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Worn: A People's History of Clothing
A sweeping and captivatingly told history of clothing and the stuff it's made of--an unparalleled deep dive into how we've made what we wear, and how our garments have transformed our societies, our planet, and our lives.
In this ambitious, panoramic social history, Sofi Thanhauser brilliantly tells five stories--Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics, Wool--about the clothes we wear and where they come from, illuminating our world in unexpected ways. She takes us from the opulent court of Louis Quatorze to the labor camps in modern-day Chinese-occupied Xinjiang. We see how textiles were once dyed from lichen, shells, bark, saffron, and beetles, displaying distinctive regional weaves and knits, and how the modern Western garment industry has refashioned our attire into the homogenous and disposable uniforms popularized by fast fashion brands. Thanhauser makes clear how the clothing industry has become one of the planet's worst polluters, relying on chronically underpaid and exploited laborers. But she also shows us how micro-communities and companies of textile and clothing makers in every corner of the world are rediscovering ancestral and ethical methods for making what we wear.
Drawn from years of intensive research and reporting from around the world, and brimming with fascinating anecdotal material, Worn reveals to us that our clothing comes not just from the countries listed on the tags or ready-made from our factories--it comes, as well, from deep in our histories.
In this ambitious, panoramic social history, Sofi Thanhauser brilliantly tells five stories--Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics, Wool--about the clothes we wear and where they come from, illuminating our world in unexpected ways. She takes us from the opulent court of Louis Quatorze to the labor camps in modern-day Chinese-occupied Xinjiang. We see how textiles were once dyed from lichen, shells, bark, saffron, and beetles, displaying distinctive regional weaves and knits, and how the modern Western garment industry has refashioned our attire into the homogenous and disposable uniforms popularized by fast fashion brands. Thanhauser makes clear how the clothing industry has become one of the planet's worst polluters, relying on chronically underpaid and exploited laborers. But she also shows us how micro-communities and companies of textile and clothing makers in every corner of the world are rediscovering ancestral and ethical methods for making what we wear.
Drawn from years of intensive research and reporting from around the world, and brimming with fascinating anecdotal material, Worn reveals to us that our clothing comes not just from the countries listed on the tags or ready-made from our factories--it comes, as well, from deep in our histories.
375 pages, Hardcover
First published January 25, 2022
About the author
Sofi Thanhauser
1 book41 followersSofi Thanhauser is a writer, artist, and musician, based in Brooklyn. She teaches in the writing department at Pratt Institute. She has received fellowships from the Fulbright Program, MacDowell, and Ucross Foundation. Her writing has appeared in Vox, Essay Daily, and The Establishment, among other publications.
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March 27, 2022
The quality and durability of clothing has fallen. Sewing, once done by the masses is now the hobby of few. People sewed clothing to save money, now it is more expensive to buy cloth to make your own clothes than to buy new ready-to-wear clothing from a store. Additionally, the ability to sew has declined and “a task that once fell within the province of the ordinary household is now an esoteric hobby, requiring skills out of reach to most ordinary Americans.”
500 years ago people used flora and fauna to make cloth. For example, cotton and linen come from plants and wool and silk come from sheep and silkworms. Dyes to color clothing were extracted “from lichen, shells, bark, indigo, saffron, roots, beetles. The fabric constructions and patterns themselves were astonishing, containing special regional weaves and knits, number magic, protective prayers, and clan symbols, collective honed motifs, and individual flourishes.”
Today, clothing is manufactured for the most part from two materials, cotton and petroleum. In Worn: A People's History of Clothing, Sofi Thanhauser tells us the story of how the process of making cloth and clothing went from being a personal act of creativity using materials found in nature to “a complex, inscrutable system that has divorced us from the creative act, from our land, from our rights as consumers and workers.”
Making our own clothes means becoming familiar with the shape and measurement of our bodies, length of limbs, width of our waist etc. We need to consider how fabric drapes or fits to our contours or transforms our body shape to perhaps a more flattering one. When we handle cloth we come to appreciate the different textures and qualities and discover their best uses. When making clothes we need to consider how we will move in them. Other considerations are how easy or difficult the cloth is to work with and what garment designs and styles they are best suited for.
Before the late nineteenth century people made their own clothes at home or paid someone to sew clothes for them. Clothing was tailored to fit and silk and cashmere were considered luxurious and much sought after. However, the quality of tailoring and fabric "have been increasingly displaced in the popular understanding of what constitutes luxury clothing, by a different marker of exclusivity; the brand name." The label on the clothing has become the defining factor that attracts the buyer and not the quality of the fabric and/or workmanship.
Cloth tells a story of our social history. “Dressing is an individualized act, but it is also a deeply social one.” The clothes we wear and the way we wear them tell others about our style and personality, perhaps even our political beliefs or the organizations we support. “Cloth is often used to symbolize the web of connections between people, as phrases like “the social fabric" or “the community was rent apart” or “an alliance was stitched together” or “moral fiber” attest.”
The story of making clothing involves the exploitation of women and the use of slaves. In the nineteenth century, “the brothel and the sewing needle were poles for a penniless female underclass to vacillate between.” Seamstresses sewed shirts at home, referred to as piecework, and worked 14-hours per day for very little wages existing at or below poverty level. In fact, “Cheap women’s labor and expendable land have been the foundation of the garment industry ever since.”
In the South, freed slaves were forced into cotton growing. “Sharecropping, coercing tenants into growing perpetual debt, was the most common practice for growing cotton by 1900.” U.S. cotton was subsidized by the government enabling the U.S. to export cheaply and keep the price of cotton down internationally, which hurts cotton producers in poorer cotton producing countries.
Producing cotton uses a lot of water and the effect of climate change has caused our water supply to be more unpredictable and even scarce in some regions of the world. In fact, “half the globe’s population may face severe water stress by 2030, according to UN’s Environment Programme.” For example, “when we account for the use of water to process, dye and finish the textile, it takes twenty thousand liters of water to make a pair of jeans, enough to grow wheat a person would need to bake a loaf of bread each week for a year.” The decisions our politicians make about water are going to increasingly affect people’s lives and may become “as stark as deciding who lives and who dies.”
“As recently as 1997, over 40 percent of all apparel purchased in the U.S. had been produced domestically. In 2012 that figure was less than 3 percent. The abandonment of quota limits eliminated all impediments to buyers, leaving them free to source from whatever country gives them the best price.”
U.S. brands that search the globe to find cheap labor, are not merely opportunistic but “sometimes actively parasitic.” Honduras is a classic example, U.S. corporations in collaboration with the U.S. State department enabled U.S. consumers to purchase cheap clothing made by Honduran people. The idea was sold to the Hondurans as a job opportunity, “a blessing for the Honduran economy while simultaneously engaging in political interventions that keep Honduran citizens poor.”
As the price of clothing became cheaper people bought more. "Marketeers learned how to transform every dissatisfaction into the desire to purchase. This manipulation can work on a particularly deep level when it comes to clothing, which carries ancient connections to self-expression, self-protection, self-esteem and group belonging."
Between 2000 and 2014 the average person in the U.S. bought 60% more clothing and that clothing was increasingly made of synthetic fibers such as polyester, nylon and acrylic.
A combination of manufacturing moving overseas and the sharp decline in salaries for retail jobs has resulted in higher levels of poverty in the U.S. “Retail workers are not only lower paid, they are also more minutely monitored.” Their hours are adjusted according to how productive they are to maximize profit.
