Overdressed by Elizabeth E. Cline (ARC)

I remember reading a book like this before. It was about branding and clothes and through this topic, I actually understood a lot more about IP rights and stuff. Sadly, I forgot the title so I can't share it with you. But, what I'm trying to say is that this book is just like that - excellent, amusing and educational.

Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion takes a deeper look into the implications of cheap fashion like H&M, Target, etc It's actually a very well-down piece of research, seeing how the author actually went to China and other countries to understand how the clothes are produced.

Even though I myself hardly buy clothes (really, why buy clothes when you can buy books?) I thought this book was very interesting. It seems to cross genres, cover personal experiences, the business managements part, the economics behind this industry, etc. There's even some history in it, if you count the fact that she traces how consumer expenditure on clothing has changed throughout the years, and the socio-economic conditions that accompany/cause each change.

I actually agree with the main thrust of the book. Cheap clothes are a vicious cycle. It makes sense that if you pay less, you value the object less (well, unless it's a book). And if you look at things like Economies of Scale and profitability margins, then the quality of the good has to go down since quality is inversely related to price (think of demand and supply).

Honestly, growing up, I always wore hand-me-downs, so I don't really have the "disposable clothes" mentality that she had. I did try shopping at a cheap fashion store once (I think it's bankrupt now), but I really didn't like the clothes (...so loud...so garish...-shudder-). I tend towards pink(:

If you like the book (and I did), then you should be pleased to know that there is also a blog! It's called The Good Closet and the posts there are thought provoking and interesting (there's a nice mix of both types).

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.