by Sheila Heti
Published by the Penguin Group
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Copyright © 2014 by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits, Leanne Shapton
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ISBN 978-0-698-18982-9
Some names of individuals have been changed.
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Clothing Garden
Questions
SURVEYS
Leopoldine Core
Lena Dunham
Sherwin Tjia
Milena Rosa
Young Kim
Souvankham Thammavongsa
Tryntje Kramer
CONVERSATIONS
You Don’t Know What I Deal With – Alesia & Fatima & Aurelia & Ramou from the podcast BLACK GIRLS TALKING
I’m Always on the Floor and Working – Mona Kowalska & Heidi Julavits & Ceridwen Morris
Your Jewelry Is Your Stomach – Kiran Desai & Heidi Julavits
Maybe a Lot of People Don’t Do This – Ly Ky Tran as told to Heidi Julavits
Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries – Makiko Yamamoto & Stephanie Comilang
It’s This Mystery, Isn’t It? – Juliet Jacques & Sheila Heti
Four women at a clothing swap – Christine Muhlke & Kerry Diamond & Heidi Julavits & Leanne Shapton
Anyone Can Look Cool – Kim Gordon & Christopher Bollen
A Schmatte Looks Good – Dina Goldstein & Jonathan Goldstein
You’re Never Going to Get That Money Back – Juliet Landau-Pope as told to Sheila Heti
I Always Liked the Pearl Snap – Nikki Hausler as told to Mary Mann
If Nothing Else, I Have an Ethical Garter – Mac McClelland & Sheila Heti
The Surfer Is Nothing Without the Wave – Alexander Nagel & Sheila Heti
I Didn’t Buy the Baby Any Clothing – Semi Chellas & Sheila Heti
1989 – Cath Le Couteur as told to Heidi Julavits
If You Like It, I Like It More – Talita & Ben
Billionaire Clients – Ida Liu & Heidi Julavits
Clothes on the Ground – Julia Wallace & Kuch Naren & Sophal & Vantha & Leap
Flower X – Leslie Vosshall & Heidi Julavits
Oh My God, Who Wears That? – Jagoda Wardach & Sheila Heti
I Had a Little Pegboard – Cindy Sherman & Molly Ringwald
You Really Are the Most Disagreeable Girl – Lucy Birley & Leanne Shapton
Put On a Tux and Go – Monica Bill Barnes & Anna Bass & Leanne Shapton & Heidi Julavits
The Pantsuit Rotation – Alex Wagner & Leanne Shapton
An Older Woman Going Through Her Closet – Pamela Baguley as told to Leanne Shapton
A Perfect Peach – Ruth Reichl & Heidi Julavits
A brief conversation about dressing – Sheila Heti & Leanne Shapton
The Wetsuit Is Not Fashion – Renate Stauss as told to Heidi Julavits
The Dress Goes over Your Head – Michele Oka Doner & Francesca Marciano
It’s a Good Fleece – Kerry Barber as told to Sheila Heti
You’re Lying with Your Face – Amy Rose Spiegel & Mary Mann
Gentle, Conservative Styles – Monika Chhy & Anna Clare Spelman & Jennifer Liebschutz
An Outfit for a Turtle – Thando Lobese & Heidi Julavits
The Delirium of Desire – Miranda Purves & Leanne Shapton
I’m Not a Fucking D – Helen King & Sheila Heti
A French Girl Hoeing – Barbara Damrosch & Eliot Coleman & Heidi Julavits
The Factory Collapsed – Reba Sikder & Sara Ziff & Kalpona Akter
The Eight-Year Dress – Nellie Davis & Kate Shepherd
POEMS
Textile Names I
whatever closeness – Mira Gonzalez
Textile Names II
Textile Names III
PROJECTS
Mothers as Others Part 1
A Map of My Floor – Leanne Shapton
Ring Cycle
Yes?