“Textile production is one of the most energy-intensive industries there is, responsible for one tenth of all global carbon emissions. The vast amount of labor that was once poured into spinning and weaving by human hands has not been erased: it has been replaced by electricity, which is to say carbon.”
On a more hopeful and positive note, there is a movement back toward traditional methods of creating clothing that can benefit our environment. For example, “wool fixes carbon in the topsoil rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. This process can help regenerate pastures, which sheep will graze.” Sheep are highly adaptable and will graze on a wide variety of terrains so, “wool is a natural choice for people interested in rebuilding local systems of cloth manufacture.”
An organization called Fibershed formed in 2010 in the U.S. links fiber producers, fabric makers and dyers enabling them to work together efficiently to create regional supply chains.
Scholars believe that the current popularity of fiber crafts represents a backlash against mass production that exploits people. “Fiber culture also rose up alongside the internet and has a strong presence online.”
Other fascinating facts I learned while reading this book:
Indian cloth was “shipped across the Indian Ocean, transported by camel across Arabia by numerous middlemen, then shipped across the Mediterranean, until Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route to India in 1497, establishing direct trade.” The British loved Indian cloth.
“Archeologists believe humans may have knit before they wove.”
“Rayon, also known as viscose, is a fabric made from trees.” Rayon is similar to silk and can be manufactured in countries where cotton is not grown. However, manufacturing rayon uses a “highly neurotoxic solvent called carbon disulfide.”
“Nylon is synthesized entirely from petroleum products.”
500 years ago people used flora and fauna to make cloth. For example, cotton and linen come from plants and wool and silk come from sheep and silkworms. Dyes to color clothing were extracted “from lichen, shells, bark, indigo, saffron, roots, beetles. The fabric constructions and patterns themselves were astonishing, containing special regional weaves and knits, number magic, protective prayers, and clan symbols, collective honed motifs, and individual flourishes.”
Today, clothing is manufactured for the most part from two materials, cotton and petroleum. In Worn: A People's History of Clothing, Sofi Thanhauser tells us the story of how the process of making cloth and clothing went from being a personal act of creativity using materials found in nature to “a complex, inscrutable system that has divorced us from the creative act, from our land, from our rights as consumers and workers.”
Making our own clothes means becoming familiar with the shape and measurement of our bodies, length of limbs, width of our waist etc. We need to consider how fabric drapes or fits to our contours or transforms our body shape to perhaps a more flattering one. When we handle cloth we come to appreciate the different textures and qualities and discover their best uses. When making clothes we need to consider how we will move in them. Other considerations are how easy or difficult the cloth is to work with and what garment designs and styles they are best suited for.
Before the late nineteenth century people made their own clothes at home or paid someone to sew clothes for them. Clothing was tailored to fit and silk and cashmere were considered luxurious and much sought after. However, the quality of tailoring and fabric "have been increasingly displaced in the popular understanding of what constitutes luxury clothing, by a different marker of exclusivity; the brand name." The label on the clothing has become the defining factor that attracts the buyer and not the quality of the fabric and/or workmanship.
Cloth tells a story of our social history. “Dressing is an individualized act, but it is also a deeply social one.” The clothes we wear and the way we wear them tell others about our style and personality, perhaps even our political beliefs or the organizations we support. “Cloth is often used to symbolize the web of connections between people, as phrases like “the social fabric" or “the community was rent apart” or “an alliance was stitched together” or “moral fiber” attest.”
The story of making clothing involves the exploitation of women and the use of slaves. In the nineteenth century, “the brothel and the sewing needle were poles for a penniless female underclass to vacillate between.” Seamstresses sewed shirts at home, referred to as piecework, and worked 14-hours per day for very little wages existing at or below poverty level. In fact, “Cheap women’s labor and expendable land have been the foundation of the garment industry ever since.”
In the South, freed slaves were forced into cotton growing. “Sharecropping, coercing tenants into growing perpetual debt, was the most common practice for growing cotton by 1900.” U.S. cotton was subsidized by the government enabling the U.S. to export cheaply and keep the price of cotton down internationally, which hurts cotton producers in poorer cotton producing countries.
Producing cotton uses a lot of water and the effect of climate change has caused our water supply to be more unpredictable and even scarce in some regions of the world. In fact, “half the globe’s population may face severe water stress by 2030, according to UN’s Environment Programme.” For example, “when we account for the use of water to process, dye and finish the textile, it takes twenty thousand liters of water to make a pair of jeans, enough to grow wheat a person would need to bake a loaf of bread each week for a year.” The decisions our politicians make about water are going to increasingly affect people’s lives and may become “as stark as deciding who lives and who dies.”
“As recently as 1997, over 40 percent of all apparel purchased in the U.S. had been produced domestically. In 2012 that figure was less than 3 percent. The abandonment of quota limits eliminated all impediments to buyers, leaving them free to source from whatever country gives them the best price.”
U.S. brands that search the globe to find cheap labor, are not merely opportunistic but “sometimes actively parasitic.” Honduras is a classic example, U.S. corporations in collaboration with the U.S. State department enabled U.S. consumers to purchase cheap clothing made by Honduran people. The idea was sold to the Hondurans as a job opportunity, “a blessing for the Honduran economy while simultaneously engaging in political interventions that keep Honduran citizens poor.”
As the price of clothing became cheaper people bought more. "Marketeers learned how to transform every dissatisfaction into the desire to purchase. This manipulation can work on a particularly deep level when it comes to clothing, which carries ancient connections to self-expression, self-protection, self-esteem and group belonging."
Between 2000 and 2014 the average person in the U.S. bought 60% more clothing and that clothing was increasingly made of synthetic fibers such as polyester, nylon and acrylic.
A combination of manufacturing moving overseas and the sharp decline in salaries for retail jobs has resulted in higher levels of poverty in the U.S. “Retail workers are not only lower paid, they are also more minutely monitored.” Their hours are adjusted according to how productive they are to maximize profit.
“Textile production is one of the most energy-intensive industries there is, responsible for one tenth of all global carbon emissions. The vast amount of labor that was once poured into spinning and weaving by human hands has not been erased: it has been replaced by electricity, which is to say carbon.”
On a more hopeful and positive note, there is a movement back toward traditional methods of creating clothing that can benefit our environment. For example, “wool fixes carbon in the topsoil rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. This process can help regenerate pastures, which sheep will graze.” Sheep are highly adaptable and will graze on a wide variety of terrains so, “wool is a natural choice for people interested in rebuilding local systems of cloth manufacture.”
An organization called Fibershed formed in 2010 in the U.S. links fiber producers, fabric makers and dyers enabling them to work together efficiently to create regional supply chains.
Scholars believe that the current popularity of fiber crafts represents a backlash against mass production that exploits people. “Fiber culture also rose up alongside the internet and has a strong presence online.”
Other fascinating facts I learned while reading this book:
Indian cloth was “shipped across the Indian Ocean, transported by camel across Arabia by numerous middlemen, then shipped across the Mediterranean, until Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route to India in 1497, establishing direct trade.” The British loved Indian cloth.
“Archeologists believe humans may have knit before they wove.”
“Rayon, also known as viscose, is a fabric made from trees.” Rayon is similar to silk and can be manufactured in countries where cotton is not grown. However, manufacturing rayon uses a “highly neurotoxic solvent called carbon disulfide.”
