Kate Flannery

A Memoir of Millennial Los Angeles

Strip Tees

Ooof. As someone who was 18 in 2002, and had an American Apparel scout take a polaroid of full teenage eating disorder me who was into not buying things made in sweatshops, in downtown Toronto, only to have another girl lean in and say to me "do not ever go anywhere with Dov." I am 2/3 of the way though this and it's like some "sliding doors" wild ride shit. American Apparel was such a cultural moment for Millennials. This is fascinating. 

Apiecalypse Jen

Emily Perkovich

Comparing the work culture to a cult was such a smart move. I loved this. It was incredibly nostalgic as a millennial. It made me really wish that I could read the stories of the other American Apparel employees (particularly Dov’s Girls). Incredibly intriguing.

Thank you NetGalley & Henry Holt for the ARC

Listen I already fucking hated Dov but, OOooFf.

It's like reading the origin myth for that very specific type of hipster dude anyone who is a woman in their 3os had to relentlessly navigate for a decade of their 20s. And like we all kept saying to eachother "do they have like a fucking manual? Are they meeting in secret? How are they coordinating?" And it turns out it was just a Bermuda Triangle of Terry Richardson, Dov Charney and Vice Magazine all colluding together to convince us that like the worst shit ever was actually for "cool girls only" and we were lucky if we got chosen by some unwashed loser with no skills or positive qualities and then he would like master*ate at us and it was somehow revolutionary and feminist.

It's a great memoir about how even smart and feminist women can get fucking conned into some bullshit if you tell them they are owning it. As a "pierced protester" who lived through this disaster, I gotta say, there is nothing more freeing than being 28 and realizing that the best feeling in the world is intentionally dispiriting men who were attracted to imaginary-in-their-mind you by being a whole ass person. 

The GavinMcG-T.Richardson-L.Clark-DovC.-ViceDos&Donts-Voltron that lurched forth from the unholy Montréal/LA/Brooklyn Hunter S Thompson fanboi scene should be tried in The Hague for what they did from 2001 to 2012 to women who liked shorts. I said it. 

Listen I already fucking hated Dov but, OOooFf.

It's like reading the origin myth for that very specific type of hipster dude anyone who is a woman in their 3os had to relentlessly navigate for a decade of their 20s. And like we all kept saying to eachother "do they have like a fucking manual? Are they meeting in secret? How are they coordinating?" And it turns out it was just a Bermuda Triangle of Terry Richardson, Dov Charney and Vice Magazine all colluding together to convince us that like the worst shit ever was actually for "cool girls only" and we were lucky if we got chosen by some unwashed loser with no skills or positive qualities and then he would like master*ate at us and it was somehow revolutionary and feminist.

It's a great memoir about how even smart and feminist women can get fucking conned into some bullshit if you tell them they are owning it. As a "pierced protester" who lived through this disaster, I gotta say, there is nothing more freeing than being 28 and realizing that the best feeling in the world is intentionally dispiriting men who were attracted to imaginary-in-their-mind you by being a whole ass person. 

The GavinMcG-T.Richardson-L.Clark-DovC.-ViceDos&Donts-Voltron that lurched forth from the unholy Montréal/LA/Brooklyn Hunter S Thompson fanboi scene should be tried in The Hague for what they did from 2001 to 2012 to women who liked shorts. I said it. 

file this under: books to read after watching barbie (2023)

Strip Tees is a must-read for anyone interested in the fashion industry and/or feminism.

Flannery's story is both personal and political. It is a powerful and provocative memoir that will challenge you to think critically about the way we consume and commodify images of women and how women are treated in the workplace.

I am a terrible reader. I rarely read books. Something compelled me to read this, and I finished it in only a few days. So, take this review with a grain of salt but know it might've changed my life. Why? I am a recent grad soon to be entering the scary scary fashion industry and nearing the same place as Flannery when the book opens.

I was born only a few years after this book begins, but that doesn't mean that I never shopped at American Apparel. I must've been just too young to understand what was happening behind the scenes when I dragged my family to their factory store in about 2015 when we were on vacation. Even then—at the brand's lowest point—I was too young, too consumed by their message to have any idea what was going on at American Apparel behind the scenes and even in the media concerning Dov Charney. And that is terrifying.