The Outfit in the Photograph I
Thirty-six Women – Miranda July
A Map of My Floor – Heidi Julavits
Stylus – Micah Lexier
Stains – Leanne Shapton
Posturing – Zosia Mamet & Leanne Shapton
How to Dress in This New World – Margaux Williamson
This Person Is a Robot – Leslie Vosshall
The Outfit in the Photograph II
My Outfits – Thessaly La Force
Bag Dance – Leanne Shapton & Heidi Julavits
What I Spent – Emily Stokes
Plastic Baskets – Josh Blackwell
Shopping Trails – Kate Ryan
Mothers as Others Part 2
De Moeders – Ruth van Beek
Color Taxonomy – Tavi Gevinson
Fixes – Rachel Perry Welty
Ow ow ow ow – Katherine Bernard
The Outfit in the Photograph III
Warp & Weft Nos. 1–6 – Karin Schaefer
A Map of My Floor – Sheila Heti
The Outfit in the Photograph IV
ON DRESSING
Good Morning – Elif Batuman
Staying Home – Rose Waldman
Magical – Sadie Stein
Let One Dream Come True – Katie Kitamura
Survey Diary no. 1 – Mary Mann
What I Wore to Fall in Love – Sarah Nicole Prickett
Calamity – Renee Gladman
I Do Care About Your Party – Umm Adam
Survey Answered with Phrases from My Diary – Sheila Heti
The Pink Purse – Emily Gould
Mother, Daughter, Mustache – Christen Clifford
I Refused – Mansoura Ez Eldin
I Stopped by the Store Every Day – Ida Hattemer-Higgins
At the Checkpoint – Shani Boianjiu
The Mom Coat – Amy Fusselman
Too Much of Me – Vedrana Rudan
Survey Diary no. 2 – Mary Mann
Filthy White Daisies – Christa Parravani
Lost Mittens – Heidi Julavits
Summer Diary – Heidi Julavits
A “Muff Dog” – Gilda Haber
Covet Diary – Leanne Shapton
Seams, Hems, Pleats, Darts – Lisa Cohen
Nothing – Lisa Robertson
SURVEYS
Women Looking at Women
Breasts
Mandates of Place
How does makeup fit into all this for you?
Economics of Style
I feel most attractive when
I feel most attractive when
Advice and Tips
What’s the situation with your hair?
What do you wear every day?
Dress for Success
Color
Worn
Unintentional
Modest and Naked
First conscious of what you were wearing?
Protection
Handmade
40s
Pl
ease describe your mind
Shopping
Balm
Sisters
First “investment item”?
Men Looking at Women
Do you consider yourself photogenic?
Strangers
Gut Feeling
Glamour
I feel most attractive when
Smell
Daughters and Sons
I feel most attractive when
Closets
Please describe your body
Messages
Style as Character
More Advice and Tips
Do you ever wish you were a man?
Fathers
I feel most attractive when
Lost
COLLECTIONS
Luise Stauss’s over-the-knee socks
Tania van Spyk’s dress sets part I
Claudia Dey’s fedoras
Lydia Burkhalter’s gray sweatshirts
Odette Henderson’s raincoats
Kate Ryan’s tote bags
Dorothy Platt’s wrap skirts
Kristin Anthony’s bracelets
Lisa Naftolin’s swimsuits
Amy Rose Spiegel’s false eyelashes
Annie McDonald’s clogs
Andrea Walker’s floral-print shirts
Joyce Wall’s lipstick blots
Veronica Manchester’s earplugs
Mae Pang’s safety pins
Sheila Heti’s nail polish
Delia Marcus’s friendship bracelets
Tift Merritt’s handmade guitar straps
Pavia Rosati’s cashmere sweaters
Sheila O’Shea’s hand-me-downs
Gwen Smith’s concert T-shirts
Heidi Julavits’s striped shirts
Julia Leach’s jean jackets
Sadie Stein’s brassieres
Miranda Purves’s shirts with Peter Pan collars
Jemima Truman’s spare buttons
Lisa Przystup’s marled socks
Bay Garnett’s leopard-print tops
Benedicte Pinset’s white canvas sneakers
Amy Pinkham’s bobby pins
Melinda Andrade’s aviator sunglasses
Tara Washington’s knitted hats
Kristin Gore’s gum
Gina Rico’s hairbrushes and combs
Emily Shur’s prescription eyeglasses
Molly Murray’s vintage three-inch heels
Mary Mann’s floss sticks
Heather O’Donnell’s Catholic jewelry
Charlotte Yoshimura’s navy blazers
Heidi Sopinka’s Levi’s
Christine Muhlke’s identical dresses
Melissa Walsh’s scrubs
Alicia Meier’s blotting papers
Lorna Shapton’s tsinelas
Sarah Brubacher’s handmade dresses
Jane Larkworthy’s lip balms
Paula Black’s hair elastics
Mitzi Angel’s unworn necklaces
Jenny Schily’s cigarettes
Kim Bost’s tights
Rachel Hurn’s stolen boyfriend shirts
Constance Stern’s black cotton underwear
Ivory Simms’s aprons
Aria Sloss’s white nightgowns
Marlene Barber’s furs
Senami d’Almeida’s digital wristwatches
Tania van Spyk’s dress sets part II
Leanne Shapton’s white trousers
WEAR AREAS
Gintare Parulyte
Rivka Galchen
Ana Bunčić
Jinnie Lee
Aditi Sadeqa Rao
Jill Margo
Anna Backman Rogers
Margo Jefferson
Alicia Bernlohr
Annika Wahlström
Lithe Sebesta
COMPLIMENTS
Watch – Kate Ryan
Dress – Starlee Kine
Jeans – Starlee Kine
Glasses – Mary Mann
Bra – Lisa Naftolin
Scarf – Sheila Heti
Wallet – Kate Ryan
Coat – Leanne Shapton
Skirt – Starlee Kine
Acknowledgments
Contributors
About the Authors
Clothing pattern paintings – Emily Hass
COLLECTION
LUISE STAUSS’s over-the-knee socks
INTRODUCTION
CLOTHING GARDEN
JANUARY 8, 2014
Skype meeting. Leanne and Heidi are in Leanne’s studio in New York. Sheila is in her apartment in Toronto. Leanne has recently cut her hair.