“Nylon is synthesized entirely from petroleum products.”
May 15, 2022
No Logo for people who were into Kinfolk and discovered socialism in 2016; more like a people’s history of articles the Guardian has published over the last like five years (down to the sea silk, really).
The author dedicates a significant amount of time to discussing Beyoncé’s tailor (you think being into Beyoncé makes you quirky and hip, we get it) but then undermines a lot of her point by relating the story of going to a tailor in Southeast Asia to get a blouse made - instead of making some point about how tailoring is highly-regarded in some places but has become almost a tourist attraction in others and how that happened and why we place the value we do, she rhapsodises about being measured for a blouse, being told how much fabric she’ll need, then having a sales assistant show her that she could drape some of the fabric over herself in a mirror to see how it’d look as a blouse and how connected it made her feel to the process... in which she participated only as a consumer, without naming any of the actual people who made anything...
Also, she goes on and on about how she’s never had any experience like this in the west and I’m just like... have you ever been to a fabric store? You can literally do this anywhere, you just can’t exoticise it and weirdly tell on yourself in the same way, sorry!
There’s also a lot that can be boiled down to people choosing to make garments vs people who have no choice but to make garments but rather than just say outright, like, look! Mass production is terrible! The US ruined the economies for places then put factories there and didn’t leave any viably better options for anyone so now people have to be on loud assembly lines making hoodies at scale and there’s literally nothing redeemable about it! And sometimes changing all of this feels really really hopeless but some people can make things sustainably at small scales and it’s kind of interesting how they personally make it work (using machinery that 70 years ago would have lined sweatshops and been regarded as bad and eroding craftsmanship* but whatever, I guess) even if it’s not really feasible for everyone and has its own weird pitfalls. Instead, she sets it up as this weird dichotomy of like sweatshops! people like fast fashion! let me shoehorn in my weird fake feminism! you may not know this, but america is sometimes bad? and like shh i’m weaving. shhh i’m weaving on a 200-year-old loom. let me shoehorn in something that shows how hip i am, like referring to women mill workers as ‘hustler-scholars.’ in england, knitters are civilised and understand, like, yarn terroir.
And it gets really tiresome!! And then she ends with all these grand romantic proclamations about sewing and writing and I was just like... lady, I spend all day writing and then I spend a lot of my nights and weekends sewing and knitting. To misquote Kicking and Screaming, I am thinking of clothes, and parts of clothes, sometimes in warehouses in random parts of the city. And while I am doing all of that, my thoughts are literally nothing like what you’re describing, please just stop, for both of us. Also, the knitting community here is very weird and by weird I mean racist and I think it’s strange that you didn’t go into that side of ‘heritage crafts’ but I should have known better by that point in the book. Also overall the book is suuuper US-centric and, like, no thanks!
*I have a 1933 chain stitch embroidery machine (of which, also, I’m pretty sure she names the wrong inventor, but whatever) so I’m by no means immune to this
The author dedicates a significant amount of time to discussing Beyoncé’s tailor (you think being into Beyoncé makes you quirky and hip, we get it) but then undermines a lot of her point by relating the story of going to a tailor in Southeast Asia to get a blouse made - instead of making some point about how tailoring is highly-regarded in some places but has become almost a tourist attraction in others and how that happened and why we place the value we do, she rhapsodises about being measured for a blouse, being told how much fabric she’ll need, then having a sales assistant show her that she could drape some of the fabric over herself in a mirror to see how it’d look as a blouse and how connected it made her feel to the process... in which she participated only as a consumer, without naming any of the actual people who made anything...
Also, she goes on and on about how she’s never had any experience like this in the west and I’m just like... have you ever been to a fabric store? You can literally do this anywhere, you just can’t exoticise it and weirdly tell on yourself in the same way, sorry!
There’s also a lot that can be boiled down to people choosing to make garments vs people who have no choice but to make garments but rather than just say outright, like, look! Mass production is terrible! The US ruined the economies for places then put factories there and didn’t leave any viably better options for anyone so now people have to be on loud assembly lines making hoodies at scale and there’s literally nothing redeemable about it! And sometimes changing all of this feels really really hopeless but some people can make things sustainably at small scales and it’s kind of interesting how they personally make it work (using machinery that 70 years ago would have lined sweatshops and been regarded as bad and eroding craftsmanship* but whatever, I guess) even if it’s not really feasible for everyone and has its own weird pitfalls. Instead, she sets it up as this weird dichotomy of like sweatshops! people like fast fashion! let me shoehorn in my weird fake feminism! you may not know this, but america is sometimes bad? and like shh i’m weaving. shhh i’m weaving on a 200-year-old loom. let me shoehorn in something that shows how hip i am, like referring to women mill workers as ‘hustler-scholars.’ in england, knitters are civilised and understand, like, yarn terroir.
And it gets really tiresome!! And then she ends with all these grand romantic proclamations about sewing and writing and I was just like... lady, I spend all day writing and then I spend a lot of my nights and weekends sewing and knitting. To misquote Kicking and Screaming, I am thinking of clothes, and parts of clothes, sometimes in warehouses in random parts of the city. And while I am doing all of that, my thoughts are literally nothing like what you’re describing, please just stop, for both of us. Also, the knitting community here is very weird and by weird I mean racist and I think it’s strange that you didn’t go into that side of ‘heritage crafts’ but I should have known better by that point in the book. Also overall the book is suuuper US-centric and, like, no thanks!
*I have a 1933 chain stitch embroidery machine (of which, also, I’m pretty sure she names the wrong inventor, but whatever) so I’m by no means immune to this
November 1, 2022
Histories of fabric and clothing are inevitably somewhat depressing, as brutal human and environmental exploitation are so integral to them. The previous two books I'd read on this topic, The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History and Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes, managed to be somewhat hopeful due to choice of focus. The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History, while ostensibly similar in structure to Worn: A People's History of Clothing, is more interested in material than social history. Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes meanwhile, is particularly focused on technological innovations. Worn: A People's History of Clothing, as the title suggests, is concerned with the social side of fabric and garment manufacture across the centuries. As cloth and garments have been so fundamental to societies, cultures, and economies throughout history, I got no sense of repetition between the three books - or indeed others I've read. There is so much to say about the history of fabric and clothing and, fortuitously, many great books on the topic.
Worn: A People's History of Clothing is structured broadly chronologically and by fibres: linen, cotton, silk, synthetics, and wool. It traces the history of labour used to grow, spin, weave, and sew fibres into clothing. I had to alternate it with a novel as the current global fast fashion system is such an absolute fucking nightmare. Thanhauser writes well, striking a good balance between anecdote and broader overview. She is particularly strong on the history of unionisation and industrial disputes:
Worn: A People's History of Clothing includes plenty of interesting historical details, while also laying bare the terrible social and environmental cost of cotton and viscose in particular. I hadn't realised that viscose production is so incredibly poisonous - and of course it's touted as a sustainable fabric these days! In the synthetics section, the chapter on Honduras' Export Processing Zones is particularly hard-hitting. Ending the book with wool expresses Thanhauser's hope for the future as rediscovery of traditional small-scale creativity. As a contrast to other writers, notably Dana Thomas, she has no faith in technology as a force for improving the clothing industry. This is entirely reasonable, given that within a globalised neoliberal economic system technology will always be used to drive down costs and exploit workers. Her view of the significance of working directly with fibres is almost mystical, yet she exhibits no illusions about capitalism:
Although facing the reality of industrial clothing manufacture is tough, Worn: A People's History of Clothing is a fascinating and well-researched book that reads well with others on the past and future of garment manufacture such as The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History, Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes, and Stitched Up: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion. Cloth and clothing are very important and often-overlooked elements of daily life that deserve the close attention, historical context, and contemporary analysis these books provide.
