Worn: A People's History of Clothing

Written by Sofi Thanhauser

Narrated by Rebecca Lowman

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9780593413906

Reviews for Worn

[capewood · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2024 book #63. 2022. A history of clothing as told through various fibers (cotton, silk, wool, linen and synthetics). Also a social history of exploitation, environmental degradation and greed. Interesting but not a happy book about fashion. Read for my book club.

[lauralkeet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As humans have evolved, so has our clothing, in both material and method. Sofi Thanhauser begins with linen, the earliest fabric, followed by cotton, synthetics, and wool. And while she describes how each material is made into cloth and then garments, this book is not so much about craft as it is about the industry that arose around each material, and the effects such economic progress had on people and the environment. Linen was traditionally women’s work until large-scale manufacturing took it away from them. Cotton was made in the United States by enslaved people, and the cotton industry worldwide had far-reaching negative effects on climate and the land. Synthetics like rayon and nylon spawned a global economy, but one largely based on cheap labor producing low-cost material that wears out quickly. The more recent development of microfiber fabrics is having a devastating impact on our oceans. You get the idea.

In the final section, Thanhauser describes the decline of the wool industry, but offers a glimmer of hope based on fibersheds, where fiber producers, fabric makers, and dyers are able to build supply chains. Renewed interest in craft is also creating new routes to market and new ways for people to make a living. Have we learned from the “bigger is better” days of synthetics production? Probably not, but we can hope that today’s baby steps lead to sustainable change.

[spinsterrevival · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was full of fascinating history as well more modern issues of human rights, so it really covers a vast swath of life in fiber and how it’s affected us all.

[tytania-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I want to give 5 stars to the chapter on wool and 3.5 to everything else. The chapter on linen I liked, because I just like hanging out with textiles and talk about old clothes; but as the first chapter, it falsely led me to believe this was going to be one of those non-fiction books that is just one well-researched fact after another. Instead, the next chapter, on cotton, was all about how terrible cotton is and has always been. That's not my type of book either, but for a different reason. I don't like just reading about how everything is awful, over and over. The chapter on silk was OK; but then, for synthetics, we get intensive details of various worker strikes earlier last century. I wanted to read a book about textiles, not the history of labor unions.

But then finally, WOOL! It's interesting Thanhauser ordered her chapters the way she did; one would have expected the 'primitive' materials to come first and synthetics last; but I think she put wool last because it was the most positive chapter, where small mills and handcrafters save the day after all that nasty environmental damage and class warfare.

Thanhauser by the Wool chapter has proven herself a super-intelligent, serious researcher; so it was fun to see her discover my tribe of fiber-festival-goers and handspinners. She visits Fingerlakes Woolen Mill in New York, which could stand in for my own friends at Green Mountain Spinnery in Vermont or any of hundreds of small-scale mills we all know and love. She visits with people rescuing equipment from the now-defunct American Textile History Museum of Lowell, Mass. And she goes to "Woolfest" in Cockermouth, England. I was seriously planning to go to Woolfest in 2012, before familial hard times hit. It does indeed sound akin to the High Holydays experienced on this side of the pond at the New York Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck or (shout-out) the Vermont counterpart at Tunbridge. Alas, "I had to admit it [as do I]: Woolfest was a gathering of old women." So many gray heads I counted while vending at Tunbridge. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Fun fact: the University of Wyoming created a Wool Department in 1907 and for a time was the only university to offer a PhD in wool. Imagine being a Doctor of Wool - I love it!

[libraryhead · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Wants to be an Omnivore’s Dilemma but for clothing, but falls short.

[theloislevel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As soon as I saw this book, I was very excited about reading it although it wasn't exactly what I expected. My take away is that clothing our bodies has always been very hard on the environment and the people who make them. I think there's a lesson about vanity in there...and it definitely goes back to the Garden of Eden. But I digress.

My take away is that it's a sin to own too many clothes. And since what I consider to be a "pared down" wardrobe is currently in three different locations, and I'm still managing to keep laundry day down to about once a week (or a bit less), and I'm not naked either, I'm still not there.

Read this book for an eye opening look into why we wear what we do.

[annbury_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A thought -- and guilt -- provoking book. This meticulously researched book is partly a history of cloth and clothing, but much more an examination of how both affect the world today. The impact of cotton production on land, water, and people is particularly dramatic. Enormous amounts of harm have been done, and continue to be done, all along the chain from fiber, to cloth, to garments. The writer has a strong point of view -- she is vehemently anti-capitalist -- which can make some of her points seem overstated. But the book is chock full of interesting and important information. It will certainly affect the way I feel about buying a new piece of clothing. It may even affect my actions.