Thank you for the Arc!!

Wow, this was not the book I was expecting. I went into this knowing nothing about American Apparel (except Expensive T-Shirt Store) and thought they were still operational. At the time this was happening we didn't have words like "grooming" to call out this type of behavior and if this is your first job out of college, these weird, sexually forward perks are normalized and they absolutely should not be.

Fantastic story. Loved the author's voice, very engaging.

This was a really fun romp! A fun look inside the bubble created by millenials during a very specific time. I would describe this as nonfiction that is "cult-adjacent", and think it'll be easy to recommend to anyone who is currently romanticizing that early 2010s period of time.

This memoir gave great insight into the world of working at the infamous American Apparel store. I really enjoyed it.

A peek behind the curtain of the American Apparel dynasty of the early aughts - what a fun read! I am the exact same age as the author, so I remember this slice of time SO PERFECTLY. This book was most of all a love letter to 2004-2005 - Paris, Lindsey, VonDutch trucker hats, Ed Hardy, Jane Magazine. It was the most perfect time capsule and the most fun read. The pacing moved quickly and I really could relate to Kate. I really, really enjoyed this book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I was intrigued by this title from first reading the premise. I had no idea about the fraught history of American Apparel, and I really enjoyed reading about it. If you are interested in cult-adjacent, creepy organizations run by gross men that fly under the radar, you'll love this.

I loved this - mostly because I was majorly fascinated by American Apparel in its height. Loved the perspective of someone on the inside.

As someone who experienced girlhood during the peak days of American Apparel, I found this memoir incredibly interesting. I, along with my group of friends, dreamt of one day modeling for AA. Even to work at AA as a sales associate was considered an honor in eyes.

Reading this memoir makes me realize how terribly wrong I was and also how much of an illusion I idealized. Incredibly profound account.

Strip Tees, by Kate Flannery, was a look into the nostalgic youth of the 2000s, and it definitely took me back to that time. American Apparel was the new up and coming company, and when our author, Kate, arrived on the scene, she thought that the job that she got was the best job. She saw a lot, both good and bad, and really had the inside scoop on what made this company tick.

When a company falls, it often falls hard. This was the case for American Apparel. This book really highlights the rise and fall of the company, and allows others who knew of it an inside scoop to its sometime nefarious inner workings.

I enjoyed Kate's writing style and her voice, and am so glad that she was able to write this book!

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really had no idea what to expect from this but knew I had to read it if Kate Flannery wrote it because everything she does is hilarious. This was a bit humorous but not laugh out loud funny like I was expecting. I was also expecting more of a life memoir and this was certainly not that. This is more like reading the diary of a young girl in LA during the American Apparel era. It was eye opening and fascinating in many ways because I had zero background knowledge of the brand or this time in life. This was a quick read and I thought it was definitely worth reading. This is not at all what I expected from her but was enjoyable all the time. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The author writes about her experience, as a recent college graduate and self-proclaimed feminist, working at American Apparel. She begins her new career as a shopgirl, before quickly finding herself moving up the ladder and immersed in the glittery, yet shallow world of contemporary fashion; that is, until all the fun and games is inevitably overshadowed by the early 2000s toxic masculinity. Well, let’s face it, the every-year-ever-in-existence toxic masculinity.
Very entertaining.
Thanks to #netgalley and #henryholtandcompany for this #arc of #striptees in exchange for an honest review.

We will for sure be purchasing for the collection. I think it’ll find decent readership at our library. Thank you for the review copy!

as a recent college grad who lived in LA for a long time, the premise of this memoir was for me. as a tumblr girl in my early teens, i know just how much of a cultural phenomenon american apparel was in the early 2000s to 2010s. flannery is such a talented storyteller, and i could not put the book down from start to finish. for a company that ran its marketing and publicity on sexual empowerment and bold clothing pieces, it's ironic and tragic to see what went on behind the scenes. it's honestly jarring and interesting at the same time to retrospectively view 'the' clothing brand of the last decade (that has now faded into oblivion) from a 2023 perspective to also just benchmark just how much society and fashion and culture has evolved since then, as well. what a fantastic memoir.

Strip Tees is a captivating debut memoir from Kate Flannery. As Flannery recounts her time as a talent scout during American Apparel’s early years, she reveals the minefield she and her fellow ‘American Apparel Girls’ navigated while working under predatory, power-tripping CEO Dov Charney in the post-Clinton scandal, pre-Me Too years.

