MIUSA news in the news

I am beyond pleased that twice in one week, Made in USA news is in the news. Although I pride myself on ignoring what I perceive as negative and sensationalistic journalism, every once in a while I find a story focused on the growing popularity of MIUSA products.

This terrific article appeared in yesterday’s Yahoo news articles:

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/-made-in-the-u-s-a—bucking-a-30-year-trend.html- made in usa

I hope to see many more of these articles. As more companies return to manufacturing their products here in the USA, the quality of the products will improve as will consumer confidence and eventually the economy. I am glad to see companies that have previously outsourced their work are returning their plants to the US in droves. Its about time:)

The Crazies

Bill Gates once said his goal was for every home in the country to possess a computer running Windows. Other successful visionaries had similarly lofty goals. Before any goal can be accomplished, it has to be created in one’s minds. The best goals are those that excite you so much that you can taste them, feel them and believe in them. These goals require vision.

My own vision with respect to MIUSA clothing is that in the very near future, every department store or designer clothing store carries only clothes bearing the Made In USA label. I don’t know how far away that goal is or if it will ever happen. All I can do is to committ to the vision as Bill Gates did and work as hard as I can to get as close as possible to acheiving my vision. Perhaps like my greatest heroes Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Homer Hickham, Thomas Edison and many other visionaries, maybe I’m just plain crazy. Here’s hoping I am:)

Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.

– the immortal Steve Jobs

A Tale of Two Dresses

Hello everyone, my internet issues have been resolved, I’m so glad to be back online. A few posts ago, I talked about the stark contrast in quality between newly washed MIUSA clothes and newly washed non-MIUSA clothes. I thought I would demonstrate in pictures how profound this contrast is. I recently washed 2 of my favorite dresses, rolled them up and put them away. 1 week later, I observed how each one looked and felt. The results did not suprise me, obviously the MIUSA dress still looked fantastic whereas the other dress…well I’ll let the pictures tell the story…

Despite being washed, some of the stains did not come off and after only 1 week, the dress is impossibly wrinkled. This dress is about 5 years old, it is by New York and Company and made in Indonesia. It is the same fabric as the following dress.

I bought this lovely dress back in 1996. It is by Cressong. I have no idea if the company still exists but I sure hope they do and are still churning out gorgeous dresses like this one! This dress was treated in the same manner as the previous dress. However, unlike the white NY and Company dress, this beautiful dress retained its shape, did not wrinkle and its colors are as sharp and bright as when I first eyed it in the store well over 16 years ago. Keep in mind both dresses are made of the same fabric!

Closet cleaning

I started cleaning through my apartment today. It is always a chore I put off for as long as I can until the mess has accumulated to a point where something needs to be done about it. The hardest part is dealing with any clothes I may have ruined with my carelessness. I have cleaned through my closets and found long missing shirts and blouses that were stepped on, crumpled, or covered in dust and dirt which I thought were beyond repair. I have minimized my suffering over the loss of these clothes by simply looking at the labels and acting accordingly. If I see the item is a MIUSA item, I breathe a sign of relief and simply throw it in the washer knowing it will look brand new once it is washed and dried. However, if the label reads that the item was foreign made, (I still have a small handful of foreign made clothes I bought before my commitment to only buying and wearing MIUSA clothing) I simply throw it out without regret. I do this because I know based on countless previous experiences that if the item is foreign made, it will not be rescued as it will be damaged beyond repair as an effect of the inferior quality of the item.

So I shed no tears over these items and remind myself one more benefit of only buying and wearing MIUSA clothes: I never need to become an overly obsessive neat freak. I can hang onto my pattern of accumulating a small mess as an effect of living such a rich and fulfilling life that I have almost no time for chores. Of course, during the first few weeks after a thorough cleaning, I am careful to hang my clothes and keep my room and closet neat before the messes start again. Knowing that most of my clothes are now all made in our great country gives me the peace of mind and freedom that no matter how busy I get and my clothes suffer due to my neglect, I can simply throw them in the wash and they look as great as when I first bought them.

Although I recognize I have a responsibility to care for my clothes, its great to know that my sometimes lackadaisical attitude towards keeping my clothes neat and well cared will not result in ruined clothes as long as they carry the MIUSA label.

MIUSA T- shirt vs. Foreign made T- shirt

Hi everyone,

I recently heard about a book called “The Global Travels of a T -Shirt. It was recommended to me by a dear friend. The title of the book got me thinking about the different paths a Made in USA T- shirt will travel and experience as opposed to a foreign made T- shirt. If T- shirts can talk, I imagine that they would say the following:

Foreign Made T- shirt:

I was made by children and adults in the most inhumane and unsanitary conditions possible. Whenever workers who put me together complained to their superiors, they were beaten, told to shut up and if they didn’t like it there were thousands of others willing to take their place. This made me sad as these people worked very hard for very long hours and very little pay. I was also poorly made because my makers were poorly skilled and rushed through making me. The result is when I am eventually sold and bought by an American who bought me with his hard earned money, I will fall apart in a matter of months and my color will fade in the first wash. My purchaser will be a very unhappy customer. There are no laws regulating my quality so dozens more of my poorly made brothers and sisters will be sold for ridiculously inflated prices and will be thrown in the trash when they fail to live up to their promise. How I wish I was made in the USA!!!

