Worn Stories

The format of this book is simple and rather addictive: On one page, a crisp, spare photo of an item of clothing; on the facing page, a short personal anecdote about its history. One contributor writes about her father, who would take off his ties and give them to anyone who admired them. Another recounts the story of a ridiculously overpriced, bright yellow Hermes coat in which she had two separate run-ins with Woody Allen. There’s an old purple shirt, nibbled by mice during a lonely winter, a father’s monogrammed button-down worn until it nearly disintegrated, a pair of hiking boots handed down by a hitchhiker who had realized his lifelong dream to visit the Grand Canyon. Some of the stories are deeply personal tearjerkers, others funny and a little ordinary. This slim book can be read in a day, or if you're like me you'll pick it up whenever you have a free moment, and in any case you’ll probably start to remember clothes that mattered to you and the stories that go along with them.