Thank you for providing me with an advance review copy of this book. Enjoyed reading, would recommend....

The only ethical option seems to be nudity – or evolving back into a hairy ape!

As other’s have pointed out, this is less ‘A people’s history of clothing’ as the subtitle is sryled, more A people’s history of fabric’ – and as absorbing, if not more so, than the history of clothing I was expecting.

Thanhauser’s no-punches-pulled analysis of the main fabrics in our clothing history – to wit, Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics – both those plant derived – Rayon/Viscose, and petrochemical – Nylon and onwards, and finally, Wool – is written with a clear agenda.

Thanhauser looks at the changes across history from fabric creation as a cottage industry, often carried out in the home by females, (weaving, spinning) and the construction of clothing as a highly skilled artisan craft (tailoring) to what happened following mechanisation and the Industrial Revolution.

This is so searingly written a book about the ethics of the clothing industry, and its raw materials, textiles, and their creation, that I was surprised that this wasn’t a book published by Polity.

This explores, damningly the politics of capital, the exploitation of labour, and, always, the easy greed with which our species dominates not only fellow humans, but also pillages and exploits other species, not to mention the planet itself, to satisfy present desires.

By the end of the book, I seriously felt, despite Thanhauser’s attempt at indicating a way forward through the return of artisanal craft, as espoused in her section on Wool, that the only ethical solution would be nudity. As this is not only not seen as acceptable, but, in North Europe probably unadvisable due to the climate. Reversing evolution and growing a thick warm pelt is also not going to happen any time soon for our species.

Each fabric, its social and industrial history is deconstructed, Our appetite for each fabric, and a culture dedicated to increasing consumerism, means environmental destruction.

‘Natural fabrics’ are no less pitiless in their environmental and human cost than the synthetics, at least on industrial scale. Cotton, with links of course to the slave trade, is a remarkably greedy of water crop, both in its growing, and in its turning to thread and fabric.

The silk industry, at industrial scale, is cruel both to those who work in it, and cruel to the silkworm itself – Thanhauser absolutely does not shy away from describing how the caterpillars are despatched.

And then, there is the toxic waste, the noxious fumes, the poisoned water supplies, the carbon footprint, the industrial accidents, in the factories where labour creates our synthetics.

We pay less, far less for our clothes, only because in far off countries others labour for little.

We have lost our own textile industry because we have been unwilling to pay more. The exploited are in far off lands, so we don’t have to think about the real cost of our cheap clothing
Wool, which Thanhauser favours, because she looks at artisanal crafters, rescuing and promoting rare breeds, is of course also problematic at industrial megaheft.

There are of course also problems for those on more modest incomes – artisanal fabrics, inevitably are at a price tag outside what many could afford

I’m not quite certain where that happy medium is to be found

This is an important and sobering book. I have only dropped a star because the final ‘wrap’, where she goes a bit overboard almost on the metaphysics of fabric, seemed a bit contrived to me.

History of processes used to create cloth along with socio-economic factors that were present in the different regions these cloths were produced. Great book to reference if studying or working within any sector which immediately deals with cloth or clothing, or even for Historical purposes to embrace a better knowledge of processes involved in long arduous tasks to create an everyday essential to most people.

There are many books about the history of clothes and clothing, but very few manage to capture so much detail while remaining enjoyable to read.

I like to know the real facts behind some of the historical novels I read, and I find social history very interesting. I particularly enjoy journals and diaries, which often have quite the emphasis on household fabrics and clothes, so when I saw Worn, I reckoned that it might give me a bit more insight into those areas of domestic life that so many women wrote about.

Worn did give me that, and a whole lot more. It is an absolutely fascinating read about the history of the textiles we use to clothe ourselves, and their true cost to those who produce them. It goes right up to the present day, covering the results of our human desire for ever-cheaper fabrics and throw-away fashion, and the ensuing social, economic and political effects.

I found the whole book interesting and absorbing, I really enjoyed it, and I learnt a lot. I had an advance reader copy of this, thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books UK, but it has now been published (it was a bit of a slow read for me, so I didn’t make it on time).

Really fascinating book about the history of fabrics and how we once wore them. While also telling us about how fast fashion is affecting the environment.
Really interesting book, I'd like to buy a copy to highlight some of the most interesting facts and figures, which I think is the sign of a great nonfiction book!

