Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion

This book came to my attention through one of the fashion blogs I follow, FashionAtForty. In this post she (not only looks really cute) but also gave a pretty good overview of what she had found in the book thus far, having read only the first half.I have conflicted feelings about clothing. On the one hand, I'm very aware that I should be able to look great with fewer items than what I actually own; on the other hand, all of my sources for current trends -- blogs, magazines, style shows, and shops -- show people in an almost infinite mix of shapes, colors, and prints. How much is reasonable to carry in my closet? How much is a reasonable clothing budget?Overdressed didn't give me answers to these questions, but it did offer more meaningful factors to consider when I make purchasing decisions than simply "do I want it?"The book focuses primarily on "fast fashion," defined as "a radical method of retailing that has broken away from seasonal selling and puts out new inventory constantly throughout the year. Fast-fashion merchandise is typically priced much lower than its competitors'." The introduction, "Seven Pairs of $7 Shoes," and the first chapter, "I Have Enough Clothing to Open a Store," describe the shopping habits of the author herself and of young women known as "haulers," who make YouTube videos of their shopping hauls. The focus of these two chapters is the consumerism that breeds from the price and abundance of fast fashion.I watched 3 minutes of a 15 minute haul video in the interests of research... I have never seen anything so incredibly painful in my life. She didn't even try on the clothes, just sort of held it up enough to see the fabric, but not the shape of the garment, and talked about what she liked about it.Chapter 2, "How America Lost Its Shirts," describes the history of the garment industry in the United States.Chapter 3, "High and Low Fashion Make Friends," examines the relationship between price and value. Summary: there isn't necessarily a correlation between high cost and high quality.In Chapter 4, "Fast Fashion," Cline recounts the history of fast fashion and its impact on the retail world and also the United States garment industry.Chapter 5, "The Afterlife of Cheap Clothes," was perhaps the most painful section of the book. Cline debunks what she calls "the clothing deficit myth." So often we buy clothes thinking that if they don't work out, no problem, we'll pass them on to a donation recipient like Goodwill and they will find their way to some needy person grateful for our cast-offs. "Of all the clothing that we dump off on charities' doorsteps... less than 20 percent gets sold through stores. About half of it doesn't even get a shot at the stores, going straight into the postconsumer waste stream and on to such facilities as Mid-West Textile" from where it will be sorted and sold by the ton to secondhand clothing dealers, rag companies to be pulped and made into insulation or carseat stuffing, bundled to be sold by the ton to Africa, or put into landfills.Chapter 6, "Sewing is a Good Job, a Great Job," describes the industry conditions for garment workers and some innovative business efforts.In Chapter 7, "China and the End of Cheap Fashion," Cline recounts how she went undercover to various clothing manufacturers in China and Bangladesh to learn more about the overseas industry. She found many of her assumptions about garment manufacturing were outdated and misguided, and that seeing the conditions, not only of the factories themselves, but of the environments in which they operated, changed her understanding of the fashion industry. She also predicted the coming end of fast-fashion as we know it: the rising standard of living in China will drive prices up, and other countries will not be able to move into the void as national infrastructure in places like Bangladesh will prevent them from being able to operate under just-in-time principles on short deadlines, as fast fashion requires.Chapter 8, "Make, Alter, and Mend," is perhaps the weakest chapter of the book. This is not entirely Cline's fault. The conditions she describes that led to the rise of fast fashion -- international agreements such as NAFTA, pricing conditions, the intense marketing practices to which consumers are susceptible, and the economy generally -- are not conditions that can easily be altered, no matter how alert consumers are. Where we can make alternate choices in food purchasing practices by choosing to buy organic or local or at a farmer's market, no such alternate clothing marketplace exists. I can attest myself that it is difficult to determine the manufacturing practices of any given clothing brand, and the "fast" nature of fast fashion means that no single brand has consistent practices among its entire line of offerings. Eaters can grow even a small amount of vegetables in their own homes, but learning to make clothing is much more complicated, expensive, and time and labor intensive. Cline spends a lot of time talking up the possibilities of making one's own clothing, or buying refashioned vintage (a possibility that erodes with every passing year), but even she admits that she doesn't know if she'll be spending time sewing her own wardrobe two years in the future. Her most meaningful suggestion is to slow down, to buy more intentionally, to pay closer attention to fit and quality of construction, to be willing to spend more per piece while holding total amount spent steady.Cline ends the book on a hopeful note in Chapter 9, "The Future of Fashion." She lists a few conscientious designers and clothing retailers who are working to bring quality and morality back to the fashion industry and describes their methods for achieving those ends.In all, this was a fascinating, eye-opening read. Cline has an engaging voice. She used the contents of her own closet and her own shopping habits to illustrate the nature of fast fashion. She did an amazing amount of research, including, as mentioned, her trips to China, Bangladesh, and the Dominican Republic, but also research into historical shopping and manufacturing practices, public policy conditions, post-consumer processing practices, and the environmental impact of textile production.I would really have loved it if she could have offered more guidance into choosing labels and researching the values that guide brands' manufacturing practices. Illustrations would have been incredibly helpful -- both of the factories she visited, and also of the clothing construction she described. It should be noted that I read this book on my Kindle, and I do not know if such illustrations were available in the paper copies.Other reviewers have commented on some of the editing issues in this book. As I read, I did note where those came up, but in many cases they were misused words rather than formatting or copy-editing mistakes, so I chalk that up to a failure with the publisher. I appreciate Cline putting together such a well-researched, eye-opening book, that will certainly guide my future purchasing decisions.

