Once hanging static in a wardrobe or folded away in a trunk, in recent times clothes have found themselves thrown into the spotlight. The crowds that are drawn to large scale fashion exhibitions staged with increasing frequency in galleries and museums around the world offer glimpses into the meaning that we attach to these items of clothing. Apart from their aesthetic value, clothes have the ability to evoke issues of identity, of the relation of self to body and self to the world. We are able to find ourselves through the experiences of delving into our wardrobes and remembering. Clothes are thus layered with meaning since they have the power to act as memory prompts. Woven into their fabric are traces of past experiences; stitched into their seams are links to people we have loved and lost. Viewed as visual objects, clothing is not frivolous, flippant or foolish. In telling and talking about clothes, we reveal much about ourselves, our lives and the experiences that we drape around our bodies. Whether bought or handmade, passed down or reconstructed, clothes help us to construct meaning as we remember those things in our lives that matter.

This 2001 interpretation of literature and arts reveals how clothing and costume were critical to Renaissance culture.

Memories of clothing feature prominently in auto/biographies, yet traditionally they have not been subjected to the same level of academic scrutiny as other sources. Memories of Dress redresses this imbalance by bringing auto/biographical memories to the centre of a new methodology for understanding fashion history, material culture, and other disciplines. Presenting a comprehensive overview of theoretical and practice-based approaches, the book invites readers to explore the relations between clothing and memory through diverse examples ranging from oral histories of Madchester men and Hungarian socialist sewing, to a quilt-making autoethnography into the complexities of American racial heritage and imagined memories within museum collections. Chapters by leading and emerging experts consider the ways in which dress is remembered and the ways that memories and nostalgia in turn influence everyday dress practices, unpicking the meanings and motivations-both collective and public, personal and private-behind the clothes we wear in different times, places and life stages; and the impact of class, gender, ethnicity, and disability on material identities. Uniquely weaving personal recollection with theory, this multidisciplinary book offers new ways of understanding clothing, material culture, and memory.

The New York Times–bestselling volume of mini-memoirs exploring the personal histories we carry in treasured articles of clothing—now a Netflix docuseries. Everyone has a memoir in miniature in at least one piece of clothing. In Worn Stories, Emily Spivack has collected over sixty of these clothing-inspired narratives from cultural figures and talented storytellers. First-person accounts range from the everyday to the extraordinary, such as artist Marina Abramovic on the boots she wore to walk the Great Wall of China; musician Rosanne Cash on the purple shirt that belonged to her father; and fashion designer Cynthia Rowley on the Girl Scout sash that informed her business acumen. Other contributors include Greta Gerwig, Heidi Julavits, John Hodgman, Brandi Chastain, Marcus Samuelsson, Piper Kerman, Maira Kalman, Sasha Frere-Jones, Simon Doonan, Albert Maysles, Susan Orlean, Andy Spade, Paola Antonelli, David Carr, Andrew Kuo, and more. By turns funny, tragic, poignant, and celebratory, Worn Stories offers a revealing look at the clothes that protect us, serve as a uniform, assert our identity, or bring back the past—clothes that are encoded with the stories of our lives.

Learn to incorporate treasured clothing into heirloom quilts without sacrificing your modern aesthetic. Stitch memories together forever with 12 quilt projects that are as meaningful as they are stylish! Modern heirloom quilter Suzanne Paquette shares the emotional, creative, and technical aspects of memory quilting through colorful storytelling and photography. Practical projects inspired by real families’ stories will help you celebrate love, provide comfort, and honor your family’s heritage. Create modern heirloom quilts! 12 exciting designs for memory keeping, with the stories that inspired them Learn tips for sewing with clothing to preserve the past and celebrate the future Make gifts for children, honor a lost loved one, and celebrate your family’s legacy “Susanne Parquette shows today’s quilters how to mix Modern with sentimental . . . The twelve quilts in the book are actual commissioned memory quilts made by Paquette, who includes the people and stories behind each quilt . . . Paquette walks us through the process, beginning with Memory Keeping: remembering, documenting, and perspective.” —The Literate Quilter

The valuing of old clothes as “vintage” and the recollection of the sartorial past, whether through second-hand consumption or the wearing of new old-fashioned clothes, has become a widespread phenomenon. This book illuminates sartorial and bodily engagements with memory and time through the temporal and nostalgic potency of fashion, and what this means for contemporary wearers. Based on in-depth ethnographic research including participant observation and interviews with sixties enthusiasts in Germany, who relocate British mod style into the twenty-first century, Jenss examines the practices and experiences that are part of the sartorial remembering of “the sixties,” from hunting flea markets and eBay, to the affect of material and mediated memories on vintage wearers. Jenss offers unique insights into the fashioning of time, cultural memory, and modernity, tracing the history and current appeal of vintage in fashion and youth culture, and asking: what kind of experiences of temporality and memory are enacted through fashion? How have evaluations of second-hand clothes shifted in the twentieth century? Fashioning Memory provides a unique insight into the diverse use of fashion as a memory mode and asks how style is remembered, performed, transformed, and reinvested across time, place, and generation.

Open the door to harmonious, powerful, and positive dressing with a guide that’s like The Secret—for your wardrobe. In this groundbreaking how-to book, style expert George Brescia shows you how to transform yourself from the inside out. More than a style guide, this revolutionary book by a seasoned stylist teaches a method of conscious dressing that begins with a powerful internal change. Instead of just grabbing for whatever’s on hand, you’ll learn to set your goals for the day, determining how you want to be perceived, and then dress in a way that helps manifest those intentions. Change Your Clothes, Change Your Life reveals the true power your clothing has to affect your life, showing how this second skin impacts your job prospects, your romantic life, your income, and even your deepest sense of self. Translating his styling methods into a philosophy anyone can apply on her own, Brescia also delivers tips and tricks of the trade to help convert even the most hapless dresser into a happy and educated shopper. Because the goal is to have you not only looking great, but feeling more confident, too. From major closet overhauls to a whole new philosophy on color, this is a comprehensive manual for anyone who’s ever looked at her closet in despair. Accessible, direct, honest, and thought-provoking, Change Your Clothes, Change Your Life takes an eye-opening look at the intersection between our clothing and our emotions, hopes, and dreams, showing us how improving our external appearance can have life-changing effects on how we’re perceived by others—and more importantly, on how we perceive ourselves.