Overdressed : the shockingly high cost of cheap fashion / Elizabeth L. Cline

By:

Cline, Elizabeth L [aut]

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: New York : Portfolio/Penguin, �2013, �2012Edition: Paperback editionDescription: 258 pages ; 22 cmISBN:

9781591846543
1591846544

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

746.91 CLI 23

Other classification:

68.8

Contents:

Introduction: Seven pairs of $7 shoes -- "I have enough clothing to open a store". How America lost its shirts -- High and low fashion make friends -- Fast fashion -- The afterlife of cheap clothes -- Sewing is a good job, a great job -- China and the end of cheap fashion -- Make, alter, and mend -- The future of fashion -- Afterword to the paperback edition -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Index.

Summary: This work evaluates the costs of low priced clothing while tracing the author's own transformation to a conscientious shopper, a journey during which she visited a garment factory, learned to resole shoes, and shopped for local, sustainable clothing. Until recently, she was a typical American consumer. She had grown accustomed to shopping at outlet malls, discount stores like T.J. Maxx, and cheap but trendy retailers like Forever 21, Target, and H & M. She was buying a new item of clothing almost every week, the national average is sixty four per year, but all she had to show for it was a closet and countless storage bins packed full of low quality fads she barely wore, including the same sailor stripe tops and fleece hoodies as a million other shoppers. When she found herself lugging home seven pairs of identical canvas flats from Kmart, she realized that something was deeply wrong. Cheap fashion has fundamentally changed the way most Americans dress. Stores ranging from discounters like Target to traditional chains like JC Penney now offer the newest trends at unprecedentedly low prices

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Standard Loan	LSAD Library Main Collection	746.91 CLI (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		39002100632703

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Overdressed does for T-shirts and leggings what Fast Food Nation did for burgers and fries. Katha Pollitt Cheap fashion has fundamentally changed the way most Americans dress. Stores ranging from discounters like Target to traditional chains like JCPenny now offer the newest trends at unprecedentedly low prices. And we have little reason to keep wearing and repairing the clothes we already own when styles change so fast and it s cheaper to just buy more. Cline sets out to uncover the true nature of the cheap fashion juggernaut. What are we doing with all these cheap clothes? And more important, what are they doing to us, our society, our environment, and our economic well-being?

Originally published in the United States of America by Portfolio/Penguin, 2012

Introduction: Seven pairs of $7 shoes. "I have enough clothing to open a store". How America lost its shirts. High and low fashion make friends. Fast fashion. The afterlife of cheap clothes. Sewing is a good job, a great job. China and the end of cheap fashion. Make, alter, and mend. The future of fashion. Afterword to the paperback edition. Acknowledgments. Notes. Index

Includes bibliographical references (p. [237]-249) and index.

This work evaluates the costs of low priced clothing while tracing the author's own transformation to a conscientious shopper, a journey during which she visited a garment factory, learned to resole shoes, and shopped for local, sustainable clothing. Until recently, she was a typical American consumer. She had grown accustomed to shopping at outlet malls, discount stores like T.J. Maxx, and cheap but trendy retailers like Forever 21, Target, and H & M. She was buying a new item of clothing almost every week, the national average is sixty four per year, but all she had to show for it was a closet and countless storage bins packed full of low quality fads she barely wore, including the same sailor stripe tops and fleece hoodies as a million other shoppers. When she found herself lugging home seven pairs of identical canvas flats from Kmart, she realized that something was deeply wrong. Cheap fashion has fundamentally changed the way most Americans dress. Stores ranging from discounters like Target to traditional chains like JC Penney now offer the newest trends at unprecedentedly low prices

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

Introduction: Seven Pairs of $7 Shoes (p. 1)
1 "I Have Enough Clothing to Open a Store" (p. 11)
2 How America Lost Its Shirts (p. 36)
3 High and Low Fashion Make Friends (p. 62)
4 Fast Fashion (p. 95)
5 The Afterlife of Cheap Clothes (p. 119)
6 Sewing Is a Good Job, a Great Job (p. 138)
7 China and the End of Cheap Fashion (p. 161)
8 Make, Alter, and Mend (p. 187)
9 The Future of Fashion (p. 207)
Afterword to the Paperback Edition (p. 223)
Acknowledgments (p. 235)
Notes (p. 237)
Index (p. 251)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Elizabeth L. Cline has written for AMCtv.com, The Daily Beast, New York , The Etsy Blog, Popular Science, The New Republic, The Village Voice and seedmagazine.com. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Visit www.overdressedthebook.com