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Worn
- A People's History of Clothing
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
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EXCELLENT
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Publisher's summary
A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A sweeping and captivatingly told history of clothing and the stuff it is made of—an unparalleled deep-dive into how everyday garments have transformed our lives, our societies, and our planet.
“We learn that, if we were a bit more curious about our clothes, they would offer us rich, interesting and often surprising insights into human history...a deep and sustained inquiry into the origins of what we wear, and what we have worn for the past 500 years." —The Washington Post
In this panoramic social history, Sofi Thanhauser brilliantly tells five stories—Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics, Wool—about the clothes we wear and where they come from, illuminating our world in unexpected ways. She takes us from the opulent court of Louis XIV to the labor camps in modern-day Chinese-occupied Xinjiang. We see how textiles were once dyed with lichen, shells, bark, saffron, and beetles, displaying distinctive regional weaves and knits, and how the modern Western garment industry has refashioned our attire into the homogenous and disposable uniforms popularized by fast-fashion brands.
Thanhauser makes clear how the clothing industry has become one of the planet’s worst polluters and how it relies on chronically underpaid and exploited laborers. But she also shows us how micro-communities, textile companies, and clothing makers in every corner of the world are rediscovering ancestral and ethical methods for making what we wear.
Drawn from years of intensive research and reporting from around the world, and brimming with fascinating stories, Worn reveals to us that our clothing comes not just from the countries listed on the tags or ready-made from our factories. It comes, as well, from deep in our histories.
Critic reviews
A New Yorker Best Book of the Year
“Meticulous…eye-opening…Much of Worn is really about labor inequity…[and how] the pedestrian objects that fill our daily lives can carry a heavy historical and ecological legacy.” —Grist
"We learn that, if we were a bit more curious about our clothes, they would offer us rich, interesting and often surprising insights into human history...a deep and sustained inquiry into the origins of what we wear, and what we have worn for the past 500 years, as well as into the material conditions and social consequences of their production...Read this book. As an argument against the horrors of fast fashion and the social and environmental disasters it provokes, it is powerful and persuasive." —The Washington Post
"This is a must-read for anyone who takes fashion seriously." —Glamour, "The First Great Books of 2022"
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Susan
- 01-28-22
Horrors of the industrial revolution Continued
In case you were unaware of the abuses the textile industry foisted upon the environment, women and children this book will be a wake up call. Unfortunately I am well schooled regarding those issues. I had hoped this book would delve into fabrics and clothing prior to the industrial revolution. It doesn't. Just another grinding, scolding epistle.
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5 people found this helpful
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- hannah
- 01-28-22
Beautiful and insightful book.
This is a book well worth your time and attention. The details and insight within are fascinating.
I see the world differently after reading it, a change in perspective is truly a gift.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Kevin B Knight
- 10-23-22
Could be a good 2-page article. Makes for a lousy book
I read this book along with my book club. We are no strangers to this type of nonfiction. We found this book to be boring, repetitive and needlessly, depressing. Rather than some thing telling us a fascinating history of clothing, and what it means culturally to people this book dwelled on the environmental consequences of every different type of fabric or clothing production process. That would be fine, although not what we expected, but there were no solutions presented in this book. The reader is left, knowing that they are causing horrible, environmental and social harm with no sense of how to improve things. The writing was over long and delve deep into details that were not relevant to the point. This book also seem poorly, edited.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Joan
- 09-12-22
Intriguing
As someone who is a seatless, a costumer, a weaver, a spinner and a new tapestry maker, this book started at the beginning and showed an interesting trail of clothes and arts. The how’s and why’s were fascinating. Although it is long I know I will be rereading it soon. Absolutely fascinating book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Alana Borsa
- 05-13-22
Everything I wanted
“Worn”, the audio version, was such a fantastic joy to listen to. It’s written in a way that’s like story telling. The history of the fibers and the people who were and are affected by them is fascinating. And the narrator was impressive with her pronunciation and tone. Very talented. Thank you so much for this. I will definitely listen to it again and again.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-30-22
Read this book!
