´Buying is simply a monetary transaction. Shopping is a whole other ball game´.
Clothes are social and anthropological codes to be read in plain sight. They say stories about a person some of them true, some of them not, but still stories. In the human intricacies of a life, clothes are more than a fabric and a tailored shape. They are not even a price tag, no matter their market value. First and foremost, clothes are...things that matter.
As British Vogue longest editor-in-chief, Alexandra Shulman was directly connected with the clothes/fashion industry, in Europe and abroad. It was long before the online shopping and the chains selling fashion items virtually, without offering the pleasure of touching and trying it before making a choice. We buy while commuting or when there is nothing else to do, and shopping has an impulsive dimension, but online, there is the very experience which is lacking.
Her memoir, Clothes...and other things that matter is a nostalgic account of the memories connected with pieces from her wardrobe. The proustian Madeleines for Alexandra Shulman are hanging up in her cupboard and are out to tell their stories. And there are so many interesting testimonies her clothes are sharing: from media insights to upper London luminaries meetings until the dresscode in time of Zoom (good news: I am not the only one always wearing a red lipstick on my online professional video calls).
The stories are both entertaining and meaningful, the kind of accounts that will make you think and creatively push you to reconsider some of your relationships with the clothes you buy, wear or give away. Fashion is not frivolous, but a sign of the times, a lesson in mentality and historical encounters.
Besides red lipstick, I also love fashion and fashion writing and Alexandra Shulman´s book was a perfect afternoon companion. It is a book that may slightly change your perspective on things, all things clothes, I mean. Now, I am back in my closet trying to figure out what my dresses or shoes may say about me and my life. Especially those pieces that I inherited from my late mother or aunt who loved to be much more stylish than me.
Rating: 5 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own
Thanks for the blog tour support x
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the opportunity! Your support for including me to such awesome book tours is so precious!
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