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Lesbians: The hidden victims of the Bonds clothing crisis

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Guest blogger, Carolyn Ride, is just realising the real impact of the Bonds layoff…

There are many tragic aspects to the decision this week by Pacific Brands (maker of iconic Aussie label Bonds) to cut 1850 Australian manufacturing jobs and move production to China.

There’s the effect on the workers and their families themselves; especially since it seems they had no idea it was coming. There’s the fact that (surprise!) they rewarded their CEOs for failure with multimillion-dollar payouts (AUD$1.86 million a year salary for current exec Sue Morphet). Then there’s the revelation that Pacific Brands milked millions of dollars in research and investment grants from the Australian government in recent years, just before pulling the plug. Oh, and the loss of yet another iconic Aussie brand to faceless, soulless globalisation.

And yet there are other victims in this tragedy unremarked by the media; untold millions of lesbians who will now officially have nothing to wear!

According to a straw poll of friends etc, I’m apparently a femme. Either it’s the dress fetish or my taste for ladies’ drinks that gave it away. Still, when I look in my wardrobe I have about four men’s “Chesty Bond” white Bonds singlets; not to mention two fitted black cotton T-shirts, two sports bras and three pairs of sports socks. They’re all Bonds products which fit lesbian fashion demands (simplicity, practicality, natural fibres, moderate price, mildly androgynous) better than anything else made.

I don’t know why this is, but only men’s Chesty Bonds singlets give adequate support for the braless bosom while equally able to cover up the straps of one’s comfy yet supportive 16DD Bonds cotton bra. (Just try to find a regular brand bra in larger cup sizes that doesn’t feel like a mammogram).

 

They also make the only T-shirts I know that mysteriously make me look 20% trimmer and more muscular. They have been a way for women at a certain end of the Kinsey scale to look smart and stylish,  yet classically lestastic, for decades. 

They also answered the most important lesbian fashion demand of all time, the one that never changes: the ability to buy all your clothes, from underwear to jackets, in one section of any major department store. Thus, getting a whole season’s wardrobe takes only half an hour, leaving ample time for the electronics and outdoor goods sections.

Let’s face it, many Bonds products were already manufactured in China. At least, though, the company had enough presence in the Australian market to know its certain attachment to fit over fashion, durability and the need for the odd classic product that never changes. Much like the lesbian market.

But now? Even if the products don’t go downhill, I – like so many lesbians – am a world-class boycotter, so I won’t support a company which so obviously screwed its employees. Meanwhile, wild horses wouldn’t drag me into one of those Cotton On, Rivers etc chains that sell T-shirts that lose shape if you look at them harshly. And those singlets with giant, gaping armholes presumably meant to advertise the age and discolouration level of your bra.

I propose a general f*** you to Pacific Brands’ contempt for its employees, the Australian taxpayer and the mass of lesbian consumers that kept it going through bad times and good. Meanwhile, the entrepreneurial door is now open for any lesbian with an industrial sewing machine and the desire to make a killing in a very captive and very desperate market.

Carolyn Ride is a writer, editor and owns enough Bonds products to attend shareholder meetings.

Related posts:

1. The Global Financial Crisis is My Fault
2. Good karma job hunting: Connecting with the hidden job market
3. Farewell to lesbian feminism

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