are as followed:
- Calvin Klein Collection (black label, top-end designer line)
- ck Calvin Klein (grey label, recently repositioned as bridge collection line)
- Calvin Klein (white label, better sportswear line)
- Calvin Klein Sport (sports version of the white label line for Macy’s)
- Calvin Klein Jeans (denimwear line)
- Calvin Klein Home (high end bedding, towel, bath rug and accessory collections)
- Calvin Klein Golf (launched in late 2007)
- Calvin Klein Underwear (underwear collections)
I have yet to see or notice an actual Calvin Klein Collection piece in the higher end department stores, it would be great to see anything up close and personal for judgement.
The store I’ve been to is clearly Calvin Klein (white label line), offering a nice collection of gray toned apparels in silks, cashmere and wool blends. The silk dresses were of nice prints, however upon touching them, they were unlined and had a familiar H&M quality to them. Prices are accessible like Banana Republic, around $50 to $500.
The cable knit sweater I bought was on sale, if you can call it that, for $100. I’ve been searching for a nice warm cable knit sweater, but can’t seem to find any in Montreal’s bargain hunting grounds. No doubt the Calvin Klein label doesn’t seem to make an appearance in our local luxury stores. It is indeed a warm sweater, however it has a tendency to leave pieces of itself on darker clothing. I had reservations about the Made in China label. An indication that it was made for cheap but with very skilled hands (or machinery). The debate comes down to: which of the evils do you choose? Have those dollars spent to support the overworked laborers in China so they can feed themselves of what little they can save? Or, not pay for the sweater and thinking of the risk that that factory may not exist in a year or so?
The purchase itself may seem like such an easy thing to do, however, our little action of buying somehow goes down much deeper to the person on the other side of the world. It’s hard to decide. Keep supporting Chinese manufacturers to feed those that need work (despite them being overworked) or not support them and take away their hard earned money.
In the end I went for the purchase. I don’t know if my purchase will help keep Chinese people their jobs or not, I don’t know if the manufacturers in Italy or Scotland should be better off with my money, eventhough on a certain standpoint, Chinese people need it much more than Europeans do. I’d like to think I’m helping the Chinese, but who can really say? This is what I wish I knew more about the manufacturing industry…where does your dollar really go?
Total spent for 2009 closet: $100.00
Las Vegas: Never Trust The Weather Channel
Having heard news that there were chances of thunderstorm in Las Vegas, I was prepared to spend my stay in dreary rainy weather. But no. What kind of meteorologist says that it’ll rain…in the desert. Take no heed to anyone who says it’ll rain in Las Vegas. Today I baked and toasted under the hot desert heat like an omelette on a grill.
I arrived yesterday to our modest but rather very large hotel 15 mins off the strip at South Point Hotel Casino & Spa. The rooms are large and comfortable, very clean, huge plasma screen and a great view over the hotel’s pool.
But enough about hotel and comfort talk, let’s talk fashion and shopping in Las Vegas.
As I mentioned in my previous post, Las Vegas is building CityCenter on the Vegas Strip right next to the Bellagio Hotel. It’s slated to open in 2009 and construction has already been underway and had progressed much faster than I had anticipated. This patch of land already has the infrastructure to a near completion, a few of the buildings are already halfway through putting on the glistening silvery windows. CityCenter will definitely stand out in the Strip as I noticed many other buildings may be flashy with lights, but many are covered in gold mirror like windows. CityCenter will be all silver mirrored.
