Passage 1

In the 2006 film version of The Devil Wears Prada,Miranda Priestly,played by Meryl Streep,scolds her unattractive assistant for imagining that high fashion doesn′t affect her,Priestly explains?how the deep blue color of the assistant′s sweater descended over the years from fashion shows to?departments stores and to the bargain bin in which the poor girl doubtless found her garment.

This top-down conception of the fashion business couldn′t be more out of date or at odds with?the feverish world described in Overdressed,Elizabeth Cline′s three-year indictment of"fast?fashion".In the last decade or so,advances in technology have allowed mass-market labels such as?Zara,H&M,and Uniqlo to react to trends more quickly and anticipate demand more precisely.

Quicker turnarounds mean less wasted inventory,more frequent release,and more profit.These?labels encourage style-conscious consumers to see clothes as disposable--meant to last only a wash?or two,although they don′t advertise that--and to renew their wardrobe every few weeks.By?offering on-trend items at dirt-cheap prices,Cline argues,these brands have hijacked fashion cycles,shaking an industry long accustomed to a seasonal pace.

The victims of this revolution,of course,are not limited to designers.For H&M to offer a$5.95?knit miniskirt in all its 2,300-plus stores around the world,it must rely on low-wage overseas labor,order in volumes that strain natural resources,and use massive amounts of harmful chemicals.

Overdressed is the fashion world′s answer to consumer-activist bestsellers like Michael Pollan′s?The Omnivore′s Dilemma."Mass-produced clothing,like fast food,fills a hunger and need,yet is?non-durable and wasteful,"Cline argues.Americans,she finds,buy roughly 20 billion garments a?year--about 64 items per person--and no matter how much they give away,this excess leads to?waste.

Towards the end of Overdressed,Cline introduced her ideal,a Brooklyn woman named Sarah?

• A.poor bargaining skill
• B.insensitivity to fashion
• C.obsession with high fashion
• D.lack of imagination