Book Talk at Fiddlehead Artisan Supply

Worn: A People’s History of Clothing

Join us for a book talk with author Sofi Thanhauser!
Friday November 24th, 4 pm, in the Fiddlehead classroom

We are thrilled to welcome our community to this FREE event where author Sofi Thanhauser will discuss her New Yorker Best Book of the Year book, Worn, a sweeping and captivatingly told history of clothing and the stuff it is made of. Light refreshments will be served and copies of Worn will be available for purchase.

From Penguin Random House..

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.