Was unsure how much I was going to get from this book, after all how interesting can a book about garments and the materials they are made from be? However, I am so pleased that I chose to read it because the depth of detail is, particularly when it comes to the development of those Worn items, amazing. I had to read the book in chunks as there was just too much detail to absorb in one go.

To offer just one small insight.

If you think that what the fruit and nut growing industry is doing to California's natural water sources is bad, you will likely be shocked to your core when you discover what China is doing to natural water sources in Xinjiang in order to grow cotton and at the same time "educate" and displace the Uighurs.

Personally, I think this book is a must read, hence the 5 Star rating.

This is a very interesting and informative history books as it talks about textiles and their impact on human history and the current world.
We are used to think about hunters and gatherers but there's a moment when they started to wear cloth and weave.
The book is divided into chapters, one for each of the main textiles and it also analyses the impact on on our current economy and ethics.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I was offered this book as an ARC by NetGalley. I am studying textiles as part of a Creative Arts Degree which means I have read a number of books and articles on the history of a variety of fabrics. Worn by Sofi Thanhauser is the best book I have read so far. It not only gives a good overview of the history of the different classes of textile but the author has also visited sites where our textiles are made today. It was these final sections on modern manufacture that are particularly insightful and thought provoking.

I have been living a largely slow fashion life for years, first by necessity, then by choice. The deluge of fast fashion and the enormous amount of harm it does to people and the environment is never far from my mind. It can be hard to explain to people just how damaging fast fashion is and I think that Sofi Thanhauser does a brilliant job of investigating the history and the impact of how we make clothes and how they impact on the world.

The first sections of the book are arranged by types of cloth and how they have shaped what and how we wear what we wear. As she traces the history of making, she arcs out into how cloth has always been a political animal. Countries' fortunes rose and fell on the wool trade, for example. She also examines slavery, both historical and contemporary and traces the true cost of where your clothing comes from.

This is not an easy read. The impact and damage is massive and some of the topics that she explores are extremely upsetting. Once read, you will never think about the clothes you buy in the same way again.

The last section offers slightly more hope as Thanhauser explores people who are shunning the great and complex machinery of fast fashion and who are going back to more communal ways of making. I wanted to say simple, but the fact is that going back to making cloth and clothes the old fashioned way is far from simple and far from inexpensive, but it is fascinating and inspiring nonetheless.

An amazing achievement of a book that I expected to be a light history of clothing, but instead turned out to be a history of sexism and racism and the rape of nature. It examines racism, particularly slavery and the history of the Klan. Also the fact that the freed slaves were barred from so many jobs. I despaired of man's inhumanity to man as shown in this book, and the endless territory grabs from the Native Americans. Mechanisation is also examined in detail, and Gandhi chose the spinning wheel as an emblem of the struggle to resist it, but triumphed in India just the same, and all over England and the United States. This is a book that does not make easy reading, as it takes in a lot of people's tragedies, but it is worthwhile reading, and I doubt that I have ever read such a history that contains so many little known facts, but it is based around clothes and is very well written. For example, Singer. It gives a potted history of the man and I never knew he was in the theatre as well as the inventions he made. Nor the fact that other people also invented the sewing machine but he made improvements to it. A fantastic book, and I really recommend it highly. I would give it at least ten stars if I could but I am limited to five. I have not covered the whole of the book, just some interesting facts from it to stimulate the readers interest. The book is literally stuffed with such facts, and as I said, I recommend it highly, as the best book I have read in this vein.

Using main section headings of Linen, Cotton, Silk, Synthetics and Wool allows the author to take a historical view of the emergence of different fabrics and technologies (both to make them and to make things out of them); but she also takes a view based around gender, race and class, which makes it more interesting and valuable. She constantly points out how developments in markets and technology end up with women or Global Majority People being exploited and driven into poverty and despair while the administration and the White men end up with the profit and little of the work. Interestingly, this is sometimes cyclical - the downtrodden seamstresses in the 19th century have more in common with garment factory workers now than with the unionised specialists of the 1950s, for example.