Worn: A People's History of Clothing is structured broadly chronologically and by fibres: linen, cotton, silk, synthetics, and wool. It traces the history of labour used to grow, spin, weave, and sew fibres into clothing. I had to alternate it with a novel as the current global fast fashion system is such an absolute fucking nightmare. Thanhauser writes well, striking a good balance between anecdote and broader overview. She is particularly strong on the history of unionisation and industrial disputes:
As the garment industries left the United States, it undid the work of industrial feminists like Clara Lemlich and Rose Schneiderman, who had the audacity to demand that intellectual satisfaction was the birthright of every sewing machine operator. This new [21st century] brand of feminism didn't care to protect sewing work as good work; rather it scoured the earth to find the cheapest new sources of exploitable, female labour.
Working class immigrants like Clara Lemlich had only managed to gain the public's sympathy in their strike of 1909-10 when they were joined by their bourgeois women sympathisers, the 'Mink Brigades'. But wealthy 'feminists' like Massenet [founder of Net-a-Porter] don't seem interested in standing shoulder-to-shoulder with working class women. Rather, they looked out over them, in their insignificant multiplicity, through glass. And if these Vietnamese workers wanted to demand the same rights that Clara Lemlich had demanded, they would have to face off against employers who were literally a world away. The IGLWU had fought hard to organise the whole East Coast; the workers here would have to organise whole continents. And even that wouldn't be enough.
Worn: A People's History of Clothing includes plenty of interesting historical details, while also laying bare the terrible social and environmental cost of cotton and viscose in particular. I hadn't realised that viscose production is so incredibly poisonous - and of course it's touted as a sustainable fabric these days! In the synthetics section, the chapter on Honduras' Export Processing Zones is particularly hard-hitting. Ending the book with wool expresses Thanhauser's hope for the future as rediscovery of traditional small-scale creativity. As a contrast to other writers, notably Dana Thomas, she has no faith in technology as a force for improving the clothing industry. This is entirely reasonable, given that within a globalised neoliberal economic system technology will always be used to drive down costs and exploit workers. Her view of the significance of working directly with fibres is almost mystical, yet she exhibits no illusions about capitalism:
Nor is the answer as simple as a return to the handmade. [...] Good fabric requires us to rebuild entire systems of water use and conservation, distribution of wealth and resources, trade regimes, and agriculture.
Efforts to save handicrafts are important, but we must be careful that those efforts treat the disease, and not merely the symptom. The making of good fabric cannot happen in isolation: it cannot happen without good communities and good agriculture. It cannot happen in the context of brutal, extractive trade regimes.
Although facing the reality of industrial clothing manufacture is tough, Worn: A People's History of Clothing is a fascinating and well-researched book that reads well with others on the past and future of garment manufacture such as The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History, Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes, and Stitched Up: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion. Cloth and clothing are very important and often-overlooked elements of daily life that deserve the close attention, historical context, and contemporary analysis these books provide.
May 15, 2022
“When George Zieber suggested Singer take a break from the wood type machine and try to tinker with the sewing machine, he is alleged to have responded, “What a devilish machine . . . You want to do away with the only thing that keeps women quiet, their sewing.”
✮✮
The tales of fabrics and clothes, and the history behind where they come from. Sofi covers Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics and Wool in a new take on their pasts.
I really wanted to love this book, but I just couldn’t. I loved reading the history of each type of clothing, but some of it just went too far for my liking personally, maybe it’s just me. For example, in the first section of the book there is a chapter labelled “Underthings”, which was amazingly written, but it went deep into an affair of an inventor of one of the first sewing machines, which honestly just felt like was extra info that wasn’t needed, you know? However, if you don’t mind things like that, maybe this book is for you!
✮✮
The tales of fabrics and clothes, and the history behind where they come from. Sofi covers Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics and Wool in a new take on their pasts.
I really wanted to love this book, but I just couldn’t. I loved reading the history of each type of clothing, but some of it just went too far for my liking personally, maybe it’s just me. For example, in the first section of the book there is a chapter labelled “Underthings”, which was amazingly written, but it went deep into an affair of an inventor of one of the first sewing machines, which honestly just felt like was extra info that wasn’t needed, you know? However, if you don’t mind things like that, maybe this book is for you!
May 27, 2023
It’s well researched and well written. A very informative book. I really liked it but I did find it a bit too dry. Some of the chapters can meander a bit but they always get wrapped up well in order to transition smoothly to the next.
By the time I reached chapter ten some internal reading timer told me I should be done this book by now but I still had a long way to go and I finished feeling it was a bit overlong but still solidly good. The style is kind of Howard Zinn meets Margaret Visser but not as strong as either of those authors.
By the time I reached chapter ten some internal reading timer told me I should be done this book by now but I still had a long way to go and I finished feeling it was a bit overlong but still solidly good. The style is kind of Howard Zinn meets Margaret Visser but not as strong as either of those authors.
December 30, 2021
Every year I like to watch The Christmas Carol ( the one with Alistair Sim). There are many scenes that I like, but one of my favorite ones is when the undertaker, the laundress, and the other lady are selling items that they have acquired after the death of a man. It was always interesting that the woman, who had his nice fabrics, got the most. Now that I have read Worn by Sofi Thanhauser that scene has more poignancy.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved how Sofi described how fabric and the cultivation of crops shaped civilizations. Linen, silk, cotton, and Wool have fueled economies, political practices, and labor throughout the world.
I definitely recommend it!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved how Sofi described how fabric and the cultivation of crops shaped civilizations. Linen, silk, cotton, and Wool have fueled economies, political practices, and labor throughout the world.
I definitely recommend it!
April 3, 2022
Clothes were not something I ever thought about until recently. I started seeing studies on microplastics and how they had entered the food chain to the point where they had shown up in human fetuses and in human bloodstreams. I learned about fast fashion and how it contributed to this problem. I learned about what the clothes I wore were actually made of, how they were made, and who was making them.
Thanhauser's book is a beautifully researched account of clothing and how we went from weaving cloth in our homes to the fast fashion industry of modern times. This is an expansive overview of the economic, cultural, and social history of clothing. I have to admit, I was not expecting this book to be as good as it was. Thanhauser's book is split into five sections each covering a different fiber; Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics, and Wool. Each section reveals another aspect of the clothing industry, its development, and how we ended up where we are today.
The big takeaways from this book are that fast fashion is just a new phase in the long tradition of the problems caused by the fashion industry. The heart of the clothing industry has always been cheap labor and environmental exploitation. It is a mistake to underestimate what kind of tragedies have been perpetuated in our pursuit of cheap textiles. At the same time, Thanhauser emphasizes that it is humans who have made this system and it is completely possible to change the damaging nature of the clothing industry.
One complaint I have is that Thanhauser does not list more companies that provide alternatives to fast fashion and clothing made from plastics. She mentions in her conclusion that small textile companies to exist and do sell clothes. She mentions that these companies have trouble staying afloat. I would love to buy from them but I can't do that if I don't know where they are. It seems like a missed opportunity.
