Globalization and Clothing: Up Close and Personal
by Marie Marra
A journalist and traveler named Kelsey Timmerman wanted to know where his clothes came from and who made them in the global manufacturing and wholesale apparel market. So he took a trip around the world and then recorded his findings in Where am I Wearing?: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories and People that Make Our Clothes.
He puts a personal face – or “skin in the game” if you will — on big abstract issues like globalization and outsourcing, and on controversies like child laborers and sweatshop producers.
What Timmerman Found:
His underwear was made in Bangladesh (where he rode a roller coaster with garment workers and saw his first child labor sweatshop)
His pants were made in Cambodia (where he bowled with workers and pondered the global gap between makers and wearers of Levi’s)
His flip-flops were made in China (a topic that took eight chapters, two of them titled, Margaritaville and Life at the bottom)
Finally, at the end, his shorts were made in the U.S.
Where am I Wearing? By Kelsey Timmerman was published in November 2008 by Wiley.



















It’s mind-boggling how such everyday articles of clothing can come from so many different locales around the globe. Very interesting… thanks for the post.