Krucoff's Data Dump: Mail Order Fashionistas
In today s Data Dump: you might be a stunning fashionista, but are you helping America? No, you might be helping China! And, we hate China! But we like pretty clothes! Gah, we re so conflicted. More after the jump.
It's a shock, but here's the truth: America takes more than it gives, especially when it comes to styling threads. Hey, just like our drug import/export ratio!
The U.S. is the biggest apparel importer — but just cracks the top 10 of exporters. That's right: the clothes we make aren't hot enough for other countries! We're looking at you, Calvin Klein. Hopefully President Bush can make up for this huge trade deficit by mandating the fine ladies of Texas to produce more sequin dresses. As indicated below, we're getting our fashionable asses kicked by Turkey. (Click for full version.)
And because we all like bright colors, here's the requisite Nexis-based chart to put it all in perspective: Tracking the usage of the words Sweatshop and Fashion in the media over the last 20 years. That's weird! The terms "sweatshop" and "fashion" appear more than 25 times as frequently as they did in 1983. (These numbers are very real, naturally, just like Donna Karan s profits. Click for full view.)