Colin Ruel-Chilmark,MA
Sofi Thanhauser has done for our clothing what Michael Pollan did for food. A comprehensive and utterly engaging book. Incredible in its scope and completely fascinating. Definitely read this book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Andre West
- 02-06-22
A beautiful history of how fabrics have become us.
The author has laid out a beautiful thread of how humankind's history is indelibly woven into the clothes that we wear. The stories are spun with personalities and souls. In an industry that is rife with pain, she paints a picture of emotions and sacrifices for textiles and clothing. A comprehensive compendium where the author's true passion exudes.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Catherine C. Sherman
- 10-13-23
Material Matters
The history of humans working to cover and clothe themselves explains our heroic and tragic cycles of progress and exploitation. I highly recommend this book. Maybe we can do better. Here’s hoping.
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- Carla W. Garner
- 09-23-23
This book is mistitled
This is not a “people’s history of clothing”. It is a collection of random insights into unsustainable textile practices. I wish it had been titled as such.
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- Sam Berlow
- 07-09-23
Well woven story.
I loved this book. When Sofi was writing articles for magazines and newspapers, I love her writing, but I always wanted more. She is a captivating author and I look forward to her next book.
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The Golden Thread
- How Fabric Changed History
- By: Kassia St. Clair
- Narrated by: Helen Johns
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From colorful 30,000-year-old threads found on the floor of a Georgian cave to the Indian calicoes that sparked the Industrial Revolution, The Golden Thread weaves an illuminating story of human ingenuity. Design journalist Kassia St. Clair guides us through the technological advancements and cultural customs that would redefine human civilization - from the fabric that allowed mankind to achieve extraordinary things (traverse the oceans and shatter athletic records) and survive in unlikely places (outer space and the South Pole).
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Excellent for those interested in textiles
- By Adeliese Baumann on 12-14-19
By: Kassia St. Clair
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Threads of Life
- A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle
- By: Clare Hunter
- Narrated by: Siobhan Redmond
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From the political propaganda of the Bayeux Tapestry, World War I soldiers coping with PTSD, and the maps sewn by schoolgirls in the New World, to the AIDS quilt, Hmong story clothes, and pink pussyhats, women and men have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances. Threads of Life is a chronicle of identity, protest, memory, power, and politics told through the stories of needlework.
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Textile bucket list.
- By Amazon Customer on 10-18-21
By: Clare Hunter
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Fabric
- The Hidden History of the Material World
- By: Victoria Finlay
- Narrated by: Carla Kissane
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
How is a handmade fabric helping save an ancient forest? Why is a famous fabric pattern from India best known by the name of a Scottish town? How is a Chinese dragon robe a diagram of the whole universe? What is the difference between how the Greek Fates and the Viking Norns used threads to tell our destiny? In Fabric, bestselling author Victoria Finlay spins us round the globe, weaving stories of our relationship with cloth and asking how and why people through the ages have made it, worn it, invented it, and made symbols out of it. And sometimes why they have fought for it.
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Perfect Book for Needleworking
- By LaVonne on 11-18-23
By: Victoria Finlay
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The Fabric of Civilization
- How Textiles Made the World
- By: Virginia I. Postrel
- Narrated by: Caroline Cole
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The story of humanity is the story of textiles - as old as civilization itself. Since the first thread was spun, the need for textiles has driven technology, business, politics, and culture. In The Fabric of Civilization, Virginia Postrel synthesizes groundbreaking research from archaeology, economics, and science to reveal a surprising history. From Minoans exporting wool colored with precious purple dye to Egypt, to Romans arrayed in costly Chinese silk, the cloth trade paved the crossroads of the ancient world.
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Pop journalism article lengthened into a book
- By Anonymous User on 02-05-22
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Dress Codes
- How the Laws of Fashion Made History
- By: Richard Thompson Ford
- Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
For centuries, clothing has been a wearable status symbol; fashion, a weapon in struggles for social change; and dress codes, a way to maintain political control. Dress codes evolved along with the social and political ideals of the day, but they always reflected struggles for power and status.
