Where am I Wearing?: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes »

Kelsey Timmerman is a freelance journalist whose writing has appeared in the Christian Science Monitor and has aired on NPR. He maintains a blog at www.whereamiwearing.com. He lives with his wife, Annie, in Indiana.

Ninety-seven percent of our clothes are made overseas. Yet globalization makes it difficult to know much about the origin of the products we buy—beyond the standard "Made in" label. So journalist and blogger Kelsey Timmerman decided to visit each of the countries and factories where his five favorite items of clothing were made and meet the workers. He knew the basics of globalized labor—the forces, processes, economics, and politics at work. But what was lost among all those facts and numbers was an understanding of the lives, personalities, hopes, and dreams of the people who made his clothes.

In Bangladesh, he went undercover as an under-wear buyer, witnessed the child labor industry in action, and spent the day with a single mother who was forced to send her eldest son to Saudi Arabia to help support her family. In Cambodia, he learned the difference between those who wear Levi's and those who make them. In China, he saw the costs of globalization and the dark side of the Chinese economic miracle.

Bouncing between two very different worlds—that of impoverished garment workers and his own Western lifestyle—Timmerman puts a personal face on the controversial issues of globalization and outsourcing. Whether bowling with workers in Cambodia or riding a roller coaster with laborers in Bangladesh, he bridges the gap between impersonal economic forces and the people most directly affected by them. For anyone who wants to truly understand the real issues and the human costs of globalization, Where Am I Wearing? is an indispensable and unforgettable journey.

Lisa Klopfer - Library Journal

This is not a typical book about the globalization of the apparel industry; Timmerman is neither an activist nor an industry defender. Indeed, he has no expertise or special interest beyond the fact that he wonders how the clothing he wears is made. Presenting himself as the ultimate boy next door from a working-class family in Ohio, he uses a casual tone more reminiscent of blogging than muckraking. His curiosity about the origins of his T-shirts, sandals, and other clothing leads him to factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, and Honduras. He takes on the project with few preconceptions and little knowledge and perseveres with a charming lack of guile. That sincerity, plus an honest skepticism, allows him to avoid preachiness. This book does not explore the reasons for global inequalities and cannot replace even journalistic accounts, let alone scholarly ones, but for readers seeking a first humane glimpse of the situation without complex arguments or finger-shaking moralism, this is an agreeable choice.

Prologue: We Have It Made Pt. I The Mission Ch. 1 A Consumer Goes Global Ch. 2 Tattoo's Tropical Paradise Ch. 3 Fake Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Anti-Sweatshop Protestors Pt. II My Underwear: Made in Bangladesh Ch. 4 Jingle These Ch. 5 Undercover in the Underwear Biz Ch. 6 Bangladesh Amusement Park Ch. 7 Inside My First Sweatshop Ch. 8 Child Labor in Action Ch. 9 Arifa, the Garment Worker Ch. 10 Hope Ch. 11 No Black and White, Only Green Pt. III My Pants: Made in Cambodia Ch. 12 Labor Day Ch. 13 Year Zero Ch. 14 Those Who Wear Levi's Ch. 15 Those Who Make Levi's Ch. 16 Progress Ch. 17 Treasure and Trash Pt. IV My Flip-Flops: Made in China Ch. 18 PO'ed VP Ch. 19 Margaritaville Ch. 20 Life at the Bottom Ch. 21 Growing Pains Ch. 22 The Real China Ch. 23 On a Budget Ch. 24 An All-American Chinese Wal-Mart Ch. 25 The Chinese Fantasy Pt. V My Shorts: Made in the USA Ch. 26 For Richer, for Poorer Ch. 27 Untold Stories Appendix Where Are You Wearing? The Inexact Science of Finding Out Where Your Clothes Were Produced