This is a fantastic book,one that took me by surprise. Definitely a must read.
Thanhauser's book is a beautifully researched account of clothing and how we went from weaving cloth in our homes to the fast fashion industry of modern times. This is an expansive overview of the economic, cultural, and social history of clothing. I have to admit, I was not expecting this book to be as good as it was. Thanhauser's book is split into five sections each covering a different fiber; Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics, and Wool. Each section reveals another aspect of the clothing industry, its development, and how we ended up where we are today.
The big takeaways from this book are that fast fashion is just a new phase in the long tradition of the problems caused by the fashion industry. The heart of the clothing industry has always been cheap labor and environmental exploitation. It is a mistake to underestimate what kind of tragedies have been perpetuated in our pursuit of cheap textiles. At the same time, Thanhauser emphasizes that it is humans who have made this system and it is completely possible to change the damaging nature of the clothing industry.
One complaint I have is that Thanhauser does not list more companies that provide alternatives to fast fashion and clothing made from plastics. She mentions in her conclusion that small textile companies to exist and do sell clothes. She mentions that these companies have trouble staying afloat. I would love to buy from them but I can't do that if I don't know where they are. It seems like a missed opportunity.
This is a fantastic book,one that took me by surprise. Definitely a must read.
November 24, 2023
So like a lot of other reviewers here, I was caught out by the misleading title, the lack of editing, the heavy concentration on the US and the overly lengthy descriptions of things that could have been shorter!
The premise for this book is great but the execution isn't so good. Thanhauser jumps around too much, there is a lack of focus in the writing. At times, Thanhauser comes across as pretentious and as other people have mentioned, there is too much of a textbook vibe going on. The read becomes laborious instead if enjoyable.
I'm glad this was a library loan. Not my cup of cha!
The premise for this book is great but the execution isn't so good. Thanhauser jumps around too much, there is a lack of focus in the writing. At times, Thanhauser comes across as pretentious and as other people have mentioned, there is too much of a textbook vibe going on. The read becomes laborious instead if enjoyable.
I'm glad this was a library loan. Not my cup of cha!
October 8, 2023
This was a fascinating journey into our clothing, from the fibers we use, the environmental impacts of creating them, and our reasons for dressing as we do. I suspect the messages in this book will stay with me for a very long time.
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November 5, 2024
"Fashion is political."
Not what I expected, and oh so much better for it. A people's history of clothing, from the earliest documented times to the commercialization and mass production of fast fashion to the slow reclaiming of craft wear. Capitalism to communism to monarchism to labour unions to sheep diversity to indigenous land rights to climate change and environmentalism, how we source what we wear and how we wear it means something.
It's like the cerulean quote from Devil Wears Prada to an extent, coupled with workers' rights and unions and exploitation and sweatshops. It's the devaluation of anything deemed women's work when done by women at home and the elevation to fashion when done by men in fine shops.
It's Paris Paloma chanting "You make me do too much labor" over and over and over.
I highly recommend this read, but I also recommend pairing it with Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor.
Not what I expected, and oh so much better for it. A people's history of clothing, from the earliest documented times to the commercialization and mass production of fast fashion to the slow reclaiming of craft wear. Capitalism to communism to monarchism to labour unions to sheep diversity to indigenous land rights to climate change and environmentalism, how we source what we wear and how we wear it means something.
It's like the cerulean quote from Devil Wears Prada to an extent, coupled with workers' rights and unions and exploitation and sweatshops. It's the devaluation of anything deemed women's work when done by women at home and the elevation to fashion when done by men in fine shops.
It's Paris Paloma chanting "You make me do too much labor" over and over and over.
I highly recommend this read, but I also recommend pairing it with Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor.
August 4, 2023
This book is a study, a history, observations over all, and finally, a proposition.
Sofi Thanhauser has done her time and deep digs into humanity's obsession with owning objects that distinguish individuals, groups and tribes one from another - and what better way to do that than with clothing? A necessary thing, clothing, to keep us warm, cool, protected from the elements of our world, our homes. Clothing then becomes our badge, our indications of who's up, and who's down, in or out, rich or poor, educated or not so much.
Settle in and this author presents an unfolding history of what came to be when and where, and who got to enjoy it, and who got to create it. Usually not at all the same folks. For me this was a very compelling part of the story. . . one we never ever really want to think about it. As I sit here in my favorite soft, swishy top, with its "made in X" indicator right between my shoulders (one of many, so many tops in my closets, dressers and armoires) the guilt creeps up and over my ears. . .
Observations on our current state of affairs as it relates to the clothing industry is sobering and enough to put the reigns on this eager pony. Not all that goes to Goodwill or the thriftshop is bought by a needy soul who wants to look as great as I do. . .making room for next seasons purchases. Much of it is ending out in large lost piles throughout the world, a mess from which others will suffer.
Lastly, the author presents some solutions, suggestions on changed behavior and retrenchment of our habits. And, as we all know, that begins with us individually, one at a time. One soft, swishy top at a time. Mend it, reuse it, use it until its useful life is complete, or actually give it to someone who is real - buy nothing groups are all over the world now - and very effective.
Worn: A People's History of Clothing is an education, and a read that, at a minimum, will leave you with opportunity to reconsider your relationship with the clothes in your life.
Sofi Thanhauser has done her time and deep digs into humanity's obsession with owning objects that distinguish individuals, groups and tribes one from another - and what better way to do that than with clothing? A necessary thing, clothing, to keep us warm, cool, protected from the elements of our world, our homes. Clothing then becomes our badge, our indications of who's up, and who's down, in or out, rich or poor, educated or not so much.
Settle in and this author presents an unfolding history of what came to be when and where, and who got to enjoy it, and who got to create it. Usually not at all the same folks. For me this was a very compelling part of the story. . . one we never ever really want to think about it. As I sit here in my favorite soft, swishy top, with its "made in X" indicator right between my shoulders (one of many, so many tops in my closets, dressers and armoires) the guilt creeps up and over my ears. . .
Observations on our current state of affairs as it relates to the clothing industry is sobering and enough to put the reigns on this eager pony. Not all that goes to Goodwill or the thriftshop is bought by a needy soul who wants to look as great as I do. . .making room for next seasons purchases. Much of it is ending out in large lost piles throughout the world, a mess from which others will suffer.
Lastly, the author presents some solutions, suggestions on changed behavior and retrenchment of our habits. And, as we all know, that begins with us individually, one at a time. One soft, swishy top at a time. Mend it, reuse it, use it until its useful life is complete, or actually give it to someone who is real - buy nothing groups are all over the world now - and very effective.
Worn: A People's History of Clothing is an education, and a read that, at a minimum, will leave you with opportunity to reconsider your relationship with the clothes in your life.
January 9, 2022
In Worn, Sofi Tanhauser has produced an excellent, comprehensive account of our relationship with cloth and clothing. Encompassing social, economic, colonial, cultural and gender history from ancient times when people started twisting linen into thread to globalised fast fashion industry and sweatshops of the modern world. As more and more reports about the environmental cost and exploitative practices of cloth and garment manufacturing industries come to light, Worn is a timely and an essential read. Furthermore, the global pandemic and frequent lockdowns have caused many to reassess how many clothes they buy and whether they need to – I would urge them to read this book. I would urge anyone with interest in fashion and clothing to read this book.
