Women in Clothes

If you find the subject matter to be of curiosity then you should like it. It does what it says on the tin - it is women talking about their clothes. The portions are generous as there's a lot of content. It's not a small book. There were a lot of stimulating insights so it's well worth reading. Although perhaps not in one continuous go. I broke it up with other reading.For me there were two complaints.Firstly, I'm pretty sure it was supposed to be about "normal" women. It seemed to me that almost everyone interviewed was in the arts or journalism. How many times did I read words like "when I'm at a book reading"? Who cares what "artists" think? We hear more than enough from them and similar media people so I was far, far more curious about the thoughts and opinions of housewives, office workers and other working stiffs. The types of people who never get interviewed by magazines. Overrepresented media and arts people, those who are usually well documented, dominate once again.The second downside was the amount of pointless sections. Pretentious or just plain meaningless chapters take up quite a bit of the book. Some of these were purely visual and others had text. I read it on the Kindle so I spent a lot of time hitting the page forward button to get past these bits. If I was to estimate I would say maybe every fifth section was aimless tripe.I don't feel seeing the pictures in black and white on a Kindle screen did any harm.For me personally I would have liked more from the surveys. Presumably anything worthwhile was included leaving only the banalities unused.A reviewer elsewhere complained that the two sentence biographies of the women were hidden away at the back. There are so many of them that on the Kindle it's pretty much unreadable. If you care about who specifically is speaking beyond their name then you will need the physical copy. Note: I've never seen the physical copy with my own eyes.It is a very good book. The pretentious sections are cordoned off into their own separate chapters so they don't infect the other parts. You get good bang for your buck as it's a big book. I'm giving it five stars but there are significant flaws so perhaps technically it's closer to four.

Fabulous book. I saw this whilst in the library and just had to have my own copy. It's full of chapters by women about their clothes, how they make them feel, a smellologist sniffing coats In a cloak room and revealing so much about the wearer, photos of mothers when they were younger. All so interesting and fascinating, and so much to relate to.

It's hard to describe this book except to say that it is fascinating. Real women talking about their relationship with what they wear. This book gives you the chance to be a fly on the wall in grand salons and sweat shops alike. The interviews are intelligently curated and beautifully presented. A must-have for anyone with an interest in fashion.

ggreat book

Bought as a gift for my friend after hearing about it on Women's Hour. She found it very well written and researched. Really enjoyed it.