I had a very Colorado thing happen to me when I ordered this book. I was super excited to read it and it arrived in my mailbox at about 5 or 6 pm. I bundled up and put my poodle, Geddy, on his leash for a short outdoor trip, where both of us crossed over ice and snow, only to find that my mailbox on this particular day had completely frozen shut and there was no way I could open it. I trudged back inside, I was really bummed about my mailbox, and it struck me how much I was looking forward to reading this book. I ended up getting my mailbox open the next day - which brought some sunlight and a few more degrees of melting - and then I read this book in about a day and a half. I could barely put it down.
I loved the stories in this book and I couldn’t get enough. Some of the facts in the book are a combination of staggering, tragic, and embarassing to Americans like me. I had to empathize with the towns that were built around fabrics, textiles, and textile products where the entire town was deserted after a process or product being outsourced. In this book, there are towns where suddenly, thousands of people who had textile jobs no longer have those jobs, and it’s truly overnight in some cases. This won’t be a spoiler for anyone who has lived this sort of experience. For me personally? It reminded me quite a bit of the mining industry being halted in Leadville in the 1980s. One day, everyone had jobs. The next day, no one did.
What happens after the mass textile layoffs is the underdog/comeback story part of this book which I won’t go into too deeply so I won’t spoil it. The author follows three or four mavericks who are dedicated to making different kinds of textiles in America once more, after it’s become so lucrative to outsource that it’s almost foolish to not. Socks, flannel, and hoodies are all included in textiles/garments that almost become lost arts for the United States. I loved every storyline in this book, and each person the author follows stands out to me as an admirable character. The story I liked the most was about the sock-maker in Alabama.
If you walk into Melanzana’s outdoor apparel shop in Leadville, it’s easy to get swept up in the newest season’s colors of hoodies. Personally, my brain starts spinning up with considerations about which hoodies or dresses I am going to buy, because there are limits to how many you can buy each year. Yet, what’s always impressed me most about Melanzana is that as a customer, you can see the sewing operations happening right behind the check-out desk. There are uncountable rows of sewing machines and usually sewers at work. It doesn’t get more local than that! A part of me yearns for a tour of the sewing area, yet another part wants to accept the mystery. I personally don’t always do great artwork if someone is watching me or standing behind me. So, I try to not stare too hard.
But I have to stare a little bit. I have to admire everything clothing-wise that’s made in the USA. American Flannel only made the enterprise of making quality, local clothing more admirable to me. I think at this point in time, there’s a solid popular understanding of the perils of fast fashion, for customers, for workers, and for the environment. The book does address the difficulty of affording clothing that isn’t fast fashion or from overseas, both for families and for businesses. Fortunately, this book considers the marvelous, championing steps that are taken to make quality and affordable clothing in the USA. I had a sigh of relief over this, thank god it wasn’t about $300 jeans, or even $100 jeans.
All in all, I felt like after reading this book, I knew each person and place, and maybe I even kind of knew the sewing machines. It’s like the sewing-floor tour I’ve always wanted.