Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion

Author: Elizabeth L. Cline

Rating: ⭐ 4/5

Date Read: 2013/02/28

Pages: 244

Take a look at the clothes you’re wearing. Somebody made them, using an old-fashioned sewing machine, likely in a factory in China, or India, or Mexico. You can probably find some back-stitching where a tread broke, or a spot were the stitches shift a tiny bit to the left.

If you’re like me (and like most Americans), you probably forget that clothes take material, time, and labor to make. It’s so easy to buy a shirt at H&M for five dollars, only to throw it away after a few wears. We can easily buy a dress for the price of a sandwich. The end result: a closet full of cheap clothes, and nothing to wear. I’m as guilty of this as anyone. The clothes in my closet have seen more of the world than I have. Beyond some vintage pieces and designer jeans, most of the clothes I own that were made in the U.S.A. were made by me.

This book is a quick read, and it has inspired me to make more of an effort to buy local, even if it means paying a bit more. I also busted out my old sewing machine, with the hope of making some clothes that are higher quality and more sustainable than the ones that can be bought in the store. Recommended, especially for anyone who has ever wondered how clothes ever got to be so cheap.