Made In USA T- shirt:

I was made by hard working, skilled workers in a factory based in the greatest country in the world. My makers are all productive members of their communities and are paid decent enough wages to care for their families and maintain a decent standard of living. I was carefully made with special attention paid to all my patterns and colors. I was made with the highest quality cotton that can be found. I am carefully inspected to ensure I meet strict quality standards in accordance to US law. Customers who buy me will be delighted with their purchase as I will maintain my colors and textures after many washes and will still look great many, many years after I am bought. I was built to last. I am sold at a fair price to a very happy customer. How proud and joyful I am that I was made in the USA!!!

7 for All Mankind

Hi everyone, I stopped by the 7 for All Mankind store in the Aventura mall on Monday and came upon a few gorgeous and very unique items.

These gorgeous pants scream rock star! They are perfect for special events and work especially well with white or black blouses and tops.

These cute blue pants fit perfectly and can be worn with many different styles of shirts and blouses.

I love this gold jacket. It can be worn over any outfit, there really is no color or pattern this jacket wouldn’t look great with except maybe a business suit:)

Brand Awareness, Reality Shows and Sex tapes

Hello everyone, I hope your week is off to a fabulous start. I had a few awarenesses this week while working at my friend’s successful store for baby toys, clothes and accessories. I quickly recognized the well heeled young mothers who came to the store were well informed of the latest baby trends and products and eager to buy as many as they thought they needed. I learned that one product a teething toy called Sophie the Giraffe is universally popular with mothers as the toy is advertised in many parent magazines and websites. These mothers already come in to the store fully enrolled in the idea of Sophie and all her accessories for their children regardless of the cost. My pay structure at my friend’s store is a base salary plus commissions so I was equally enrolled in the idea of selling as many Sophies and her accessories as the moms were of buying them.

Soon every mother that walked into the store walked out with Sophie, a stroller toy chain to carry Sophie, leather jumbo and mini stroller hooks to carry Sophie, stroller organizers and cup holders. In short even if a mom was just stopping in to buy a simple pacifier, I found out how old the baby was and proceeded to tell her how important it was for their baby to have an excellent teething toy like Sophie as well as all the accompanying extra accessories to accomodate the toy. The brand awareness of the toy had already closed 90% of the sale, I only needed to close the final 10% of the sale. The $24.50 price tag of the toy was a non issue with these mothers as was the average $100 cost of the toy’s accompanying accessories.

The success of the above sales strategy got me thinking about the brand awareness of Made In USA. The phrase is just starting to receive universal recognition. Jay Z and other superstars are headlining a Made in America concert tour, and Ralph Lauren caught a lot of flak for manufacturing Team USA uniforms for the summer Olympics in China as opposed to our country. However, until the brand awareness reaches a fever point where every young man and woman clamors for Made In USA clothing, it will be very difficult to restore Made In USA clothing to its former glory. If Made in USA clothing were as desired by young girls as the Kardashian sisters and Jessica Simpson clothing lines, the billions in profit would ensure these clothes continue to be made in the USA. It seems than that the most logical next step is to enroll as many young, fashionable women as possible to invest as much in MIUSA clothes as they do in the clothing lines of washed up pop singers and reality stars. The question is where to begin? Reality show, cheating scandal, sex tape? Hmmmmm…..

This week’s gems

Hello everyone! Here are a few of my latest finds:

This gorgeous red number is by Jason Maxwell and costs around $8. Red is such a versatile color which allows this top to work well with black, red, white or beige bottoms. In colder weather, it can be layered over a crisp white collared shirt paired with strands of pearls for a terrific office to evening look. What other outfits can you all imagine for this beautiful blouse?

This mosaic print by Perseption Concept is sophisticated by itself. However when paired with jeans, white, black or purple bottoms, it can easily go from the office to a night on the town. Not a bad investment for $10:)

This lovely white shirt by Brittany Black looks very expensive but only cost a few dollars to own. I have worn this shirt to work functions, family outings and financial seminars.

Ralph Lauren backlash

I was delighted this week to see how much coverage and subsequent backlash, Ralph Lauren received this week for creating Olympic uniforms for the USA team in China. Whereas in the past, this news would have been barely registered., Americans nationwide were outraged and demanded Ralph Lauren to correct their actions. As a result of all the attention, Ralph Lauren issued a statement that the Olylmpic uniforms used for the USA team in 2014 will all be made in America. This is a huge victory and shows how voices united in a common goal can produce massive change. I feel the day that Ralph Lauren and other successful clothing companies commit to making all their clothes in the USA is very near. I can hardly wait!

Latest MIUSA fashions

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all have enjoyed a terrific start to summer. I know I did but unfortunately my trusty 7 year old laptop did not and crashed on me recently. Ironically enough, the laptop was working just fine albeit slow until the day after my wonderful friends and sister gifted me with a brand new laptop for my birthday. The very next day my laptop petered out. Hmmmmm…

Just before my laptop meltdown, I had a chance to catch up on the latest MIUSA fashions in my area. Enjoy the beautiful clothes!!



Beautiful white MIUSA dress. Good for cocktail parties, for the office with a blazer thrown over it or picnics in the park. A simple eye catching chunky sparkling bracelet will be an ideal accessory.

[caption id="attachment_228" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Nothing like a little black dress:)[/caption

[caption id="attachment_231" align="aligncenter" width="225"] This beautiful dress’s colors and patterns make it truly unique.



Two beautiful MIUSA dresses, one which was bought by my amazing sister:)