Worn Stories

August 18, 2014
Spivack, creator of the Smithsonian’s fashion blog, Threaded, assembles a charming collection of one- or two-page essays about favorite items of clothing, each one accompanied on the facing page by a photo of the particular item. Contributors as disparate as mumblecore queen Greta Gerwig, attorney Ross Intelisano, music critic Sasha Frere-Jones, chef April Bloomfield, and performance artist Marina Abramovic, among others, are invited to opine here. Highlights include a tribute to a practical dress and to a garment manufacturer grandfather, “the man who dressed New York” from Jill Meisner (of Refinery 29). Also notable is Spivack’s own loquacious ode to a pair of flip-flops worn “precisely, perhaps, because they are so ordinary.” Author Heidi Julavits, meanwhile, closely studies her privileged neighbors’ insouciant style of dress: “threadbare flannels with paint stains, patched jeans, faded and torn polo shirts.” The simple photos of each beloved item—a T-shirt here, a pair of work boots there—are intimate and sweet. Spivack has created a fashion book for everyone who feels that so far they have been left out of the fun. 62 illus. Agent: Jud Laghi, Jud Laghi Agency.