Women in Clothes – Laura’s Suggested Read

Happy Tuesday Nuda Biters!

Let me introduce one of my favourite books this month, Women in Clothes by Shelia Heti, Hedi Julavits, Leanne Shapton & 639 other fabulous women of our time.

A book based on a collection of conversations, surveys, poems and projects, invites women to share their stories on the subject of fashion and style.  The book engages readers to examine an array of questions, such as – what is means to wear a particular outfit or the history of a particular garment and its context in relation to women’s body. Women in Clothes is hands-down one of the best reads thus far that engages with the “important stuff” women deal with when getting dressed everyday.  On the plus side, for those of you who are fan’s of HBO’s Girls, this book also includes survey’s from the witty Lena Dunham and the irresistible Zosia Mamet (aka Shoshanna).  It also happens to be my source of inspiration for todays post.

For many of us, mornings – from the moment we get out of bed to the moment we cross the door – includes some sort of battle with our wardrobe.  The age old question, “What do I wear today?” seems to whisper in our ears like the steam from a fresh pot of coffee. Many of us, myself being guilty of such, will say to ourselves the following things;

“this outfit makes me look fat”

“these pants our too tight”

“Omg are those wrinkles I see”

“I need to go shopping”.

Creating an image for ourselves can be somewhat daunting. Which is why I have decided to take a second look at my wardrobe and review the cornucopia of garments that have accumulated dust, to see whether or not I could inject characteristics of confidence back into these gems (I challenge you Nuda Biters to do the same).

While scavenging, I came across (what felt like) thousands of pieces that I have not worn in years, particular my collection of bags, hats, and jewelry.  What does this say about me? I am afraid to draw attention to particular to area of my body? Or am I just scared as sh*t to wear something because people will think less of me? Or perhaps I do not accessorize because I am not aware of the social context of said particular piece?

Therefore as fresh start to this week, I will try to wear at least one garment or accessory that I have not worn in a while (before I decide to pass it on or throw it away in a give away bag) and see whether or not I can breathe a second life to my existing abundance of stuff.

I believe one of the many consequence in giving away our garments is that we forget the history and nature of where that piece came from and we forget that  “x” garment once belong to our persona and has a story worth telling.  Perhaps that dress you gave away last week was the dress you wore the first time you fell in love? Or perhaps it was the dress you wore on your very first interview and scored your dream job? OR – perhaps it was a dress that belonged to your grandmother and was passed on to your mother and then passed on to you and you have yet to write your story in that dress?

So. Much. History.

Keeping with todays theme of women in dress, an event that is taken place right here in Toronto in February at the Design Exchange is an exhibition curated by Ryerson very own 2^nd year MA graduate, Filomena Natale Gasparro.  Her exhibition, “Fashion Life: ‘Wear’ Your Story” is a collection of 10 dresses from 10 different women. Each participate was given a blank canvas dress and was asked to decorated their dress through a variety of textile, fabric, paint, etc. The end result: 10 outstanding pieces that share the incredible journeys of 10 incredible women. (Be sure to check out my post in February as I cover her exhibition opening).

So the next time you think about getting ride of your clothes just ask your self, “how can I mix, layer, or shorten this piece so that I can create a new concept for my wardrobe?”

Stay tuned!

*All images courtesy of Women in Clothes online