Worn is divided into chapters on linen, cotton, silk, synthetics and wool. The history of how people came to use these fabrics, how we got to mass production and who got to control it is very well researched and presented. Tanhauser focuses on the US but visits factories in China, India, Honduras and elsewhere so she does present the reader with a global picture, and it is not pretty.
The history itself is fascinating. While I’m familiar with quite a bit of it, I’ve still learned a lot. Gender history, in particular and how and why women were gradually but comprehensively excluded from guilds and earning money in late medieval and early modern times. The rise of Paris fashion and how Louis XIV promoted domestic manufacture and export of luxury textiles and clothing. The book has also given me a lot of ideas for further reading.
Essential reading for anyone wishing to make better choices about the clothing they wear. Highly recommended.
My thanks to Allen Lane, Penguin UK and Netgalley for the opportunity to read Worn.
Worn is divided into chapters on linen, cotton, silk, synthetics and wool. The history of how people came to use these fabrics, how we got to mass production and who got to control it is very well researched and presented. Tanhauser focuses on the US but visits factories in China, India, Honduras and elsewhere so she does present the reader with a global picture, and it is not pretty.
The history itself is fascinating. While I’m familiar with quite a bit of it, I’ve still learned a lot. Gender history, in particular and how and why women were gradually but comprehensively excluded from guilds and earning money in late medieval and early modern times. The rise of Paris fashion and how Louis XIV promoted domestic manufacture and export of luxury textiles and clothing. The book has also given me a lot of ideas for further reading.
Essential reading for anyone wishing to make better choices about the clothing they wear. Highly recommended.
My thanks to Allen Lane, Penguin UK and Netgalley for the opportunity to read Worn.
January 28, 2022
I have been living a largely slow fashion life for years, first by necessity, then by choice. The deluge of fast fashion and the enormous amount of harm it does to people and the environment is never far from my mind. It can be hard to explain to people just how damaging fast fashion is and I think that Sofi Thanhauser does a brilliant job of investigating the history and the impact of how we make clothes and how they impact on the world.
The first sections of the book are arranged by types of cloth and how they have shaped what and how we wear what we wear. As she traces the history of making, she arcs out into how cloth has always been a political animal. Countries' fortunes rose and fell on the wool trade, for example. She also examines slavery, both historical and contemporary and traces the true cost of where your clothing comes from.
This is not an easy read. The impact and damage is massive and some of the topics that she explores are extremely upsetting. Once read, you will never think about the clothes you buy in the same way again.
The last section offers slightly more hope as Thanhauser explores people who are shunning the great and complex machinery of fast fashion and who are going back to more communal ways of making. I wanted to say simple, but the fact is that going back to making cloth and clothes the old fashioned way is far from simple and far from inexpensive, but it is fascinating and inspiring nonetheless.
The first sections of the book are arranged by types of cloth and how they have shaped what and how we wear what we wear. As she traces the history of making, she arcs out into how cloth has always been a political animal. Countries' fortunes rose and fell on the wool trade, for example. She also examines slavery, both historical and contemporary and traces the true cost of where your clothing comes from.
This is not an easy read. The impact and damage is massive and some of the topics that she explores are extremely upsetting. Once read, you will never think about the clothes you buy in the same way again.
The last section offers slightly more hope as Thanhauser explores people who are shunning the great and complex machinery of fast fashion and who are going back to more communal ways of making. I wanted to say simple, but the fact is that going back to making cloth and clothes the old fashioned way is far from simple and far from inexpensive, but it is fascinating and inspiring nonetheless.
January 17, 2023
A grab bag of history, anecdote, opinion, and politics. I have to admire this book for trying to do the most, although I can’t say that it sticks the landing.
The author is an active guide throughout the book and presents a rather incoherent political ideology. She admits to feeling shame in front of factory workers, smugly denounces girl boss fashion designers, and yet does not interview a single worker herself. I don’t exactly know how I feel about her strong statements about workers’ experiences when she does not take time during her world travels to speak to one.
And at the end of this whole book, after detailing the exploitation of industrial workers and ecological ravages of the textile industry, she arrives at the final section, which is, you guessed it, Jeffersonian economics. She pulled a goddamn “omnivores dilemma” on me. Sure maybe she uses small farms and boutique textile mills as a bright spot, a moment of optimism among all the negativity, but it’s centered like her rebuttal to the global crisis. Crafting cannot answer the problems of the textile industry.
The author is an active guide throughout the book and presents a rather incoherent political ideology. She admits to feeling shame in front of factory workers, smugly denounces girl boss fashion designers, and yet does not interview a single worker herself. I don’t exactly know how I feel about her strong statements about workers’ experiences when she does not take time during her world travels to speak to one.
And at the end of this whole book, after detailing the exploitation of industrial workers and ecological ravages of the textile industry, she arrives at the final section, which is, you guessed it, Jeffersonian economics. She pulled a goddamn “omnivores dilemma” on me. Sure maybe she uses small farms and boutique textile mills as a bright spot, a moment of optimism among all the negativity, but it’s centered like her rebuttal to the global crisis. Crafting cannot answer the problems of the textile industry.
January 22, 2022
A history of cloth rather than clothes. Years ago, fabrics varied from region to region as people used local yarns and dyes to make traditional textiles. Now everything is transported around the world and most clothes are made in factories in countries where labour is cheaper and there are no trade unions to help workers. I remember a time when M&S proudly stated that most of their clothing was made in the UK. No longer so. This book is a potted history of why that happened but seems to be mainly aimed at the American market. It tells us about denim looms and the proud Navaho people weaving while interned on their reservations, but hardly a mention of Scottish tweeds. I loved the beginning, explaining how the author became interested in the history of clothing manufacture after visiting Dumptique, a posh used clothes shop on Martha's Vineyard. A book to dip into.
April 3, 2022
This book was more depressing than I thought it would be, but I should have known that anything subtitled "A People's History" would be a downer. I did enjoy this and found it very interesting, but I was left feeling scattered, like I had just read a bunch of loosely related essays. The chapters bounce forward and back throughout history and aren't organized in a way that makes much sense to me. According to the section headings it is ostensibly organized around fiber type, but there's a whole chapter about denimheads, shuttle looms, and selvedge jeans (a fascinating chapter, one of my favorites!) in the "Wool" section...why is this not with cotton? Ultimately, I think this book is trying to do too much- is it a history of fiber, fabric, or fashion?
April 16, 2022
As a knitting and sewing slow fashion enthusiast, I found this book endlessly fascinating.
September 17, 2024
5 star as predicted. Anyone with any interest in fashion at all needs to read this book. I used it as a reference for my thesis but never fully read it (if ur my thesis supervisor somehow reading this ignore that part) and I’m so glad I did. Idk how she fit the entire history of textiles into 300 something pages but 🙏🙏🙏 I LOVE BEING EDUCATED ON TOPICS IM INTERESTED IN💛💛💛💛
July 7, 2023
Je n'attribue 5 étoiles qu'aux livres qui ont complètement changé ma vie, et Worn de Sofi Thanhauser fait partie de ceux-là.
November 27, 2022
Without clothes, we’d be naked. Clothes have always been one of the triptych of basic human needs (food, clothing, housing) since time immemorial. Although I’m not the kind of person who’d pay that much attention to clothes, much has changed in our relations to the triptych of basic human needs in the past few centuries since the industrial era began. Mark Bittman discusses extensively in Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal how our relations to food have changed from eating for nourishment into favouring instant edible foods that we no longer know from where they were sourced. The same thing could be said about clothes, whose history is lost in the advent of the fashion industry which treats clothes as commodities and is no longer producing them responsibly.
