Overdressed, Elizabeth L. Cline
Overdressed, Elizabeth L. Cline
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Overdressed
The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion

Author: Elizabeth L. Cline

Narrator: Amy Melissa Bentley

Unabridged: 7 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 12/27/2016


Synopsis

Cheap fashion has fundamentally changed the way most Americans dress. Stores ranging from discounters like Target to fast fashion chains like H&M now offer the newest trends at unprecedentedly low prices. Retailers are pro­ducing clothes at enormous volumes in order to drive prices down and profits up, and they've turned clothing into a disposable good. After all, 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.

But 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?

In Overdressed, Elizabeth L. Cline sets out to uncover the true nature of the cheap fashion juggernaut, tracing the rise of budget clothing chains, the death of middle-market and independent retail­ers, and the roots of our obsession with deals and steals.

About Elizabeth L. Cline

Elizabeth L. Cline has written for theatlantic.com, 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.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jaclyn

There’s a lot in this book I could have written myself. The casual pop-ins to H&M to buy an accessory or a $5 tanktop? Check. The hanging on to every rapidly changing trend? Check. The warped view of what “affordable” clothing means to our generation? Check. The book is a quick read. I finished it in......more

Goodreads review by Heidi

In Overdressed Elizabeth Cline details the problems with what she terms "fast fashion:" the cheap clothing that has permeated nearly the entire market, making it almost impossible to find well made clothes that were made by someone earning a fair wage. I appreciated all of the points she made... the......more

Goodreads review by Jane

Where I got the book: purchased on Kindle. A book club read. I got to select the book club book for that month, and went for a theme of awareness. Overdressed is about being aware of the impact our thirst for cheap clothes is having on fashion and on the world. And what a great idea this was—Cline sa......more

Donna [indignantly]: Slaves?! I haven't got slaves! The Doctor [dryly]: Who do you think makes your clothes? -- Doctor Who, "Planet of the Ood" For all my interest in global issues, I'd rarely given the clothing industry much consideration; on that front, Overdressed has provided me with a great deal o......more