Worn (A People’s History of Clothing)

Hardcover, 400 pages

Langue : English

Publié 17 mai 2022 par Allen Lane.

ISBN :: 978-0-241-38953-9

(1 critique)

A finely spun history of clothes and where they come from

Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics, Wool: through the stories of these five fabrics, Sofi Thanhauser illuminates the world we inhabit in a startling new way, travelling from China to Cumbria to reveal the craft, labour and industry that create the clothes we wear.

From the women who transformed stalks of flax into linen to clothe their families in 19th century New England to those who earn their dowries in the cotton spinning factories of South India today, this book traces the origins of garment making through time and around the world. Exploring the social, economic and environmental impact of our most personal possessions, Worn looks beyond care labels to show how clothes reveal the truth about what we really care about.

2 editions

Fionnáin reviewed Worn (A People’s History of Clothing) by Sofi Thanhauser

The road to woolfest

4 étoiles

Sofi Thanhauser's deeply researched book Worn explores the contemporary textile industry and how it generates waste, damages societies, and exploits people. While this might come as no fresh news to most people, what Thanhauser has managed here is to compile a deep research project in one place that gives a clear view of the depth of the problem. From histories to contemporary views, each chapter considers a different textile or industry.

It also ends on a hopeful note, with a section on wool and the possibilities for that material's resurgence. Finishing at the wool festival in the UK, woolfest, the book that begins with the industrialisation of linen ends with the handcrafting practices of wool with a view to how things can be done differently.