WORN:  A People’s History of Clothing by Sofi Thanhauser

This book is based on intensive research and travel-the notes alone account for at least 1/4″ of the thickness. It’s divided into chapters in a historic order, but by types of cloth, oddly, denim, which is typically cotton, appears in the Wool section, chapter 12, with no mention in the Table of Contents. The horrible life of  millworkers, whether fabric manufacturers or stitchers, which was awful before labor unions, is covered in detail, as are the overseas sweatshops of today. While reading the first third of the book, Linen and Cotton, I was dismayed by the author’s strong-seeming political agenda and extremely negative and political slant, but I kept reading and her writing became less heavy-handed and more objective, while still telling the story of her investigative journey. I liked that she tried to learn tailoring before writing this book–as a seamstress myself, that gave her more validity than what I could only assume was an unlimited budget for research travel. 

Her sewing, fabric and fashion terminology, to the best of my knowledge, was entirely accurate. I learned a lot about the history of fabric and I am glad I persevered beyond the early negative chapters and finished reading the book.

Travel, when we are fortunate enough to do so, enriches the mind and also the heart, even as it slims the wallet. Museums abound in most large cities and are a favorite activity for my husband and me. I enjoy talking with people everywhere we go-about half the English-speaking Taxi and Uber drivers will enjoy talking, and ultimately, they’re just folks, like us.

As a seamstress, or “sewist,” I have enjoyed shopping for fabric in other countries, as well as the fashion areas of San Francisco, Toronto and an outdoor market in San Diego. We purchased beautiful silk in a market near Bangkok which I still need to sew-we were told to haggle over the price, which Mr. H. handled for me. Two years ago, I gazed wistfully at an actual Burda store near the Central Market in Budapest as our tour bus rolled on. I spent a wonderful hour in a fabric shop in Vienna with a shop lady who spoke no English as I spoke no German, but we gestured, and smiled and enjoyed fabric together. (I really wanted to buy there, but her beautiful woolens were too hot for the “sunny south.”)

If you’re a sewist or just enjoy knowing about the history of fabric and clothing, this would be a good book for you. It may spark your interest in traveling to other places, or perhaps, like for me, encourage you to sew up some of that precious fabric in your stash!