Though Flannery is desperate to prove she can climb the ladder without sleeping with Dov, she’s simultaneously complicit in reinforcing the system that makes her colleagues feel like they MUST sleep with Dov. She describes her exploitation and abuse at the hands of this system while still taking striking ownership of the ways she perpetuated it, a delicate and admirable tightrope act.

Strip Tees is also FUNNY. In an early chapter, Flannery recalls her undergrad attempt to subvert the male gaze by hiring a male stripper to perform in her dorm. Instead, she finds herself out of her depth: “[He] had stripped down all right, but he revealed an embarrassed, gullible girl who had gotten in way over her head, and not a sexual revolutionary who was blasting a hole through the interminable landscape of the patriarchy.“

This line perfectly captures the way Strip Tees expertly moves from hilarious to heartbreaking without even an ounce of whiplash for the reader, compelling you forward all the while. 5*.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the e-arc.

Kate Flannery is a recent college grad working a job she is unhappy at. With stars in her eyes, she has the idea to move to LA. As luck would have it, she finds herself at American Apparel, an up-and-coming retail store. Starting out as low man on the totem pole, promotions happen rapidly and she's flying around the US hiring staff that fit the American Apparel brand. Life seems great, but the culture at American Apparel is fast, party hard, work hard. The visionary behind this new retail design is Dov. Dov is a completely unethical man which Kate finds herself questioning her own ethical beliefs. Misogyny and objectifying women are commonplace and on display. The success of American Apparel takes a downward spiral as lawsuits pile up against Dov (as if you couldn't see that coming!). This memoir has an incredibly happy ending, and I really enjoyed the ride as I reflected back on that time period.

I love a good fictional train wreck, but this happened in real life! Throughout this memoir lies the inner conflict of being a feminist, being true to oneself, and calling out unethical behavior.

Thanks to Henry Holt & Co and NetGalley for the arc.

A very interesting and eye opening read about a brand that was so present in my growing up years! I never realized what truly happened to make the brand fold in the way it did...so I appreciated reading this book and having questions answered that I didn't even realize my soul had been asking.

I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. It was still a good book, I just didn’t know it centered around fashion so much.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for providing me this Advanced Readers Copy of Strip Tees by Kate Flannery!

I loved this heartfelt and incisive memoir by Kate Flannery. As someone who was well aware of the high fashion, sexed up cultural impact of American Apparel in the 2000s, it was shocking to hear a firsthand account of the company's cult-like structure and perverse, exploitative mindset. At its heart this is a story about a young woman trying to find her way post-college in a big city that can swallow you up - something that is incredibly relatable as a fellow millennial. I would imagine this book would especially resonate for readers here in Los Angeles, with the city's frenetic energy and looks/status-based cultural currency. I really enjoyed this book and appreciate the author for being vulnerable about her experience, which encapsulates a specific time, place, and brand but translates perfectly to our present day culture.

Strip Tees caught my attention right away knowing the reputation of American Apparel. It was very interesting to read about Kate's experience as an employee from the early days of the company. Her story kept me wanting to read to find out all of the drama that happened at American Apparel. with the CEO Dov. Kate's style of writing was easy to follow, and she made it relatable to recent college grads looking for a meaningful career. I wish that we could have heard more about her life after American Apparel, but otherwise, I really enjoyed the book.

I traded my sequined bolero and my dreams of a Nicole Richie-esque angel wings tattoo SO fast when the first American Apparel opened up in Boston in the early 2000s. Should I buy that textbook or that silver lamé bikini I’ll never wear? The choice was obvious. Do I need those tall retro varsity socks that will never see the light of day or do I NEED them!? These were serious dilemas in my college years, so when I read the synopsis for this book I was both so intrigued and so not looking forward to thinking back on my embarrassing relationship with the American Apparel culture.

This book is pure nostalgia for anyone who remembers the essence of American Apparel first coming onto the scene, but it’s also so much more. It’s an exploration of a young woman on her own in LA, trying to navigate through and climb up in a company that throws traditional rules out the window. It’s a story of the explotation of feminism and the author’s reckoning with her part in it. It’s truly a fantastic story and I would recommend it to anyone — even if you didn’t have an unhealthy obsession with American Apparel in the early days. The story of the male stripper during her college years was a particular favorite for me.

4.25 stars

Thank you Net Galley for