"Overdressed" is a book about fast fashion written by a consumer of fast fashion, basically detailing the social and ecological ills of cheaply made clothing that is viewed by some as "disposable". The author herself admits to being an avid consumer of fast fashion, but her bulk buying habits far outpace my occasional few-item purchase at the retailers she scorns. I agree with the premise of this book, which is to be more socially conscious about what I buy, where I buy it, and how I use and dispose of it. However, that is pretty much all I can give her.The first thing that irked me was the implication that consumers "have chosen low-priced clothes made in other countries" (page 5). Looking through my closet, the only thing made in the U.S. are a few pairs of Vince Jeans which run about 150 bucks a pop from Nordstrom (all of my other jeans are in the 20-40 dollar price range); everything else is from China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the occasional Malaysia or India. Clothing in that price range, when coupled with inflation and declining wages, is hardly a "choice". People buy what is readily available and affordable, and that is your H&M, Forever 21, and even Gap and BR which pretty much all make their clothing in the East Asian countries. She later contradicts herself by admitting that shopping cheap is generally a "nonchoice" (page 6), but she flip flops throughout the book.The second thing was that she talks about people "treat clothing as if it is disposable" (page 3); while that may be true for some consumers, particularly those who tend to dispose of an item once it is "out of season", some of my most beloved pieces of clothing are eight years old and I have had them since high school (I'm 22 now). I have had jeans with holes in the knees that I patched up, made into 'cutoffs' and then shorts when the material started to fray. I wear tank tops around the house until they rip beyond wear; then they become cleaning rags. I have a James Dean t-shirt I bought for four dollars back in 2006 and still wear on a regular basis. Not everyone who shops the occasional H&M treats their clothing as disposable; many of us are well-aware of the consequences of textiles ending up in landfills. H&M has a clothing recycling program, and many large cities such as New York City offer textile recycling. Old shoes can be donated to Nike where they may end up as the rubber surfaces of a playground.To represent the opinions of American consumers, Cline chose Youtube fashion "bloggers" to illustrate her point, who are hardly representative of the average consumer. These self-appointed fashion gurus regularly post videos of their "hauls", which is slang for going into a store, typically a fast fashion store, and spending hundreds of dollars on clothing in order to show it off to their Youtube subscribers. Most of us don't live that way; we buy stuff as we see that we need it, or buy something because we like it, or because it is on sale and we will use it later (ie buying a winter coat for next year during spring when it gets discounted). One of the Youtube bloggers exclaims, "I like things that are disposable, so I can wear this shirt two times and then throw it away" (page 122). Comments like this further illustrate how removed these blogger/fashion gurus are from the rest of the world; it's certainly not my friends or myself who throw things away after two uses--most reasonable people would think that to be incredibly wasteful and unsustainable.Later in the book, Cline talks about clothing recycling programs and says "there's something about for-profit clothing recycling that bothers consumers" (page 130). As someone who has both donated to and shopped from thrift stores for the greater part of my life, I can tell you that I have absolutely no problem, none whatsoever, with someone profiting off of my castaway clothing. I really don't have ill feelings towards someone making a living off of finding a use for my old apparel; in fact, I would much rather see my old clothing get resold than see it go in a trash can and end up in a landfill. I get the feeling that most people feel the same way, as companies that have destroyed and thrown away unsold clothing have come under public outcry for not donating the unsold clothing to those in need. Not everything is about making or not making a profit, it's about doing the right thing. If there's a factory out there that can take my six year old jeans with unrepairable holes in the butt and make them into a plastic bottle or a tote bag which they can profit from, more power to 'em.When she isn't opining on the oblivious negligence of the reader, the book is actually quite compelling. Cline spends quite a bit of time describing the history of modern clothing production and distribution (the passage about the closing of Filene's, a Boston department store which had operated since 1912, was heartbreaking), and the parts where she recalls her visits to China and Bangladesh to see clothing factories firsthand is eye-opening. I wish she had spent more time with the factual evidence than the proselytizing; it would have made for a more attractive read. As for Cline herself, even today she doesn't exclude the idea of the "occasional fast fashion fix" (pg 218), which made the 200-odd page condemnation of everything fast fashion stands for fall a little flat. It's a fast and interesting look at clothing production, but it ultimately failed to relate to me as a reader about my own clothing consumption.

