love/hate with "Mad Men"

As you are by now well aware, I love vintage clothing.
I am a slave to the beautiful clothing, and patterns from decades past.
This is where my love hate relationship with the TV show Mad Men started.

It isn't the show it's self that I have issue with. I adore the show. What with all the smoking , drinking, swearing, vintage clothes and cars.

What has been bugging the crap out of me for a while; is now for some reason it has become the descriptor dejure, to use the title to label vintage fashion.. even if it pre or post dates the era of the clothing (1960's)..
the 'Betty Draper house dress', the 'mad men secretary wiggle frock' anything that happens to use the show or its charters in is description. What is worse, that you have clothes from the late 70's and 80's being labeled this way too.

Really? You can't just call a dress from the 1960's what it is? Can't it just be a vintage dress? Why does it have to do anything to do with the show?

Also in my opinion the 1960's are where fashion really took a turning point. As a culture we moved to more ready made, easier to produce clothing.
The long slow slide into retail hell; where clothes have less and less form, structure, functionality (hello dresses with pockets), and last-ability. The movement towards 'space age fabrics' and away from good old, cotton, rayon, silk, wool and fur (yes I said it).. Not to mention the sudden explosion of polyester knits.. (shudder).


Maybe I am also a tad bitter that when a show or movie happen to showcase vintage fashion,  makes it a lot more expensive for me to snap up vintage clothing for my self. AKA: everyone suddenly takes an interest in vintage styles.

Oh well, for now I will just covet my pattern collection, and make my own clothing.

Torrid's responce

Well my dear sweet monster thingies,
 Torrid has written me back.
More to the point a customer service representative not Torrid corporate . And i am going to post that response to my letter to Torrid , and then speak further on it.

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Hello Raven,

Thank you for shopping at Torrid.com! Hope you’re having a wonderful day!
Raven,
Torrid is not going to abandon what it has begun.  Rather, it is adding
choices that the young plus size customers have asked us for that they
cannot find from other retailers.

We are definitely holding onto the looks that have always been part of our
assortments, as well as adding choices for the young plus size person who
has said her lifestyle requires more choices than we originally offered
her.

It is important to share with you that many customers have voiced repeated
requests for us to provide more alternatives to them.  They want the
younger plus size person to have a place that offers hip, young, current
fashion choices whether it is casual clothes for a student, a dressy
occasion, a sexy club outfit, or someone just beginning their career. We
heard over and over that our customers had many wardrobe needs to fill
their lifestyle alternatives and we were leaving some of them out.

We also learned from many customers that our logo had "stiff, skinny"
letters instead of being representative of something curvy and beautiful.
We also learned that the younger plus size customer did not know we were
plus size.  We are proud of being plus size. That's why our logo has
changed from stiff, skinny letters to beautiful, curvy letters with the
words "plus sizes" added.

We hope you will continue to give us a chance, so we may live up to your
expectations and to satisfy your wishes. We are going to work hard at
continuing to create products that are different than the other plus size
retailers offer, with our own unique Torrid detailing and style.



If you need any further assistance please contact us!


Cheers,
Mariela
Customer Service Representative
1.866.867.7431
International: +1.626.709.1188

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Now while I am thrilled That I got a response at all; I am fairly disappointed that It was such a general e-mail. 
I don't feel that torrid addressed any of my (our) concerns when it comes to quality of product.
It really feels like a canned response. 
Additionally the whole diatribe on them changing the logo.. I never said anything about said logo, nor do I have an issue with them changing it.


When I posted the letter to various groups i got quite a few comment on the lack of quality, so clearly this issue is very prevalent.


Again, to you my dear readers, I want more proof/opinions for future letters to Torrid.
I am going to write them back again, and voice again the concerns about quality. If there is more you would like me to address let me know.


Kisses, 
Raven

 

My letter to Torrid

So I finally decided to write torrid after years of being their faithful customer,and watching their slow decline. Our relationship has soured. I wrote them in hopes like any relationship we could communicate and work through our issues. With a little luck we can come out of this in a better place, and once again have a dirty love affair.

Dear torrid,
As a long time customer (since store #3 in san diego opened; till you opened stores near me. yeah I used to fly down to just shop at your store) I am really disappointed in what has been happening to your clothes over the last 6 years. Specifically the quality of the garments has really dropped significantly, as have your range of styles.


I get that you have revamped your overall look and feel. Back when this change initially took place I was hopeful that you would still do right by your original customer base, that there would be a nice cross section of styles. Sadly this has been less and less the case over the years.
You have all but fazed out the goth, punk, club, and alternative wear you once carried as staples in your stores.
I know I loved having the option of buying the different styles, and still covet my vintage black label torrid clothing.
So do many girls who shopped with you before (you can see this by after market purchase price on ebay).
Admittedly, I was also happy as I've grown older to have more business appropriate clothing as well. However I miss the other things you once had.
The fact that the clothing back then was well made and had decent prices was also a great benefit; and made me a dedicated shopper at your store.


I'm going to take this opportunity to expand further on your clothing and its current quality, or lack of. I have mentioned that I still own black label torrid clothing, as well as clothing from brands you don't carry anymore. All of these pieces have stood up well to the tests of normal wear. I sadly can not say the same for clothing that has been coming out of your store in recent years. Both bad material choices mixed with bad craftsmanship have taken its toll on my confidence in your clothing.
When I pay $40 for a simple top and it can't survive a trip though the washing machine (taking the care label instructions in to the equation) we have a serious problem. Same goes for $10 underpants, and $50+ pants.
Please ask whoever you have doing our purchasing you consider the quality of the clothes they are buying. I like many other of the people who shop with you can't afford to buy clothes that don't last, and that we can't replace. 


I wont even go into the lack of basic structure in your clothing.. I will say however it is disappointing. I don't like looking like a shapeless cloth blob. Nor do I like having to tailor clothing that I spend a lot of money on.


I am pleased as punch you have started to carry the more retro looks in clothing! And thank you for working with lucky 13 apparel as well as lip service again!


You are at the forefront of the plus size fashion industry, yet you are pidgin holing the people who want to be fashionable, with such limited choices.
I truly hope that you have a plan to remedy some of the things that have been effecting your stores for a while now.
And I really hope we (as in me your customer, and you the people behind the clothing I cover my self in) can have a chat about what is going on. I really was and still am passionate about your store and its clothing. Again I have been shopping with you for almost 10 years now, I remember what made your store great.
I want you to continue being one of the places I shop for all sorts of clothing.


Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. And I look forward to hearing back from you.


sincerely,
Raven Eagan

Let's hope I hear something good. I'll keep you all informed!
And if there is something I forgot to say, or something you want to point out, please let me or them know!

Kisses,
Raven