Labelled for success.
Those who indulge in fashion-based retail therapy – aka clothes shopping – will tell you that there are two types of printed labelling that govern their purchases. Each garment hanging enticingly on the rail carries a paper swing tag and a fabric ticket that is stitched into the neckline or seam of a garment. The all-important swing tag is actually the shopper’s introduction to a garment as it has those two all-important messages: the price and the size. They’re the single biggest reason for a shopper to pick up an item or walk on by. After all, it would be pretty pointless (and depressing) for a larger fashionista to spend hours in a fitting room trying to squeeze herself into a small T-shirt or for someone shopping for a baby gift to buy something that would fit a one-year-old rather than a newborn. These swing tickets are also often used to communicate the brand identity of the garment and to even highlight a special feature that might attract the buyer which is not immediately obvious. Some fashion brands and retail stores (such as Woolworths or Edgars) have actually standardised their swing tags to the point where regular customers know exactly where to find them and where to look for specific information, making their shopping experience quicker and stress-free. Then come the stitched tags which are as good as being part of a garment. These days clothing labels have become synonymous with a brand. What label are you wearing? This has even grown to the point where garment manufacturers actually stitch a label with the brand name on the outside of the garment, a practice that is popular with most brands of jeans, for instance. Fashion houses go to a great deal of trouble and expense to design a brand name and logo. The label in your garment is its identity and, should you enjoy wearing a particular item or like the fit, you’ll go back and look for others with the same label.
On a purely practical note, those labels also tell you how to care for the garment that you’ve just bought. Turn over the label and you’ll find an almost universal care code that will tell you whether or not you can iron your new dress, if it can be tumble-dried or if you should dry clean your jacket. As we all know, if you don’t follow the rules printed on to the label in your garment, it could shrink, fall into holes or, worse still, the colour could run, spoiling both your recent purchase and other items sharing the same wash. Often, these care labels are as important as the swing tag because many consumers decide whether or not to purchase a garment based on whether they are prepared to take the extra time to care for it. As a busy corporate executive, do you have time to hand wash your blouse? Or as a struggling office worker, can you afford expensive dry cleaning? Often, labels will tell you whether the fabric used is cotton, a cotton/polyester blend of even a cotton spandex blend. This is particularly important for those with skin allergies to particular fabrics, especially children. In the hot South African climate, it is also important to choose the right fabrics – and cottons win over nylon every time. Other important information on labels stitched into clothing includes the sizing. After all, it’s impossible to borrow your sister’s evening dress if you can’t make sure it’s the right size, right?