Achei muito bom !Faz uma retrospectiva de como o consumo de roupas mudou nas últimas décadas.

The author brings to light some very important truths. As the consumer we have more power than ever before. Maybe it's time we harness this.If your after a light hearted yet serious discussion regarding the fashion industry this is the book for you. Be inspired till the last page.

内容はファストファッションにとどまらずファッション業界全般（有名高級ブランド、アメリカの紡績、縫製業の栄枯盛衰など）に及ぶ。クローゼットの中には３０ドル以上の服がないというファストファッション（主にH&M,ターゲット）愛用者の著者がファッション業界の本を書くというのは「挑戦」だったと思われる。全身安物に身を包み（ほめるところがないのでドアマンは毛糸の帽子がいいねと苦しいコメント）高級ブランド店に「質の違い」を確かめに行ったり、架空の会社の名刺持参で中国やバングラデシュの工場と交渉したり（取材拒否を想定して？）とかなりの強心臓の持ち主のようだ。２、３回着たらポイ（アメリカには救世軍というリサイクルがある）するファストファッションから離脱する方法として提案しているスローファッションについては、一部の意識の高い、時間的余裕のある層以外は無理ではないかと思う。著者は３０代前半のようだが、ミシンはおろか裁縫は家庭科で習わなかったという。このあたりの事情も（ボタンつけもできない）ポイ捨てOKのファストファッション隆盛の一因だと分析している。

レポートのために買ったので、期待と違ってアメリカ中心の話だったのは残念だった。もうすこしグローバリゼーション的な視点で書いてほしかった。しっかりとリサーチをして書いた内容だけど、愛国心的な部分と古き良きアメリカ的な感じがあって少し偏っているとも感じた。あと、ファストファッションでも大量消費的な使い方ができない人の身にもなってほしいと思った。　笑学生とかはいくら質が悪いファストファッションでもあまり沢山買えないんです・・・

This book is really only for American readers, and it's now badly dated.Most of the book is taken up with the sales history of specific American clothing stores. Aside from that there's a little on American ethical clothing makers, and American sewing bloggers (none of whom still blog about sewing). The only nod to life outside the USA is the briefest commentary on cheap Chinese clothing imports, but the author doesn't explore this - just acknowledges it.There was really nothing in depth about the environmental impact of cheap fashion, social media sales driving cost cutting, real time spending changes or innovative ways to address the situation. The book is just "I buy lots of clothes. Everyone buys lots of clothes. Perhaps I'll make my own clothes. No, I'll keep buying clothes."