Colleen Taylor

RIP, my unconditional love for 7 for All Mankind jeans. We had a good run.

Poking around some shops yesterday, I looked into buying another pair of Seven jeans. Sevens are definitely pricey (around $165 a pair full-price) but in the past I've always found them to be worth it. The denim is really high quality- thick, soft, really luxurious feeling- the colors are rich, the fit is flattering, and they hold up for years and years.

All the Seven jeans I've owned were made in California. I was under the impression that the primary reason Sevens are so expensive is because they're made here in the US. As you may know, I'm happy to pay a premium for things that are made here.

But the Sevens I saw for sale yesterday felt very different from ones I've seen before-- the material was flimsy and rough, and something about the fit was off. They just seemed cheap. Then I looked at the tag, and cursed out loud.


The Seven jeans at the store (apologies for blurry camera phone photo)

I was really surprised to find that Seven has started making (or "assembling", whatever that means) at least some of their jeans in Mexico. 7 for all Mankind has been in business since 2000; why would they start offshoring to boost profits now?

Well, a quick web search confirmed that Seven has gone the way of Nature's Gate: In mid-2007 the company was acquired by VF Corp., a publicly-traded apparel conglomerate, and cost-cutting changes ensued (stock market shareholders can be a pretty demanding bunch.) Of course, Seven hasn't passed down any cost savings to the customer-- the price tag on this pair still read $165. VF doesn't break out profits brand-by-brand in their earnings reports, but I have to imagine that they really started making a killing, margins-wise, when they shifted Seven's production south of the border. I mean, most Levi's are made in Mexico, and those retail for $50 or less.

Apparently there are still some Seven brand jeans made in California, but they're sold mostly on Seven's website and in the brand's own boutiques-- which makes sense since they don't have to pay any retailer fees there. I guess it's good that some pairs are still being made here, but it's a bummer that I'll have to be a stickler about checking tags going forward.

So the search for ethically-manufactured jeans that I enjoy wearing resumes (sorry, American Apparel, you fit the former requirement but definitely not the latter.) If anyone out there is interested in starting a company and sticking to their original principles, I swear I'll be a loyal customer!

"I've spent a lot of time in Mexico, and in Mexican culture they embrace death," Fonda explains. "On All Saints Day they sit on their ancestors' graves and they drink and they laugh. That's how to do it. To know it's coming, to try to understand. You're shortchanging yourself in life if you don't countenance your mortality."

--Jane Fonda on aging in the November issue of Elle Magazine.

It may be partly that I've got "sexy fill-in-the-blank" fatigue, but I'm starting to think Dia de los Muertos (traditionally celebrated November 1st-2nd) is a much more interesting holiday than Halloween.

Photo credit AlejandroLinaresGarcia

Earlier this month I was in my hometown, finally organizing the stuff remaining in my old bedroom, and found a clipping of a poem I loved but had totally forgotten about. It's fun and somewhat surprising to realize that my teenage self had pretty decent taste in some things (the clothing I found is another story altogether.)

The Teacher
by Billy Collins

There is that part of us that believes
We will never die – otherwise,
How could we watch so much television,

and there is the part that believes
when we die, all life will come to an end.
This is the part that storms within us
dragging its robes across the marble floor.

But what I like to believe
is that the minute I die,
the world will change into a map of the world

which I will roll up into a tube
and carry with me wherever I am going.

It could be an antique map with pictures
of sea serpents in the corners
or a huge Mercator projection,
but when I finally get where I am going
(and I have a feeling it will take days),

I will spread out the map on something flat,
and there I will study the patterns
of shorelines and boundaries,
maybe reminisce about a country I once visited
or a strait where a navel battle once took place.

I also like to believe
that there will be other beings there
who will gather around this picture of earth
so I can explain to them what it was like –

how the cold mountains rose above valleys,
how this was called geography,
how the people from this pale blue area
crossed into the light green area to the south
and killed whoever they found there
and how this was known as history

and as they listen, mild-eyed and silent,
others will arrive to join the circle
like ripples moving toward the center instead of away.

Published in the November 2003 issue of Poetry Magazine

Talking with friends last night about the sexy new MacBook Air, I realized that I must have had my current laptop for nearly five years. A look back at my iPhoto archives confirmed that indeed, next week will be my trusty (and somewhat crusty) little iBook G4's 5th birthday!


Me and my new toy on the Embarcadero, November 5th 2005

The iBook was an early Christmas present from my then-boyfriend. I came out to California for the first time to visit him during my senior year fall break in November 2005. I was pretty surprised when we walked into the Apple store in downtown San Francisco and he turned and said we were there to get something for me-- I hadn't ever pined for any of Apple's slick products. But, he graduated a year before me and had just started to collect his first paychecks, so he was feeling generous and insisted.

I now know the iBook was as much for my boyfriend as for me: He's a die-hard Mac person, and I learned later that it killed him to be dating a girl with a virus-ridden clunker of a PC. Turns out he winced every time I sat down at the 3-year-old HP that didn't work unless it was plugged into the wall (which I'll admit did kind of defeat the purpose of having a laptop.)


Me and the old PC in my dorm room, September 2005. I still don't think it was *so* bad!

I guess nobody ever told him about not trying to change someone you love, but I became a Mac fan, and the boyfriend and I ended up getting married-- so it all worked out for the best!

It's kind of funny that Apple has rolled out dozens of gorgeous new gadgets since Fall 2005, and I still just have this one. But my iBook still works like a charm and I've had practically zero problems with it-- the only maintenance I've had to perform is installing additional memory.

I suppose what I take away from this whole trip down memory lane is that there's something nice about sticking with something as long as it will stick with you, you know?