Annika

file this under: books to read after watching barbie (2023)

—

Strip Tees is a must-read for anyone interested in the fashion industry and/or feminism.

Flannery's story is both personal and political. It is a powerful and provocative memoir that will challenge you to think critically about the way we consume and commodify images of women and how women are treated in the workplace.

I am a terrible reader. I rarely read books. Something compelled me to read this, and I finished it in only a few days. So, take this review with a grain of salt but know it might've changed my life. Why? I am a recent grad soon to be entering the scary scary fashion industry and nearing the same place as Flannery when the book opens.

I was born only a few years after this book begins, but that doesn't mean that I never shopped at American Apparel. I must've been just too young to understand what was happening behind the scenes when I dragged my family to their factory store in about 2015 when we were on vacation. Even then—at the brand's lowest point—I was too young, too consumed by their message to have any idea what was going on at American Apparel behind the scenes and even in the media concerning Dov Charney. And that is terrifying.

Skye

“I was in Los Angeles for less than a month before I got scouted by a cult.”

honestly, with an opening line like that, how could you possibly put this one down?

the memoir I didn't know I needed, Strip Tees exposes the story of the rise and fall of LA-based clothing company American Apparel told through the lens of an educated shop girl-turned-hiring manager/photographer/babysitter/everything in between. it’s like NXIVM meets…well, American Apparel…the American Apparel we all thought we knew, at least. 

talk about a tsunami of nostalgia. I felt like I should be playing Hilary Duff‘s Come Clean on repeat the whole time I was reading this book. I found myself reverting back to phrases like “dunzo” and “that’s hot.” my mind was transported back to middle school — wearing my cropped leggings under a mini skirt with my Teen People in hand wondering how I got *so* cool. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a love letter to the 2000s, but it’s an incredibly immersive journey back in time. I could practically smell the store-bought suntan lotion and Ralph Lauren’s Ralph Hot perfume in the air.

for those who don’t remember the explosion of American Apparel on the scene, this memoir is a time capsule of knowledge about a company that swept the nation off its feet by touting its ethical capitalism and effortless coolness. it’s also a vivid example of a man exploiting women while packaging it as feminism — the millennial wave of feminism twisted and tainted for his gain. Strip Tees serves as a reminder that anyone can be vulnerable to predators — even self-aware, self-proclaimed feminists.

there were a couple times I found myself questioning Kate’s actions, but ultimately, I remembered that’s not the point of this memoir. it’s the story of someone’s lived experiences, and it’s not meant for my input; it’s meant for my awareness. it’s easy as a person living in 2023 to read Strip Tees and know right away the American Apparel culture screamed 🚩RED FLAG🚩, but let’s not forget the climate of that time period. it was the height of the millennial sexual awakening, featuring declarations of bodily freedoms and unashamed sexuality. but in the end, Dov was exactly what he proclaimed to hate: an opportunist — one who used women and girls to get what he wanted while making them believe it was another way for them to show how independent, progressive, and sexually autonomous they were. 

as much as we all want to be different and “not like the other girls”, Strip Tees highlights the truth that we are all products of our own generations…good and bad! that means it’s our responsibility to learn from what’s happened before us and what’s happening now in order to take action and make every day better for ourselves and those around us. 

BEWARE THE REVOLUTION! 

read if you like:
♡ 00s nostalgia
♡ immersive memoirs
♡ driven women 
♡ startup culture
♡ Los Angeles
♡ hilarious male-stripper mishaps
♡ lyrical writing styles

trigger warnings:
♡ exploitation
♡ predators
♡ sexual assault

quotes to convince you to read this book:
“I was in Los Angeles for less than a month before I got scouted by a cult.”
“I was nothing but a sexually inexperienced, tamale husk-eating good girl, and not the the type to have a threesome with Caralee for tickets to Berlin.”
“It seemed like this obsolete Gen-Xer was going to need a dose of feminist reckoning. Millennial-style.”
"I rolled so many joints on the onion-skin pages of hotel Gideons Bibles, I could papier-mâché my own staircase to hell."
“The Year I Fvckəd Everybody was an era.”
“Free English lessons, fair wages, and free sex toys—a 2000s rebranding of the American Dream.”

thank you to Henry Holt for sending me an early copy of Strip Tees!

Strip Tees A Memoir of Millennial Los Angeles

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