What Do I Really Wear? An Introduction to a New Series

Fewer & Better in your inbox

A year ago, I wrote the following post on my blog, partially reproduced here:

One of the most transformative experiences in my life came from a project I completed for a cultural anthropology class in college. During this project, we had to track everything we wore for a month and record where it was from, how much it cost, how we obtained it, why we wore it, and so on. At the end of the month, we had to write an analysis of our wardrobe. It was truly eye-opening for me to take such a close look at what I wore–the meaning behind it, the way it was produced, how it came into my wardrobe, and why I chose to wear it–and I’ve been overthinking my wardrobe ever since. During the pandemic, I thought a lot about this paper and it was one of the things that inspired me to start this blog. I wish I still had a copy–I’m trying to track one down, I must have it somewhere!–but it’s been interesting to reflect back on this at this point in my life. Since that class, and that paper, I’ve taken a serious look at just about everything I’ve purchased. Would I want to write down what I’m wearing in another paper? While I’m obviously not writing and presenting on my wardrobe choices in class, by writing this blog I am sharing them, in some ways.

What do you really wear? Do you feel comfortable in it or does it feel like a costume? What environmental impact does your clothing have? What does your wardrobe say about you–is it saying what you want it to say? If not, why not? Those are all questions I thought about deeply during this project, and it’s something I continue to think about today.

It’s a question I still think about today. This challenge—tracking what I wear, analyzing why I wear it, and so on—is something I’ve thought about doing for a long time. Sharing my findings in a public setting, however, is more daunting than the act of tracking what I wear and why.

With this partial shift to Substack, I’m planning to start sharing these findings biweekly to paid subscribers, starting on October 5th. There is a seven-day free trial option I’ve enabled, so if you’re interested in a preview of the first post, I’d recommend signing up close to October 5th to test it out without committing. I’ll also be setting up a subscribers’ chat to discuss these posts in-depth.

What do you think? I look forward to hearing from you!

What I’m wearing here: Belgian Shoes, Gap jeans, Tory Leather belt, J. Crew turtleneck (old, similar here), Jane Post quilted jacket, LL Bean boat & tote, By Merryn Erica sweater, custom needlepoint canvas from The Slippery Needle.