Sofi Thanhauser begins her book by making a declarative sentence: I like clothes. What follows is a story of someone passionate enough to discover traces of human civilisation through cloth manufactured by plants in some parts of the globe or artisanal weavers still using traditional methods of producing their clothes. I initially expected this book to be a history book with periodical assessments of how our relations to clothes change from time to time. Instead, this book is not following a historical timeline, focussing on thematic explanations of five clothing materials as its central tenet, namely: linen, cotton, silk, synthetics, and wool. Four out of five materials are sourced from animals or plants, while synthetics are the only materials made artificially.
I had the initial impression that the author through this book made an attempt to advocate the return of sourcing our own clothes locally through responsible ways (and possibly, also staying in touch with the stories or meanings behind each cloth). The author, however, makes an admission: ‘Today it is no longer cheaper to make your own clothes than to buy them.’ It costs more money to make our own clothes rather than, say, buy them at a nearby department store. Neither that most people would be equipped with the necessary skills to tailor or weave their clothes. However, the author also provides an estimate that the current textile industry produces ‘a full fifth of global wastewater, and emits one-tenth of global carbon emissions’, which is quite significant in relation to mitigating climate change and food security.
There are many more disturbing statistics presented, yet the book is not without “field research” as well. The author does provide commentary on how cloth making was initially done mainly by women in between their activities, and the industrial fabric production took that vocation out of women by commoditising a leisure activity. Two materials, cotton and silk, are also close to the history of colonialism mainly in the colonisation of India, slavery in the American South, and the modern-day “eco genocide” of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang, China. In some parts of the world, lands that were previously used to plant food commodities are transformed for their purpose to turn into the cotton plantations, such as in the case of British India from 1860 to 1920, where 55 million acres of cotton came into cultivation, mainly in colonial areas. In Xinjiang, the XPCC campaign to build cotton farms also provided ecological consequences as it caused destruction to the natural land and failed to enrich the Uyghurs as it brought water scarcity to their farms.
Ecological consequences of cloth production are apparent, a view which the author reinforces by providing first-hand accounts of cloth factory workers or managers in some parts of the world that house the manufacturing plants of some of the world’s most famous fashion brands (if not for the distressing accounts, this book would make an excellent travelogue). At the same time, the author also advocates the benefits of sourcing our clothes locally, which could reduce the costs of transporting clothes from one part of the world to another, thus reducing the supply chains and other irresponsible factors in the production of clothes. Besides that, thrifting (going shopping at a thrift store, a flea market, or a garage sale) is also an option that we could consider to reduce clothes consumption. I find this book insightful, even though I would say “why we need to source our clothes responsibly” would be a more suitable subtitle than “a people’s history of clothing”.
Sofi Thanhauser begins her book by making a declarative sentence: I like clothes. What follows is a story of someone passionate enough to discover traces of human civilisation through cloth manufactured by plants in some parts of the globe or artisanal weavers still using traditional methods of producing their clothes. I initially expected this book to be a history book with periodical assessments of how our relations to clothes change from time to time. Instead, this book is not following a historical timeline, focussing on thematic explanations of five clothing materials as its central tenet, namely: linen, cotton, silk, synthetics, and wool. Four out of five materials are sourced from animals or plants, while synthetics are the only materials made artificially.
I had the initial impression that the author through this book made an attempt to advocate the return of sourcing our own clothes locally through responsible ways (and possibly, also staying in touch with the stories or meanings behind each cloth). The author, however, makes an admission: ‘Today it is no longer cheaper to make your own clothes than to buy them.’ It costs more money to make our own clothes rather than, say, buy them at a nearby department store. Neither that most people would be equipped with the necessary skills to tailor or weave their clothes. However, the author also provides an estimate that the current textile industry produces ‘a full fifth of global wastewater, and emits one-tenth of global carbon emissions’, which is quite significant in relation to mitigating climate change and food security.
There are many more disturbing statistics presented, yet the book is not without “field research” as well. The author does provide commentary on how cloth making was initially done mainly by women in between their activities, and the industrial fabric production took that vocation out of women by commoditising a leisure activity. Two materials, cotton and silk, are also close to the history of colonialism mainly in the colonisation of India, slavery in the American South, and the modern-day “eco genocide” of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang, China. In some parts of the world, lands that were previously used to plant food commodities are transformed for their purpose to turn into the cotton plantations, such as in the case of British India from 1860 to 1920, where 55 million acres of cotton came into cultivation, mainly in colonial areas. In Xinjiang, the XPCC campaign to build cotton farms also provided ecological consequences as it caused destruction to the natural land and failed to enrich the Uyghurs as it brought water scarcity to their farms.
Ecological consequences of cloth production are apparent, a view which the author reinforces by providing first-hand accounts of cloth factory workers or managers in some parts of the world that house the manufacturing plants of some of the world’s most famous fashion brands (if not for the distressing accounts, this book would make an excellent travelogue). At the same time, the author also advocates the benefits of sourcing our clothes locally, which could reduce the costs of transporting clothes from one part of the world to another, thus reducing the supply chains and other irresponsible factors in the production of clothes. Besides that, thrifting (going shopping at a thrift store, a flea market, or a garage sale) is also an option that we could consider to reduce clothes consumption. I find this book insightful, even though I would say “why we need to source our clothes responsibly” would be a more suitable subtitle than “a people’s history of clothing”.
June 30, 2024
Such an interesting look at the history of fabric and fibre production and its relation to Labour processes and exploitation - would have loved to see a bit more of a developed thesis for the future
February 23, 2022
I have long taught a course on quilts through the lens of material culture, an aspect of anthropology. We read quite a bit about the history of fabric in the US and think about the ways the advent of each new machine in the manufacture of cotton changed the lives of women, of workers, and altered the power and leisure in each class. The history of cotton in this country is a history of how such a labor intensive crop could have been an export and financially viable and Thanhauser doesn't shy away from the reality of the trade of enslaved people, the enforcement of free labor through cruelty, and the intersection of the southern cotton trade with the Ku Klux Klan. In other words: still relevant.
As a lifelong fabric nerd, I was bowled over by the degree to which Thanhauser has researched all the main kinds of fiber: linen, cotton, wool, silk, viscose--which has an incredible history of poisoning and rendering disabled its workers and being tied to totalitarian regimes around the times of WWII.
Not only that, the author thinks through the deadening effects of capitalism and threads through the facts of landowning and the sudden creation of the working class who weren't sure which way to turn to make a living.
The book does not shy away from discussing the US-led destabilization of Honduras in the 2010's so that its workforce could become cheap labor for clothing labels that are ubiquitous like Target, Walmart, etc.
I'm assuming that the low stars are from people who thought they would see photos of clothing or trolls trying to keep people from hearing about the truth of labor history as it cuts close to the information that is being banned or removed from the US's culture, due to the continued circulation of propaganda and pandering to people who would ban the Bible if they heard what was in it.
Also, it's a juicy history. I was never bored.
Thanhauser has written about how the making of fabric and clothing charts our wastefulness, and the changing value and geographical homes of labor.
