Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion Paperback – 27 Aug. 2013

Chilling stuff. I don't usually have 'epiphanies' from books and really dislike all that Millennial, Paltrow-esque twaddle about how you should make your own jam and wash your hair in unicorn tears for the good of the planet, but Cline writes a fact-heavy piece without resorting to twee sentimentality. She just opens her own wardrobe (which by the sounds of it looks like 80% of wardrobes in the West) and does a simple cost analysis of the pieces there. The ethical questions flow naturally from there - how can a store sell $5 shirts on a regular basis and not go bust within a week - more to the point, who's getting screwed for this to happen? Turns out - we all are. You don't have to be incredibly perceptive to notice that clothes from H&M don't last for ages, but when Cline sources 80's items from charity shops and weighs them alongside modern equivalents, it's quite astounding to see how little material is being used nowadays.I'm not saying this book will make you set your wardrobe on fire or join a commune, but after reading it, you might be more inclined to shop for your disposable party pieces of eBay and buy the more serious items from quality stores, even it they do cost much more.

it's not bad to know how our garment is evolved.This book describe this evolution very well, and maybe I will briefly consider my next purchase whether it is justified or not to buy it.It is important that everyone attaches more value to the quality of a garment, by opting for quality rather than quantity. So that our relationship with our clothes do not end up like our food, where they do not know where our milk comes from. Or how a cow looks like.I recommend the book to anyone who does not bother to buy cheap clothes and whose wardrobe is about to explode.

This is a very insightful book. I was already on a path to being more conscious of my impact on the world, and this just fortified what was already in my head. The things we are doing to the planet and fellow people just so we can buy a dress for a fiver is ridiculous and disgusting. I will definitely be more aware of how I spend my pound, and already no longer buy new polyester items, or clothes from Bangladesh.I really recommend this book.

Lived in NYC worked in retail and lived the changes Cline describes. I'm now repairing refashioning and thrifting. Fascinating book. Easy to read. Creates immediate comprehension of your retail/fashion world.

It was a very good book to reference when I was writing an essay on fast fashion but I think that a lot of the conversation that it offers isn't very gOod for 2021 as it links more to the 2000s and the USA.

Loved it

Interesting book on the topic but shame it was so US-centric. While the decline of US industry in the fashion area is obviously a large problem, considering it is such a consumer focused society, it would have been interesting to hear how the rest of the world has changed and what is being done to tackle things.

nice new book really worth it