Take stock. What are you wearing right now? Why are you wearing it? What does it say about you your background your choices your motivations? Those are the sort of questions that Sheila Heti Heidi Julavits Leanne Shapton and Mary Mann asked over 600 people from all over the world for their book Women in Clothes.
Heti and Shapton will be holding a clothing swap as part of their Wordfest appearance to encourage attendees to talk about the subject. “So much of the spirit of the book is about conversation so much of the style of the text is in dialogue [and] interviews [that] we wanted women to share stories with each other” says Shapton.
Attendees are invited to bring up to five articles of clothing they don’t mind parting with but there’s one extra step: they’re also asked to affix a short statement about the personal history of each item. Shapton says that bit of information gets people talking: “Where’s the provenance [of the clothing] who is the woman behind it what funny thing or embarrassing thing happened in it did it come from her grandmother — all these stories come out.”
But you don’t have to like clothes (or bring them) to connect at this event. “You can either love fashion or hate fashion — we all have to get dressed” says Shapton. “These are the stories behind these different ways of getting dressed these different dialects we all speak with each other in terms of clothes.”
The book itself speaks all of those dialects — from runners to runways — and draws from the dozens of questions the editors put to women such as “Do you address anything political in the way you dress?”
“We looked for the most interesting answers” says Shapton “the ones that were the most idiosyncratic that were quite vulnerable confessional really wonderful funny touching surprising.” And while some survey responses were reproduced in full the book is mainly organized by the themes such as mothers being 40 or safety. (You can take the survey yourself or read other people’s answers at womeninclothes.com.)
Structured as a book that’s easy to dip into anywhere rather than a strict sociological tome Women in Clothes nevertheless dispels the idea that clothing is frivolous. “It is an intellectual exercise to think about this kind of communication; it’s not shallow it’s very emotional it’s very deep it’s very linked to identity” explains Shapton.
Perhaps surprisingly Shapton says there was not a lot of body self-loathing despite the fashion industry’s insistence on fixing all of our flaws. “In fact women are fine with their bodies and totally don’t have these hang-ups and if they do have hang-ups they can make fun of them.”
For the men out there — this event is for you too. “We never meant this to just be for women” says Shapton adding that the book includes some male perspectives and also gives men insight into the women in their lives. “It’s not just a female concern clothes…. It’s definitely a book for men too there’s no question.”
Literally you’ll leave this event with an item of clothing if you participate in the swap. You may also leave with a slightly different perspective on those sartorial decisions we make every day.
Wordfest presents Women in Clothes with Sheila Heti and Leanne Shapton on October 15 at Theatre Junction Grand.