As a lifelong fabric nerd, I was bowled over by the degree to which Thanhauser has researched all the main kinds of fiber: linen, cotton, wool, silk, viscose--which has an incredible history of poisoning and rendering disabled its workers and being tied to totalitarian regimes around the times of WWII.
Not only that, the author thinks through the deadening effects of capitalism and threads through the facts of landowning and the sudden creation of the working class who weren't sure which way to turn to make a living.
The book does not shy away from discussing the US-led destabilization of Honduras in the 2010's so that its workforce could become cheap labor for clothing labels that are ubiquitous like Target, Walmart, etc.
I'm assuming that the low stars are from people who thought they would see photos of clothing or trolls trying to keep people from hearing about the truth of labor history as it cuts close to the information that is being banned or removed from the US's culture, due to the continued circulation of propaganda and pandering to people who would ban the Bible if they heard what was in it.
Also, it's a juicy history. I was never bored.
Thanhauser has written about how the making of fabric and clothing charts our wastefulness, and the changing value and geographical homes of labor.
July 27, 2022
The last decade produced quite an impressive number of books bringing attention to the fact that our current model of clothes production is terrible for just about everyone except for the owners of Inditex, and this one stands out by focusing specifically on the people and communities who produce fabrics, both throughout the history and in our present day. It reads more like a social history at times and I would have liked perhaps fewer details on a Honduran coup and more on the many other ways to produce fabrics around the world, but all in all a very informative and well-written read.
June 21, 2024
I’m usually a generous reviewer but this was unbelievably good !!
January 29, 2022
4 stars
I am grateful to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for sending me an advanced copy of this book for review.
This was a great nonfiction read. When I read this synopsis of this book, I was very interested in seeing if the author was going to present the history of clothing in an interesting and accessible way; however, this book offers so much more. What we get is a history of different regions of the world, woven together using the story of fabric. Something we are so familiar with, and that has been intimately linked to the progression of society and technology in different parts of the world throughout history.
The book is broken up into sections based on different types of fabric. We start off with linen, and then we move into cotton, silk, synthetics, and finally wool . I found it interesting how the author was able to follow the history of a particular fabric from its initial emergence into human use, through industrialization and manufacturing, and showing how this affected the people directly involved with its production. I also like that we explore how the industry surrounding garments has developed over time, and how the garment industry itself has led to so many socio-political changes. I found this book very educational when it came to not only the way in which these fabrics are created, but also about the impact that garment manufacturing has on the environment, how garment manufacturing has grown overtime, and the technologies that developed directly related to garment manufacturing. There is also important discussion of how the garment manufacturing industry was closely tied to the progression of women’s rights .
The one issue I have with this book is that with the discussion of these different types of fabrics and the garment industry, some parts of the world were completely missing from the narrative . For example, Africa was mentioned briefly when the discussion of cotton was brought up but for the most part the garment industry, fabrics etc. were not discussed at all with regard to the African continent. Also, apart from speaking about the injustices that the garment industry forces onto certain countries in Central America in modern day, we really did not discuss Latin America either. I feel like this book could have benefitted from having a truly global approach that included every region of the world, and not only focus so strongly on specific areas (particularly the United States, Western Europe, and East Asia).
Overall, this was a great read, and I thought it was well written, researched, and accessible . It would be a good read for almost anyone who's interested in history. I recommend this for people who are interested in world history and politics generally, and people who are interested in fashion and garment manufacturing specifically.
I am grateful to Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for sending me an advanced copy of this book for review.
This was a great nonfiction read. When I read this synopsis of this book, I was very interested in seeing if the author was going to present the history of clothing in an interesting and accessible way; however, this book offers so much more. What we get is a history of different regions of the world, woven together using the story of fabric. Something we are so familiar with, and that has been intimately linked to the progression of society and technology in different parts of the world throughout history.
The book is broken up into sections based on different types of fabric. We start off with linen, and then we move into cotton, silk, synthetics, and finally wool . I found it interesting how the author was able to follow the history of a particular fabric from its initial emergence into human use, through industrialization and manufacturing, and showing how this affected the people directly involved with its production. I also like that we explore how the industry surrounding garments has developed over time, and how the garment industry itself has led to so many socio-political changes. I found this book very educational when it came to not only the way in which these fabrics are created, but also about the impact that garment manufacturing has on the environment, how garment manufacturing has grown overtime, and the technologies that developed directly related to garment manufacturing. There is also important discussion of how the garment manufacturing industry was closely tied to the progression of women’s rights .
The one issue I have with this book is that with the discussion of these different types of fabrics and the garment industry, some parts of the world were completely missing from the narrative . For example, Africa was mentioned briefly when the discussion of cotton was brought up but for the most part the garment industry, fabrics etc. were not discussed at all with regard to the African continent. Also, apart from speaking about the injustices that the garment industry forces onto certain countries in Central America in modern day, we really did not discuss Latin America either. I feel like this book could have benefitted from having a truly global approach that included every region of the world, and not only focus so strongly on specific areas (particularly the United States, Western Europe, and East Asia).
Overall, this was a great read, and I thought it was well written, researched, and accessible . It would be a good read for almost anyone who's interested in history. I recommend this for people who are interested in world history and politics generally, and people who are interested in fashion and garment manufacturing specifically.
March 2, 2022
This wasn't the book I thought it was going to be. The origin historically and in modern times of the different fabrics (linen, cotton, silk, etc.) was a nice surprise and I learned a lot. However, the last two chapters take a weird turn in that it seems the thesis of the book is that hand weaving wool is the answer to the environmental problems of modern fabric making and processing... what? Also a lot of her travel and research were dated, she mentioned trips she took in 2013--the book was published in 2022... is that trip and its discoveries even still relevant? It was an interesting read and I enjoyed it but I wonder if it could use some better editing or a restructure. The last part was confusing and incongruous.
March 4, 2023
Truly a captivating book and is now one of my favorites of all time.
A fascinating deep dive into fabric through history and how it ties into our fashion systems today. As a fashion lover, I appreciated the depth this novel went into on topics, but it still felt digestible.
It didn’t feel like reading a textbook, but it’s woven with emotional storytelling through the characters she meets, which reminds me of the deep connection clothes have to the core of who we are.
A fascinating deep dive into fabric through history and how it ties into our fashion systems today. As a fashion lover, I appreciated the depth this novel went into on topics, but it still felt digestible.
It didn’t feel like reading a textbook, but it’s woven with emotional storytelling through the characters she meets, which reminds me of the deep connection clothes have to the core of who we are.
April 30, 2023
Less a 'peoples history' and more an 'american history'. I truly struggled to make it through this book. There were definitely interesting elements but often they were lost behind over-written faff and author projections that added little to the content. Some parts such as the denim section were inexplicably placed in the wool chapter. Kassia St Clare's book The Golden Thread had a much more well rounded history of you're looking for a fabric history book.
January 12, 2022
Whilst the blurb details what this book talks about, the title is a tad misleading and should be more the history of fabrics. I don't think as a UK reader that this was as interesting for me as I'd hoped. A lot of focus on the US with Europe and UK rarely discussed.
As a fashion lover I was left wanting more.
As a fashion lover I was left wanting more.
January 9, 2023
I picked the book on a whim when I decided to read about dyes . I am so glad I did . I enjoyed how the book discussed the economic effect of fabric discovery, the social factors and fashion . It is a well researched book and a great deal of effort was put into it but it is written beautifully to capture your attention.
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