Where are you wearing today?

July 1, 10:20 AMChristian Living ExaminerJoanne Brokaw

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Writer and traveler Kelsey Timmerman released his debut book, Where Am I Wearing? last fall, but it's such a great read that I wanted to share it with you. 

Here's the book description:

Ninety-seven percent of our clothes are made overseas. Yet globalization makes it difficult to know much about the origin of the products we buy--beyond the standard "Made in" label. So journalist and blogger Kelsey Timmerman decided to visit each of the countries and factories where his five favorite items of clothing were made and meet the workers. He knew the basics of globalized labor--the forces, processes, economics, and politics at work. But what was lost among all those facts and numbers was an understanding of the lives, personalities, hopes, and dreams of the people who made his clothes.

Kelsey is an amusing and engaging guy, and he tells a good story, so I'm sure the book will not only enlighten readers about how their consumer choices affect the world, but make them giggle. TIME magazine said, "Timmerman's youthful exuberance carries this unlikely consumer tale."

This isn't a political, "you're horrible for buying from China" kind of book. This is a book about the actual people who make your clothing, what their daily lives are really like, and how our American perspective of the good life is skewed by our own economic abundance.

The book doesn't have anything to do with religion. But understanding how the global marketplace is affected by our consumer choices, and seeing the responsibility we have to care for people around the world, really does have something to do with Christianity. The choices we make every day affect people around the world, and as part of loving your neighbor it's important to understand how even the most simple act of buying flip flops can help or hurt someone half a world away.

And right around the corner. Kelsey visited the former Champion factory in Perry, NY, right up the road from Rochester, and talked to the folks who make athletic apparel there now. (That he convinced his wife to plan their honeymoon around the visit only adds to humor.)

And in keeping with Kelsey's fun perspective, he's declared every Wednesday #WhereAmIWearing Wednesday on Twitter. Join Kelsey and share where the clothes you're wearing right now were made. It's eye opening and fun.

To learn more, visit the Where Am I Wearing blog.