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Unlistenable
- By Lauren on 08-01-23
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A Short History of the World According to Sheep
- By: Sally Coulthard
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From the plains of ancient Mesopotamia to the rolling hills of medieval England to the vast sheep farms of modern-day Australia, sheep have been central to the human story. Starting with our Neolithic ancestors' first forays into sheep-rearing nearly 10,000 years ago, these remarkable animals have fed us, clothed us, changed our diet and languages, helped us to win wars, decorated our homes and financed the conquest of large swathes of the earth.
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a UK/euro-centric bore. struggled to finish
- By J. Clark on 02-12-21
By: Sally Coulthard
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The Golden Thread
- How Fabric Changed History
- By: Kassia St. Clair
- Narrated by: Helen Johns
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From colorful 30,000-year-old threads found on the floor of a Georgian cave to the Indian calicoes that sparked the Industrial Revolution, The Golden Thread weaves an illuminating story of human ingenuity. Design journalist Kassia St. Clair guides us through the technological advancements and cultural customs that would redefine human civilization - from the fabric that allowed mankind to achieve extraordinary things (traverse the oceans and shatter athletic records) and survive in unlikely places (outer space and the South Pole).
-
-
Excellent for those interested in textiles
- By Adeliese Baumann on 12-14-19
By: Kassia St. Clair
-
Threads of Life
- A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle
- By: Clare Hunter
- Narrated by: Siobhan Redmond
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the political propaganda of the Bayeux Tapestry, World War I soldiers coping with PTSD, and the maps sewn by schoolgirls in the New World, to the AIDS quilt, Hmong story clothes, and pink pussyhats, women and men have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances. Threads of Life is a chronicle of identity, protest, memory, power, and politics told through the stories of needlework.
-
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Textile bucket list.
- By Amazon Customer on 10-18-21
By: Clare Hunter
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Fibershed
- Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy
- By: Rebecca Burgess
- Narrated by: Tia Rider
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
There is a major disconnect between what we wear and our knowledge of its impact on land, air, water, labor, and human health. Even those who value access to safe, local, nutritious food have largely overlooked the production of fiber, dyes, and the chemistry that forms the backbone of modern textile production. While humans are 100 percent reliant on their second skin, it’s common to think little about the biological and human cultural context from which our clothing derives.
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Interested In Sustainable Life, Not Just Food?
- By becky on 11-21-19
By: Rebecca Burgess
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Fashionopolis
- The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes
- By: Dana Thomas
- Narrated by: Dana Thomas
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In Fashionopolis, Thomas sees renewal in a host of developments, including printing 3-D clothes, clean denim processing, smart manufacturing, hyperlocalism, fabric recycling - even lab-grown materials. From small-town makers and Silicon Valley whizzes to such household names as Stella McCartney, Levi’s, and Rent the Runway, Thomas highlights the companies big and small that are leading the crusade.
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Very informative and optimistic
- By cannonwall on 01-05-20
By: Dana Thomas
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Women's Work
- The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times
- By: Elizabeth Wayland Barber
- Narrated by: Donna Postel
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Twenty thousand years ago, women were making and wearing the first clothing created from spun fibers. In fact, right up to the Industrial Revolution the fiber arts were an enormous economic force, belonging primarily to women. Despite the great toil required in making cloth and clothing, most books on ancient history and economics have no information on them. Much of this gap results from the extreme perishability of what women produced, but it seems clear that until now descriptions of prehistoric and early historic cultures have omitted virtually half the picture.
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Respectful treatment of the archeological record.
- By fiberflair on 02-23-21
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Color
- A Natural History of the Palette
- By: Victoria Finlay
- Narrated by: Victoria Finlay
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In this vivid and captivating journey through the colors of an artist’s palette, Victoria Finlay takes us on an enthralling adventure around the world and through the ages, illuminating how the colors we choose to value have determined the history of culture itself. Color is full of extraordinary people, events, and anecdotes—painted all the more dazzling by Finlay’s engaging style. The colors that craft our world have never looked so bright.
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Vibrant Learning
- By Jacquelyne on 09-08-23
By: Victoria Finlay
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The Age of Homespun
- Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth
- By: Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Wiley
- Length: 18 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance