Cotton is Cotton, yall.

I was listening to the View this morning---midst all the packing boxes and my entertaining of Little One...
They did a segment on ways to 'save' on clothing costs.
(Hasselbeck, with her glossy stiff lips and $400 shoes had her typical 'I think I smell something foul, here' look on her face...but I digress.)
OK. So the big 'secret' was shopping at TJMaxx and Marshall's...
'These shorts would cost $160.00 in a department store, we got them just for $19.99 at TJMaxx!'
(Big ooo's and ahhh's from the audience...)
Seriously?
Who pays $160 for a pair of shorts?
Maybe it's my way of thinking. (Even if I was swimming in cash, I would not spend that.)
I am a Fashion/Costume Designer by degree/trade.
I have studied textiles, tailoring...I can sew. I know what the cost is to produce a garment vs the mark up from retailers...I can spot a well made garment from a mile away. I can also tell you what the fiber content is by touching the fabric...(yes, I am a 'toucher'.)
Cotton is Cotton, yall.
A $4.00 Tshirt is a $4.00 Tshirt...slap a spiffy label on it and suddenly that T is now $45.00. (my case and point is the whole Abercrombie hype...or whatever your 'label' is. My oldest daughter would save up her babysitting money to buy tissue weight cotton tees...on sale...for $25.00. My 'guestimate' is that shirt cost $2.00 to make---overseas---and the companies are making a killing with the mark up. Even the 'label' is marked up. It is a 3 inch piece of printed ribbon---costing maybe 10 cents...and lest we not forget, the treatment of workers in overseas factories, fair trade, the outsourcing of American textile jobs---but that discussion is for another day.)
I have seen people, first hand, who will wear something that looks like 'poo' on them...and brag '...and it's Armani'...(you still look like 'poo', darlin---just sayin'.)
Granted, I will buy a garment if it is made well, and of good quality fabric (I do believe in 'investment pieces')...but never at full retail prices...
I guess...maybe...my point is...you are what you wear...and I'd rather be 100% cotton and fairly made---and purchased. (wait...that sounded bad! hahaha!)