There has been a lot of talk lately about Fair Trade commodities in emerging market countries; coffee, chocolate, handmade crafts. While it is estimable to grant a living wage to those in emerging markets, I would suggest that we grant the same courtesy to artisans here in the US as well; namely, myself and every other artisan I know.
According to the Fair Wage Guide, the fair wage per hour in US dollars for artisans is $10.75, based on the Canadian calculation, as the US isn't actually on the list. This number is almost identical to the San Francisco minimum wage of $10.74, a 'large' number because it is expensive to live here. (I would in fact venture to say that no one who does not live in community cannot survive on it in or around San Francisco.) However, according to Wealth Artisan, this number is also close to the actual income of one who earns $20 per hour, or the salaried equivalent, once transportation, commute time, food and taxes are taken out of the equation. In other words, the actual earning power of the salary. If one lives in a small community outside of metropolitan areas and does not commute, that $10.75 might actually approach a living wage, so long as one figures in taxes and business license fees.
Based on this, if I make one of my stunning Brother Rabbit garments for a lady, which takes about 20 hours, the cost, without profit margin or cost of materials or shipping, works out to $215. This might seem high to a public used to dirt-cheap togs from Target or even Macy's, but it is actually in line with the 1915 price of such a dress, according to so prosaic a vendor as Sears, Roebuck & Co., basing it on one of their median-priced ($10) dresses - which would cost $231.23 in today's money. This is Sears, whose items were made in the US, at a moderate profit margin. (What they lost in per-item profit, they made up for in volume of sales).
When I go to department stores, even 'expensive' ones such as Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom's or Saks, I always look at the construction of garments (between the lining and the garment) and find that they are made ... just like things at Target, with serged seams and other cheap 'finishings' - with slightly better fabrics, at about 300 times the price. And they are made in... China. 'You get what you pay for' is not true anymore.
Except from artisans.
A hand-made item from an artisan, be it clothing, jewellery, furniture, decorative arts, pottery, wine or bread, represents years, often decades, of study, training, and countless hours of highly skilled labour. This is not something knocked together in a sweatshop by a low-paid pieceworker. This is an item that was designed, constructed and finished by the person standing in front of you, with imagination, skill and loving time. (If it is not a highly skilled item, that is another matter.) You are paying for that craftsmanship, knowing that the item will last a lifetime, and will not break on the first use, fall apart in the wash, or have parts that fail. These items, as Morris wrote, are designed to be beautiful and useful, and to last.
That is what you are paying for. Quality.
It is unfair in the extreme to expect such quality at sweatshop prices.
(It is also unfair to pay quality prices for sweatshop-grade goods).
So patronising your local artisan becomes a choice: Do you want something fine and beautiful made in your own community which will last a lifetime and which you will only have to buy once, or cheap gimcrack that will not last a year or two and requires endless re-purchase, meanwhile supporting slave labour in far foreign fields?
Thank you for reading.
