Rating: 
Summary: Required reading for consumers
Review: This book truly opened my eyes to the ways fashion touches all of our lives, from the accelerating pace of trends to the dangerous spread of chain stores that the author calls McFashion to the ridiculous physical harm we do to our bodies just to be fashionable. In one example, a doctor quoted in the book talks about how a woman's toe almost had to be amputated because she wore tight high heels too much. Talk about a fashion victim!I seriously never thought about fashion in this way before. An impressive work of reporting, the book is filled with interesting statistics and facts like how 27 percent of women would give up three years to be thinner. Lee's punchy tone is a real treat and makes the reading that much more enjoyable. And she does a good job of including examples that aren't just aimed at people of one particular age, gender or economic range, opening up the audience to include pretty much anyone. I'd give it a strong A minus.
Rating: 
Summary: writing, problematic
Review: This book would have been so much better if it were written in a more active voice and without glaring generalizations.
Rating:
Summary: Well researched, fascinating and thoughtful
Review: This is a terrific book! Actually, I think it might be the finest book on the American fashion industry and the psychology behind fashion that I have read in years. Michelle Lee has obviously done a great deal of good research and backed up her theories with believable statistics and unique examples.
However, after reading this book I have some troubling questions.
Have we, in the English speaking world, evolved into a society of culturally dim-witted, simple minded, fast food junkies? Have we eliminated clever and original ideas and replaced them with concepts that in their "sameness" celebrate profits to such a degree that eventually we will all look, speak and live exactly the same way? Is this all happening so that a few people in a few places can sock away a whole lot of dough?
But the scariest question is this:
Is this what one is referring to when one speaks of "freedom"?
It's up to the consumer to say no to these concepts and to demand products which are not only reflect thoughtfulness and creativity, but also demonstrate just a little more respect for other cultures, the enviornment, even the world at large. But as long as the public continues to follow this road, and a few people continue to makes loads of money with it, it will continue to flourish.
Lately, I have grown increasingly tired of hearing the word "brand". It doesn't mean anything anymore. Not quality or style or overall satisfaction.
I need a big change. I've decided with the help of this book, that I will search for that clever and unusual garment or handbag, that delicious morsel of real, unprocessed food and I will read more books like this one.
I hope I'm not alone.
Rating:
Summary: All bark but no bite?
Review: This is an interesting book. I'm about the most "unfashionable" person you could ever meet -- I own 3 pairs of shoes (sneakers, hiking boots, and sandals), and the closest I've ever been to "trendy" is a toss-up between my "old school" JNCOs and my $3 flea market Gap dress. But it's always interesting learning how other people live their lives, and fashion/trend has played a huge role in developing culture (or is it the other way around?), and I expected this book to fill me in. What I WASN'T expecting the author to be a Fashion Victim herself (beyond a certain point anyway). I was expecting a smart, witty outsider's view -- along the lines of Fast Food Nation but "less dark." The fact that she is firmly enmeshed in the world -- a "believer," if you will -- makes it hard for her to get a very good perspective on it and at times it's clear that she's a little too dazzled to truly analyze the state of affairs. Nonetheless, the book was an interesting read (and a few times *very* funny) until the last 15% or so, after the fur discussion, where her direction really just disappeared. I kept expecting her to come back with a point but it never happened. If the author wanted to improve this book, she should have included more indepth discussion of the culture of knock-offs, more historical anecdotes about fashion and the lengths to which both men and women went, extreme styles, the different body shapes that have been idolized throughout the ages, and related things. There was a cursory treatment of corsets, but the male Dandies weren't even discussed! I also resented the somewhat veiled implication that while some people who have the money (or desire to blow the money) on expensive designer clothes are just being trendy and not developing their personal style, almost no one without the money could be stylish. I agree that Gap and such are creating a cultural wasteland of "inoffensive" clothing, but they're not the only ones selling clothes out there. So I'd give this book a 3.5 star rating; since I can't, I think it's closer to 3. If you're a real Fashion Victim yourself, this will probably have you nodding and going "that's so true," but for the person just interested in an intellectual discussion, this is not worth the money. Get it from your library instead -- you'll be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: Very nice. I consider myself a very tough cookie when it comes to rating nonfiction and I thought this book was very well done. This book is to fashion what Fast Food Nation is to McDonalds. I'll never shop the same way again!
Rating:
Summary: Adored this book!!
Review: Why is this book not getting more attention? I've been reading all this stuff about Devil Wears Prada and all the fashion-related books like Steven Cojocaru's. I started reading both of those books a few days ago and they're pretty disappointing so far. I read about Fashion Victim in the New York Times and finally picked it up. I LOVED it. I wasn't sure what to expect of the book, but it's surprisingly smart and laugh-out-loud funny at certain points...and better written than Prada and Cojocaru. It's not at all like a How To Dress book, which is good because I can't stand those types of books, but it's more of a social sciences look at fashion and dress. A happy surprise! I think you'll like it.
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