Sweetbitter meets Valley of the Dolls in Strip Tees: A Memoir of Millennial Los Angeles, the extraordinary true story of a young woman who arrives in shiny LA with a new job at upstart American Apparel, only to find that not all that glitters is gold.At the turn of the new millennium, LA is the place to be. Hipster is a new word on our cultural tongue. Lauren Conrad is living her Cinderella story in the "hills" on millions of television sets across the country. Paris Hilton tells us "That's hot" from behind the biggest sunglasses imaginable, while beautiful teenagers fight and fall in love in The O.C.Into this most glittering of supposed utopias, Kate Flannery arrives with a Seven Sisters diploma in hand and a marketing job at an upstart clothing company called American Apparel. The company's mission is to make the coolest short-shorts and T-shirts for Americans, by Americans. Led by charismatic founder Dov Charney, American Apparel is much more a job. It's a lifestyle.Kate throws herself into work, living with the other young, suspiciously beautiful women at a house together. Having a marketing job at American Apparel also means being a part of the marketing campaigns themselves. Stripping down in the name of feminism. But as is true in film, what the camera captures looks much better than real life. The casting couch culture is alive and well, and the corporate ladder is climbed at considerable cost.Strip Tees is a fever dream of a memoir-Hunter S. Thompson meets Gloria Steinem-that captures a moment in our recent past that's already sepia-toned in nostalgia, and a fearless portrait of a young woman who must choose between what business demands and self-respect deserves.