Stitched Up: The Anti-Capitalist Book of Fashion

265 Pages·2014·4.29 MB·English

by  Tansy E. Hoskins

Stitched Up

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Counterfire
Series Editor: Neil Faulkner
Counterfire is a socialist organisation which campaigns against capitalism,
war, and injustice. It organises nationally, locally, and through its website
and print publications, operating as part of broader mass movements,
for a society based on democracy, equality, and human need.
Counterfire stands in the revolutionary Marxist tradition, believing
that radical change can come only through the mass action of ordinary
people. To find out more, visit www.counterfire.org
This series aims to present radical perspectives on history, society,
and current affairs to trade unionists, students, activists and everyone
concerned about the state of the world. The best measure of its success
will be the degree to which it inspires readers to be active in the struggle
to change the world.
Also available:
A Marxist History of the World:
From Neanderthals to Neoliberals
Neil Faulkner
How a Century of War Changed the Lives of Women
Lindsey German
Forthcoming:
The Second World War:
A Marxist History
Chris Bambery

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Stitched Up
The Anti-Capitalist
Book of Fashion
Tansy E. Hoskins
Fernwood Publishing
HALIFAX & WINNIPEG
www.fernwoodpublishing.ca

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First published 2014 by Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
www.plutobooks.com
Distributed in the United States of America exclusively by
Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
Published in Canada by Fernwood Publishing, 32 Oceanvista Lane, Black Point,
Nova Scotia, B0J 1B0 and 748 Broadway Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3G 0X3
www.fernwoodpublishing.ca
Fernwood Publishing Company Limited gratefully acknowledges the financial
support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the
Canada Council for the Arts, the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture
and Heritage, the Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism under the
Manitoba Publishers Marketing Assistance Program and the Province of Manitoba,
through the Book Publishing Tax Credit, for our publishing program.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Hopkins, Tansy E., 1981-, author
Stitched up : the anti-capitalist book of fashion / Tansy E. Hopkins.
Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-55266-663-0 (pbk.)
1. Clothing trade--Social aspects. 2. Clothing trade-- Political aspects. 3. Clothing
trade--Environmental aspects. 4. Fashion--Social aspects. 5. Fashion--Political aspects.
6. Consumption (Economics)--Social aspects. I. Title.
HD9940.A2H66 2014 338.4'774692 C2013-907529-1
Copyright © Tansy E. Hoskins 2014
The right of Tansy E. Hoskins to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7453 3290 1 Hardback
ISBN 978 0 7453 3456 1 Paperback (Pluto Press)
ISBN 978 1 55266 663 0 Fernwood
ISBN 978 1 7837 1006 5 PDF eBook
ISBN 978 1 7837 1008 9 Kindle eBook
ISBN 978 1 7837 1007 2 EPUB eBook
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed
and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are
expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England
Text design by Melanie Patrick
Simultaneously printed digitally by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham, UK and
Edwards Bros in the United States of America

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To my parents, Kay and Gareth,
with love and affection

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Contents
Introduction 1
1 Owning It 14
2 The Fashion Media 33
3 Buyology 50
4 Stitching It 67
5 A Bitter Harvest 89
6 Fashion and Size 108
7 Is Fashion Racist? 128
8 Resisting Fashion 148
9 Reforming Fashion 166
10 Revolutionising Fashion 184
Notes 203
Bibliography 233
Acknowledgements 239
About the Illustrator 241
Index 242

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It is because being oppressed sometimes brings with it some slim
bonuses that we are occasionally prepared to put up with it. The
most efficient oppressor is the one who persuades his underlings
to love, desire and identify with his power; and any practice of
political emancipation thus involves that most difficult of all forms
of liberation, freeing ourselves from ourselves.
The other side of the story, however, is equally important. For if
such dominion fails to yield its victims sufficient gratification over
an extended period of time, then it is certain that they will finally
revolt against it. If it is rational to settle for an ambiguous mixture of
misery and marginal pleasure when the political alternatives appear
perilous and obscure, it is equally rational to rebel when the miseries
clearly outweigh the gratifications, and when it seems likely that
there is more to be gained than to be lost by such action.
Terry Eagleton, Ideology: An Introduction
Seeing nothing is as political an act as seeing something.
Arundhati Roy

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Introduction

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