Michelle Lee's "Fashion Victim: Our Love-Hate Relationship with Dressing, Shopping, and the Cost of Style� is not simply a critique of materialistic mavens and runway models, it�s an exploration into the world of fashion, meant to enlighten readers on the issues of sweatshops, body image and animal rights, that accompany this industry of glam.

Notice the word �our� in the title. Lee, a contributing writer to Marie Claire, Elle, Cosmopolitan and other fashion-oriented magazines, doesn�t shy away from divulging her addiction to fashion and her uncertainty about where to rest on its accompanying moral issues. Her honesty and accompanying humor gives the book a familiar tone, as if you�re getting advice from a friend rather than being preached at by a self-prescribed fashion expert.

Those with even a slight stake in the fashion industry�including, of course, consumers and fashion whores�will become immersed in what Lee divulges. According to her, everyone is a fashion victim, not just those who pile trend upon gaudy trend in a strained effort to look cool.

We are fashion victims because we squeeze ourselves into ridiculously tight pants and ridiculously pointy shoes just to keep up with changing fads. We are fashion victims because we allow unbelievably skinny models on runways and in magazines to dictate what we think is the normal body type. We are fashion victims because we pay exorbitant amounts of money for designer duds and because we fail to understand that cheaper clothes often indicate cheaper, unfair labor.

�But how can we help it?� Lee asks in the introduction. �We�re a society hooked on�and bombarded with�fashion. Style, once a commodity reserved for the elite, is being marketed to the masses at an ever-quickening pace.�

So everyone is a fashion victim. The key, Lee says, is to recognize that and think about the decisions we make with regards to fashion without allowing ourselves to be force fed by the industry.

Fashion is not all fun and frivolity. It has the power to exploit (sweatshops), offend (trends like the bindi and Buddha novelty t-shirts) and kill (mink coat, anyone?).

This is not to say that Lee thinks we should all bow our heads in shame next time we even think about shopping at The Gap. Fashion is not all fun and frivolity, but that�s definitely a part of it, and there�s nothing wrong with that. Lee says, �While I cast a critical eye on the industry and on the concept of fashion itself, I certainly don�t undervalue the ways in which fashion enriches our lives.