Description

‘This riveting behind-the-scenes story of the clothes on our backs is a must-read for clotheshorses everywhere’ Harper’s Bazaar

‘Extraordinary . . . fascinating . . . a wonderful way into history, quite often through the voices of people who don’t have a say in history’ Cerys Matthews

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 nineteenth 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.

‘A must-read . . . combines remarkable research with heartfelt care’ Clare Hunter

Publisher Review

This is a must-read book for anyone interested in textiles. In it Sofi Thanhauser tracks the ingenuity, creativity and human cost of textile production across centuries and cultures in a book which combines remarkable research with heartfelt care -- Clare Hunter * author of Sunday Times bestseller Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle * Captivating and deeply researched ... Thanhauser unearths the secret life of fabrics with skill and precision. Readers won't look at their wardrobes the same way again * Publishers Weekly * A masterpiece of investigative reporting and a riveting adventure story, Threads is both panoramic and richly particular. Thanhauser is the best of guides: humane, engaging, generous with historical anecdote and always able to reveal the telling detail. She shows how the cost of fashion far exceeds any retail price tag, and how the revival of venerable traditions might yet lead us to a sustainable future -- Geraldine Brooks * author of The Secret Chord * A fascinating read, laying out how our increasingly careless use and discarding of clothing has come to damage our planet. Thanhauser has carried out a remarkable mass of research on clothes and the fibers they are made from. She has stitched it all together in a clear and engaging style that invites one to keep reading and to start mending our ways -- Elizabeth Wayland Barber * author of Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years * 'Original, insightful and thought provoking . . . a delight to read such rich insights into the weaving and knitting together of industries, societies, political initiatives and economies of cloth that truly demonstrates humans activities' -- Dilys Williams * Director of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion * Sofi Thanhauser's history of cloth is not just about clothing: it is about ethics, workers' rights, women's progress, climate justice. It is the about the fabric of who we are. And as told in Worn, it also makes an absolutely gripping read! -- Peggy Orenstein * New York Times best-selling author of Girls & Sex and Boys & Sex * The story of what we wear is the story of who we are, and Worn offers a riveting, provocative, and eye-opening account. One cannot make sense of our modern world without this book -- Brian Christian * Author of The Most Human Human *