[originaltext] If women are mercilessly exploited year after year, they have

If women are mercilessly exploited year after year, they have only themselves to blame. Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores. Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion. When you come to think of it, only a woman is capable of standing in front of a wardrobe packed full of clothes and announcing sadly that she has nothing to wear.
    Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste. Many women spend a great deal of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way waste hours of their time altering the dresses they have. Skirts are lengthened or shortened; neck lines are lowered or raised, and so on.
    No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society. Fashion designers are hardly concerned with important things like warmth, comfort and durability. They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right. There can hardly be a man who hasn’t at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or delicately picking her way through deep snow in high-heeled shoes.