National Campaign to Ban Designer Stiched-On Cloth Labels on Coat/Suit Sleeves

From Diary of a Red-Headed Pharmacist

I apologize for the somewhat long title to this blog post, but it pretty much sums up the whole point of my message today. You see, I want to start a national campaign against designers being able to place a stiched-on cloth label on the sleeves of coats/suits. It has brought extreme heartache to my family, and I know we aren't the only ones...

The heartache story begins Spring Semester 1997 (I think!?!). My brother, Todd (who I hope doesn't hate me for sharing this...but he doesn't really read my blog)!), was beginning his second semester at A&M when he decided to "rush" a prestigious organization. I will let this organization remain anonymous as I truly think it is a great group of Christian men. This organization has members who have gone on to be great Christian leaders, GQ models, and even American Idol contestants. Anyway... back on track... So to try to join this organization you had to be invited to an event at Kyle Field for a time of mingling. Everyone who was anybody knew that you wore the typical dress of the organization to this event which was a navy blazer with khaki pants. Todd went to the mall to purchase this said navy blazer. I am sure he looked totally snazzy in his preppy outfit, and I know that he used wonderful conversation skills at this "mingler." Well...it turned out that he didn't get selected for this very prestigious organization. I truly think it killed me more than it killed him. I think I cried for him on the phone and then I bawled after I finished our phone conversation. I was heartbroken for him...how could they not want my incredibly awesome and cute brother?!?

Let's go a few months down the road when Todd returned home to A-town for the summer. He brought his suave and preppy navy blazer home with him which made my mother cringe the moment she laid eyes on it. THE DESIGNER LABEL WAS STILL STICHED ON THE SLEEVE!!! I think more tears were shed at this point!! Todd had been with these classy college men, and he totally didn't realize the need to remove the designer label from his sleeve. You know...I think they should start teaching this life skill during the senior year of high school. It is very hard for some people to think that the label should be removed since it is such pretty cloth!

So this brings me to an ethical question... I try to picture myself in a real life situation, and I wonder if I would tell a total stranger that the designer stiched-on label was really meant to be removed. Let's picture me riding on the subway to work (it sounds much for glamorous than my normal work transportation of a Honda Accord), and the girl sitting across from me is wearing a new Ralph Lauren black suit with the designer label still very evident on the sleeve, and she looks like she is headed to a job interview. Do I tell her that this label is really meant to be removed? Am I brave enough to embarass her for just a second so that she is not embarassed in front of everyone she meets on her job interview? I sure hope so!

That's why I think that I should start a full blown campaign (bumper stickers, buttons, airplane flying messages) to make Joe Public aware of the fashion faux pas that can occur with designer cloth labels left on sleeves! Maybe I can prevent a lot of heartache, and maybe that girl that I informed on the subway about her fashion faux pas will go on to become the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company or something!!