Women in Clothes

Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, Leanne Shapton
Star Rating
★★★★★
Reviewer's Rating
Jul 1, 2016

Women in Clothes is a mélange of interviews, conversations, photos, illustrations, and other miscellanea on the subject of--you guessed it--women in clothes. While I don’t think it’s meant to be read cover-to-cover, that’s what I did. I was fascinated by what women had to say about their relationship to clothes, to dressing, to image, to practically all imaginable facets of the subject. It’s such an intimate and yet mundane subject; whether or not we choose to actively engage with clothes, we are making choices every single day on how to present ourselves and how we want to feel.

The editors came up with a survey to learn more about how women think about and interact with clothes, posing such questions as, “What are some things you admire about how other women present themselves?” and “Was there a time in your life when your style changed dramatically?” These and other questions lead into so many other conversations about how we think, feel, and act, make decisions, express ourselves, and view life. Clothes are part of culture and carry many layers of meaning, whether or not we are conscious of them. And that is what is intriguingly revealed in this book.

Although this is a conversation among women, largely about women, there is no doubt that men would find the insights interesting, too. So take a look, read the whole thing, answer the questions for yourself. As the final survey question goes: “In what way is this stuff important, if at all?”

Reviewed by Megan C.
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