Turning tips into memories

Get started Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Kids
  • Benefits
  • Membership
  • Get Started
  • Membership
  • Benefits
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
TV

Netflix Worn Stories goes beyond the gloss

By Rebecca Gonsalves on 7/4/2021

A new Netflix documentary asks how your clothes make you feel. Your answer might be key to building a more sustainable wardrobe

Worn Stories, Netflix: new fashion documentary series goes beyond the gloss
Worn Stories, Netflix: new fashion documentary series goes beyond the gloss
What does what you're wearing right now say about you? It's a question that few of us have spent time thinking about over this last pandemic year, as the ennui of lockdown has seen carefully coordinated looks be forgotten in favour of sweatpants or leggings.


Even if you are one of the inspired few who still gets dressed up, you probably find yourself rotating pieces from just a small portion of your wardrobe, the cycling through the same clothing adding to the Groundhog Day blur of lockdown.



At a time when so many of us feel disconnected from friends, family and the wider world, feeling untethered from your wardrobe might seem like an insignificant side effect.


But clothing is so much more than the sum of its parts: pieces of fabric stitched together by all-too invisible hands, often in another part of the world, undergo some alchemy to become the physical manifestation of our hopes and dreams (and disappointments) when worn.


They're a portal to the past that, whether we choose to treasure or jettison them, can never leave us entirely.





The charming new Netflix documentary series Worn Stories is a timely reminder of the power of a piece of clothing. Featuring interviews with a range of (mostly) everyday Americans, rather than 'fashion people', the programme tells the stories of their lives through a single, emblematic item of clothing, a 'memoir in miniature'.


And while there are obviously weighty memories attached to certain items – a wedding dress, that first job suit, a sports uniform – the clothes that matter might surprise you.


A yellow sweater that helped an older Korean immigrant find her community; the red silk tie that connects a New Yorker to his Sicilian seamstress grandmother; the little black dress that allows a recovering alcoholic to see how far she has come.





The series is based on a blog and the best-selling book of the same name by New York-based artist and author Emily Spivack who told Vogue.com: 'A closet is an archive of memories and experiences. When something unexpected or momentous happens to us while we’re wearing a piece of clothing, it suddenly becomes imbued with so much more significance.'


For many, lockdown has meant the complete removal of anything momentous, our lives restricted to the same routines in the same rooms, with little opportunity for excitement. But as lockdown eases in the UK, now is the perfect time to reacquaint yourself with your old clothes and reconnect with your old self again too.





Because surely recognising that our clothes are a part of who we were/are/want to be is a key step in the journey towards sustainable style. Orsola de Castro, founder of Fashion Revolution and a pre-eminent force in sustainable fashion, believes that loved clothes last, so much so that she chose it as the title for her first book.


Loved Clothes Last: How the Joy of Rewearing and Repairing Your Clothes Can Be a Revolutionary Act was published in February, surely something of a riposte to the Marie Kondo school of clearing out anything that doesn't 'spark joy' and an invitation to readers to instead invest time and care into such items as a way of building a closer relationship with them.


It's a timely lesson, not least because the true value of clothes isn't in the trends they tick off, but the way that they can change your mood, take you back in time or help you believe in a better future. Whether it's unearthed in your own wardrobe, a second-hand store or a new purchase, who wouldn't want that?



Share:

Style

documentaries

sustainable



You may also like:
  • Fashion in Film, Christopher Laverty

    Fashion in film, an enduring affair

  • Dior AW21 ready to wear

    Fashion highlights AW21

  • Instagram vintage fashion sellers: Another Matinee

    Best vintage fashion Instagram stores

  • The best fashion documentaries

    The best fashion documentaries

  • Arizona Muse

    Sustainable fashion influencers

  • Aiony Haust, unsplash

    Fashion podcasts to listen to now



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • What is Culture Whisper membership
  • Corporate membership
  • Give a gift membership
  • Retrieve a gift membership
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper


Sign up by Email or Facebook.

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we sent newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×