My full review online here https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2022/01/22/book-review-sofi-thanhauser-worn/

A history of cloth rather than clothes. Years ago, fabrics varied from region to region as people used local yarns and dyes to make traditional textiles. Now everything is transported around the world and most clothes are made in factories in countries where labour is cheaper and there are no trade unions to help workers. I remember a time when M&S proudly stated that most of their clothing was made in the UK. No longer so. This book is a potted history of why that happened but seems to be mainly aimed at the American market. It tells us about denim looms and the proud Navaho people weaving while interned on their reservations, but hardly a mention of Scottish tweeds. I loved the beginning, explaining how the author became interested in the history of clothing manufacture after visiting Dumptique, a posh used clothes shop on Martha's Vineyard. A book to dip into.

I was misled by the cover of this book and the description into thinking it would be a history of clothing rather than cloth. Also I hadn't realised how US-centric it would be. Bearing in mind that most of the skills used historically in America came from Great Britain and Ireland and other settlers I am surprised at how little they are mentioned.

Having said that I found the book very interesting and incredibly detailed and well researched. From pastoral to polictical; travelling through slavery, industrialisation and toxic pollution and back so slavery; covering French influence on the fashion industry since the reign of Louis XIV and conspicuous consumption's influence on modern processes.

I know that this was an uncorrected advanced proof and it was in need of tidying up - but I do really hope that Hertfordshire has been replaced by Herefordshire as the county bordering England and Wales.

With thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for a copy of the book to read and review.

I didn't feel that, for me, this book lived up to the promise of its "blurb." I had been hoping for more history and more emphasis on the clothing of the title. It was obviously well researched but I found I lost my enthusiasm early on and just revisited it now and again in order to review it.
Although the author does discuss other countries, as a UK reader I found it very focussed on America
Thank you to netgalley and penguin books for an advance copy of this book

Very readable history about the story of clothes and the fabrics used to make them across nations, genders, time and cultures.
Chapters divided easily into different fabrics for ease of later reference but also reads easily as a story too.
Thanks to Netgalley for the arc

This book is very interesting but without illustrations it is somewhat hard going. I started reading with enthusiasm but then started dipping into it just for five minutes or so. Pity about the illustrations or this would have been a very good read.

I’m unable to review this book properly because I couldn’t get through it. What began as an interesting history of the development and use of yarns turned into a history of the persecution of workers and the damage done to the eco-system by widespread use of pesticides and waste of water. All of this appalling information is available in other books and seemed to me not to meet the premise of Worn.. According to the author, industrialisation is the culprit but I can’t accept her William Morris/ Merrie England image of the happy days of self-sufficiency. I simply don’t believe that life has ever been any better for the poor than it is now. We may be on the way to ruin but it’s been a long time coming.

Whilst the blurb details what this book talks about, the title is a tad misleading and should be more the history of fabrics. I don't think as a UK reader that this was as interesting for me as I'd hoped. A lot of focus on the US with Europe and UK rarely discussed.
As a fashion lover I was left wanting more.

In Worn, Sofi Tanhauser has produced an excellent, comprehensive account of our relationship with cloth and clothing. Encompassing social, economic, colonial, cultural and gender history from ancient times when people started twisting linen into thread to globalised fast fashion industry and sweatshops of the modern world. As more and more reports about the environmental cost and exploitative practices of cloth and garment manufacturing industries come to light, Worn is a timely and an essential read. Furthermore, the global pandemic and frequent lockdowns have caused many to reassess how many clothes they buy and whether they need to – I would urge them to read this book. I would urge anyone with interest in fashion and clothing to read this book.

Worn is divided into chapters on linen, cotton, silk, synthetics and wool. The history of how people came to use these fabrics, how we got to mass production and who got to control it is very well researched and presented. Tanhauser focuses on the US but visits factories in China, India, Honduras and elsewhere so she does present the reader with a global picture, and it is not pretty.

The history itself is fascinating. While I’m familiar with quite a bit of it, I’ve still learned a lot. Gender history, in particular and how and why women were gradually but comprehensively excluded from guilds and earning money in late medieval and early modern times. The rise of Paris fashion and how Louis XIV promoted domestic manufacture and export of luxury textiles and clothing. The book has also given me a lot of ideas for further reading.

Essential reading for anyone wishing to make better choices about the clothing they wear. Highly recommended.

My thanks to Allen Lane, Penguin UK and Netgalley for the opportunity to read Worn.