MAke

America

Rational

Again

Despite President Trump’s calls to “Buy American, hire American,” over the last several months, more than 53 tons of Ivanka Trump-brand clothing have been imported into the United States from China. Meanwhile, donations of Ivanka Trump brand clothes are up 223% since last year. We, the members of the Rational Dress Society, propose to take those unwanted Ivanka Trump clothes and transform them into something rational: 100% Made in the USA, Special Edition JUMPSUITS! All proceeds from the sale of Special Edition JUMPSUITS will go to support advocacy organizations dedicated to fair labor practices in the United States.    

• Mailing Instructions & Drop-Off Centers

• Become an official RDS Drop-Off Center

• M.A.R.A. F.A.Q.

The Rational Dress Society is pleased to announce our latest initiative: Make America Rational Again! For the next several months, we will be soliciting your gently used, and emphatically discarded Ivanka Trump brand garments, to be recycled into new, 100% Made in the USA, Special Edition JUMPSUITS!

Phase 1: Collect used Ivanka Trump brand clothing
Phase 2: Have used Ivanka Trump brand clothing recycled into post-consumer yarn
Phase 3: Weave post-consumer yarn into new fabric
Phase 4: Make special edition JUMPSUITS!

Once we receive a sufficient number of garments, we will begin the process of recycling them into beautiful, post-consumer yarn.
To receive updates on this process of technological transformation, sign up for our mailing list here.

Our new Special Edition Post-Consumer JUMPSUITS will retain the traces of the original garment’s dye, now reconstituted into a beautiful multi-color gradient.

As an important part of this project, The Rational Dress Society wishes to draw attention to the network of museums, artist-run galleries, community art centers, and libraries that bring Americans together. Join us, comrade, and Make America Rational Again!

What will happen once the clothing is collected?

Once all of the clothing is collected from the Make America Rational Again Temporary Collection Centers, the RDS will sort the clothing by fiber content. Current post-consumer textile recycling technology allows for the recycling of like fibers only, 100% cotton and 100% polyester for example. Once the post-consumer fibers are created, they will be spun with virgin cotton. This is necessary due to the shorter fiber length and the weakened strength that is a characteristic of recycled fibers. After the post-consumer blend fibers are spun into yarn, the RDS will commission the Weaving Mill (a Chicago-based weaving collective) to weave new fabric. From the new yardage, the special edition JUMPSUITS will be cut and sewn in house.

Where are Ivanka Trump clothes sold? Are they available to consumers in my area?

Ivanka Trump-brand clothing is sold at the following locations. To check if any of these stores are in your area simply search the locations page of each retailer.

How much will the special edition JUMPSUITS cost?

The Rational Dress Society conceives of M.A.R.A. as a vehicle for wealth redistribution. All proceeds from the sale of Special Edition JUMPSUITS will go to support advocacy organizations dedicated to fair labor practices in the United States. In order to raise as much money as possible, the special edition JUMPSUITS will be sold at auction to the highest bidder.

Are thrifted garments ok?

Yes! Donations of used Ivanka Trump Brand clothing are up bigly since the election of Donald Trump. Thrift stores are a great place to look for discarded IT brand clothing. When these garments aren’t able to be resold, they frequently end up in landfills. Instead of sending these sad!, misbegotten garments to a landfill, send them to the Rational Dress Society!

What if I don’t get any garments donated?

That’s OK! By hosting a temporary clothing collection box you are declaring your solidarity with the forces of rationality everywhere.

I really like this project, and I want to participate, but am feeling a general sense of anxiety that I can’t quite explain. Help?

The first chapter in historian Timothy Snyder’s recent book On Tyranny is titled “Do not obey in advance.” He writes:

Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do. Anticipatory obedience is a political tragedy.

Fascist governments count on us to self-censor. Make America Rational Again is a clothing drive and experiment in textile recycling. While it is political in nature, collecting and recycling clothing is not illegal in any way.

I really like this project, but cannot have a donation center at my organization, is there any other way I can participate?

Yes! You can help the Make America Rational Again campaign in a number of ways beyond hosting a collection center. You can:

• Help us spread the word! As hard as it is to believe, you may actually know someone who owns a piece of Ivanka Trump brand clothing. This could be an aunt, a cousin, perhaps a college roommate, or a person who sits at a cubicle next to you. Ivanka Trump-brand clothing is (or was) available at mass retailers like Macy’s, TJ Maxx and other mid-tier department stores. Many shoppers do not necessarily go to Macy’s for the brand-name apparel. They they may look for a casual sweater for an upcoming job interview, or a dress for a wedding, and inadvertently pick up a piece from Ivanka’s line. Getting the word out through emails to friends and coworkers, or through social media posting, can help dislodge these apocryphal garments from the backs of closets and propel them into a better, more rational future.

• If you are unable to host a collection center, but have a garment that you would like to donate, simply mail it to our P.O. Box and include a return address so that we can mail you an official RDS Certificate of Participation!