I know a lot of YLFers (and others) mourn the days of quality over quantity, but I wonder how many people would actually be happy if they got what they wished for.
Personally the idea of dropping $600 on a dress is sickening to me. I wouldn't be able to do it no matter what the alleged benefits are. The cost to wear ratio would probably never add up. Bodies, lifestyles, and preferences change. Women also have a much more diverse set of roles in the modern world than they did 50 or 100 years ago. Having 9 dresses just wouldn't cut it.
I agree that there are disadvantages to the current method of using cheap labor and creating disposable garbage, but I hardly think that the examples given provide insight into what to do. I don't want to go back to Victorian times when factory workers in grimy clothes that were strictly functional were juxtaposed with intellectual elites in fine suits and silk dresses. Style has become much more democratic since then and I for one am grateful for that.
These days the amount of money you spend compared to the quality and labor standards used is a pretty tenuous relationship anyway. I would guess that the vast majority of designer clothes are made in China, and some of them are appallingly poorly made.
While everything she says is true, I don't really know what her solution would be. I guess I will have to read the book to find out.
