Althouse: "It’s a sign of the times, unfortunately, that when there was an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party at the company, some of the sweaters there were from our current assortment."

August 27, 2016

"It’s a sign of the times, unfortunately, that when there was an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party at the company, some of the sweaters there were from our current assortment."

Said the chief executive of Gap, quoted in a WaPo article titled "Why are sales suffering at so many women’s stores? They made bad clothes./Consumers have started spending again, but that doesn't mean they'll buy just anything."

Better than "just anything" is a low standard. But as I always like to say: Better than nothing is a high standard. When shopping for clothes, nothing is always a good choice. The store has to beat nothing.

8 comments:

MadisonMan said...: When I see ugly sweater party pictures, I find myself asking: Why do these people waste space in their house storing such things?

Why do people buy them? Is wretched taste really that widespread? Or are these gifts from in-laws who are passive aggressive in their dislike?; 8/27/16, 7:45 AM
Mary Beth said...: Macy’s believes that its sales have been hampered by unusual weather patterns and crimped spending by foreign tourists.

It's Donald Trump's fault!; 8/27/16, 8:35 AM
Original Mike said...: I'm guessing the tag "nothi" is a typo.; 8/27/16, 9:10 AM
Ron said...: In baseball there's the newfangled term Wins Above Replacement (WAR) which means the "floor" is defined as being replaced by someone...presumably from the minor leagues.

Just to be in MLB you have to be better than nothing.; 8/27/16, 9:19 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "When I see ugly sweater party pictures, I find myself asking: Why do these people waste space in their house storing such things?"

The point in the article is that the Gap had sweaters that were being presented as normal, good sweaters that the staff considered so ugly they used them for ugly sweater day.

The thing of stores deliberately making ugly Christmas sweaters is a separate matter. That's more like selling Halloween costumes. People buy them because they like costume parties or because they get a reaction. It developed out of an earlier tradition of having special Christmas clothes, and then it became a thing to embrace the ugliness, and then it got commercialized into sweaters that were made to be ugly.; 8/27/16, 10:06 AM
Anonymous said...: Where is the evidence that consumers are spending again?; 8/27/16, 11:13 AM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: I dunno, but I think I would be extremely uncomfortable wearing nothing.; 8/27/16, 5:11 PM
Big Mike said...: @Michelle, especially in the winter.; 8/27/16, 10:35 PM