Cost of fashion

dropdown It’s the first day of school, and you’re looking good. New shirt, new shoes, new jeans—and you didn’t have to empty your (or your parents’) bank account to get them. Thanks to all the back to-school sales, your whole outfit cost just $50 . . . which means you can afford to cruise the mall again this weekend. dropdown How can Walmart, H&M, Forever 21, and other retailers afford to sell clothes at such low prices? The answer is in the labels. About 98 percent of clothes sold in the U.S. today are made in other countries. Fifty years ago, almost all the clothes sold in the U.S. were made here. But in the 1970s, clothing companies - along with car, electronics, and many other manufacturers - started moving their factories to China, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, and other nations where labour and other costs are less expensive. dropdown For example, it costs $3.72 to manufacture a denim shirt in Bangladesh. To make that same shirt in the U.S. costs $13.22. Lower costs mean U.S. stores can sell clothes for less and still make a profit. For U.S. shoppers, it means more clothes in their closets and more money in their wallets to buy other things. dropdown Most Americans didn’t think about where their clothes were made until recently. In April, a building in Bangladesh collapsed, killing 1,127 workers and injuring about 2,500 others. The tragedy in the small Asian nation was one of the world’s deadliest industrial disasters.