cover: my parents celebrating their marriage in Roatán, 2001.
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since 1971, commercially manufactured items of clothing are required by US law to have a care label; indicating the fiber content of the garment, the country of origin, and washing instructions.
since i can remember, the first detail i look for on a garment is the care label.
it is a familiar search, a reflex even. my hand flips the hem up, travels up the wearer's left side seam until i strike gold. not there? check under the main label at the back neck. still not there? hm.
it's even more interesting when a garment does not have one. was it cut off? what did it say? was it removed for discomfort? for aesthetic purposes? (i have a sheer black top that hollister did, presumably in the early 2010s, that had a white satin flexo printed care label in the side seam that made absolutely no sense to be that large or ugly or floppy in the middle of a see-through garment.)
maybe a garment never had one to begin with, indicating that:
a) the garment was manufactured before 1950 (which is when the washing machine was beginning to be more accessible and popular in the UK and US thus prompting more widespread application of care labels) or simply before the regulation was implemented in '71
b) the garment was made by hand and is the only one that exists like it (cool)
c) it was made by a small business owner, aka a twenty-something year old girl who operates her business out of la (downtown or somewhere on the east side) and does not concern herself with such rules and regulations. her care label is a stamp somewhere on the packaging materials that says "hand wash", or a disclaimer on the website saying something like "idk bru don't wash this shit"
above and below: care label for my mother's wedding dress
my parents eloped in 2001, after nine years of my dad asking and asking and asking, and my mom dragging him all around central america. they got married at night, on a dock, by a woman (important to me for some reason) and then threw a big party when they got back to the states –– surprise!!
the dress she wore is now in my possession (mom is fine dw i just have the dress). i have never worn nor washed this dress. regardless, i have studied the care and main labels many times, trying to reach for any bit of information about the dress's life, origin, how it asks to be treated, what would be helpful versus damaging to it, what to do and what not to do.
you can tell a lot about a garment based on its care label. you can tell even more about a person based on if or how they read/follow/search for/disregard/remove/photograph/revisit/notice/care about a care label.
my favourite kind of care label is a jacquard label with information on both sides and the artwork flips on the short side so you don't have to turn the garment to read the reverse. see below:
above: so much wrong here. my least favourite type of care label –– satin ribbon with flexo printing. mass produced. i can hear the hot knife cutting ribbon over and over for a plastic-y, fray-free finish at each end. sloppy application to seam –– that edge is definitely itchy. too long/bulky. white label on a black garment?? come on guys please pleeeeaseee
above: care label on sentimental local childcare tee from my early elementary days in atlanta. used to be swimming in it and now wear as a baby tee. graphic is an epic pete the cat drawing, iykyk. coincidentally made in honduras where my parents were married. funny how clothing connects.
