Skip to main content

Pink Tax for Women Sewists and Crafters

 #pinktax

If you're watching this at the time of release, its women's history month. A time where we should all be focusing on ways we can uplift the women in our lives a little more than usual. Since the demographics on this channel show that the majority of my viewers identify themselves as women, I want to share some information that might help you save funds our favorite hobby... sewing! The basic idea of the pink tax is that there is an unnecessary additional mark up on items that are geared towards women. Frequently there is little or no distinction between items that are designated as "women's" and "men's" and the biggest difference is that the women's product is pink. For more information on the long term impacts of the pink tax on a women's earrings and career please check out these articles: Business Insider on the Pink Tax https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/pink-tax 2016 Senate Joint Report on Gender Based Pricing https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/8a42df04-8b6d-4949-b20b-6f40a326db9e/the-pink-tax---how-gender-based-pricing-hurts-women-s-buying-power.pdf Pink Tax Updates and Statistics https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/pink-tax-how-women-pay-more/#what-to-do
How does the pink tax effect sewing? As a community, we are mostly women and people who do market research know it. We love cute things and are frequently taken to the same hand full of craft stores like JoAnn Fabrics. It is hard to run a brick and mortar fabric store in the days of the internet, and I don't want to throw any shade at their fabric selection or their staff. Most craft stores are horribly understaffed to try and make up for other parts of their budget. My concern with this is coupon culture and marketing can mean that women are paying far more for some of these tools than is necessary. In this video I go to my local JoAnn Fabrics, Home Depot, and Harbor Freight Tools to comparison shop the cost of the same, or similar items across different retailers that are targeting women in their marketing vs. those who are not. Some craft supplies I suggest comparing or picking up at the hardware store after this include: Cotton Rope Hammers and mallets magnetics plates or magnets Wood Stain Upholstery tools Knives and Razor Blades Screwdrivers Cleaning Supplies/ Tools Lighting Work or disposable Gloves Where do you shop to save money on sewing tools? Let me know in the comments and thank you for watching.


Social Media and other Places to Find me: Instagram: @maridith.smith Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tudorrevolution/ Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/maridithsmith All Music was Provided by the YouTube creator studio. Video edited with DaVinci Resolve 17. Filmed with Cannon M50

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Pockets in the 16th Century?

So if you are new to my blog, Hello! I took July off to focus on work and realities of covid life. Thanks for hanging in there.  This week we are doing to cover 16th Soccocia and their role toward the origin of pockets. People need a place to carry and keep their small items as they walk around. In the middle ages you might have a pilgrim satchel or a belt pouch. Some women in the middle ages had the brilliant idea to stop wearing their money purses outside of their over gowns and instead would wear them between their kirtle/sottona layer and over gowns. This arrangement still gave you access to the purse, but made it harder for thieves to cut your purse strings and run.  Fast forward to the 16th century and we find the heirs to this practice in socaccia. We have some visual evidence of these in mid to late 16th century art out of Italy. This is a detail of Alessandro Allori's,  Woman at her toilet, ca 1575-78. Currently in Florence, Church of Santa Maria Novella, Gaddi ...

Beginner's Lucet Tutorial

  I got a message recently asking for a tutorial on how to make a basic lucet cord since the only tutorial on my channel so far has been an advanced braid that features working 2 strands. This is the video for you if you are a newbie to using a lucet to make your own lacing for historical garments. Lucet has been used for ties, laces, and applied trim. Typically it is thought that the style might have originated with Norse cultures in the early medieval period. I encourage you to dive into the history of lucet and the different braids you can make with it if you are looking for a quick and compact way to make cord that you can put down and pick up as your time allows. The piece I made for this video took about 2 hours in real time and I did not speed up any of the clips I used to teach the technique, I simply trimmed down the footage. Have you ever used a lucet before? Tell me about your experiences in the comments and your preferred style of lucet fork. Do you like the large U s...

Women's Hair in Mid 16th Century Florence- Class Handout

Women’s Hair in in Mid 16th Century Florence  The Honorable Lady Isabelle de Calais  www.tudorrevolution.blogspot.com To most of Europe in the Renaissance, Italy was seen as a source of learning, culture, and beauty.. While many women across Europe were covering their hair under hoods and coifs, the Italians had a long history of elaborate hair dressing which was embraced with zeal as the continent explored and revived classical learning. This class will outline some of the basic tools, techniques, and accessories used to create Florentine hairstyles from 1540 to 1590. Tools of the trade “Dirty Hair”- Many popular shampoos we used today are mean to achieve modern straight silky hair styles. To make your life easier when creating period looks use products without silicone and parabens. My favorite shampoos to use prior to period hair are from Lush Cosmetics. If you are using shampoos with those ingredients in them please don’t wash your hair for a day or two prior to styli...