SHEILA: Oh my god, look at your hair!
LEANNE: I know. (laughs)
SHEILA: I love it, I love it! It’s so good.
LEANNE: Are you wearing fur?
SHEILA: No, I’m wearing a throw.
HEIDI: I have no new hair to share, no new hair. Sheila, are you growing your bangs out?
SHEILA: Not intentionally.
LEANNE: This is how our book should start: Hi, are you growing your bangs out? What are you wearing, are you wearing fur? We’re like a bunch of chickens squawking at each other!
SHEILA: You look like Peter Pan.
HEIDI: Have you ever had short hair like this before?
LEANNE: Not this short. Well, when I was ten.
HEIDI: Yeah, that’s the last time I had short hair, too. Sheila, have you ever had short-short, pixie-short, boy-short, hair?
SHEILA: Yeah, in high school I had like concentration-camp short. That’s what my mother called it.
HEIDI: Oh my god.
LEANNE: So wait, in terms of how we want to write the introduction, I like the essays we wrote a year ago when we first started thinking about the book. I think we should just rewrite those to some degree. And I also like your idea, Sheila, of talking about what’s happened to us since we began the project.
HEIDI: So why don’t we, right now, ask each other questions that we can use as connective tissue in the intro? So I might say, Sheila, how did you get dressed this morning, what did you think about that’s different from what you might have thought about eight months ago?
SHEILA: Well, I didn’t really get dressed.
SHEILA Until this year, I never put much thought into clothes. I bought my silk 1930s ivory-colored wedding dress in about half an hour, made impatient by the task. I wore black shoes that hardly matched, but which were in my closet already.
What changed to make me more interested in dressing? I suppose it was that (a few years after my divorce) I began living with a man who cares a lot about dressing and clothes. I had never, up close, seen what that looks like. I’d always assumed the well-dressed just happened to be that way—not that it was an area of life that people excelled in because they applied thought, attention, and care to it. Living with my boyfriend, I began to see that dressing was like everything else: those who dress well do so because they spend some time thinking about it.
Clothes and style became more interesting to me. For someone who is fascinated by how people relate to one another, it’s hard to overlook personal style as a way we speak to the world. One day I just decided, Today is the day I’m going to figure out how to dress. I biked to a bookstore—one of those very big bookstores—and went to the section where there were fashion and style books, looking for one that would tell me what women thought about as they shopped and dressed. But there was nothing like that. There were books about Audrey Hepburn and books filled with pictures from Vogue, but nothing that felt useful to me at all. I thought, I’ll have to make this a project. I decided to begin by asking some of the women I knew the very questions I’d hoped to find answered in a book.
FROM: Sheila Heti
DATE: Sun, Apr 8, 2012, AT 1:00PM
SUBJECT: fashion survey
TO: Heidi Julavits
Hey Heidi, I might write a little piece about women’s fashion and I was wondering if I could bug you (as a fashionable lady!) to fill out my survey. Please answer a
s many times and in as much detail as possible to each question listed (if you’re interested!). xo Sheila
ps: I was partly inspired to think about dressing after reading your latest novel. Also, I’m not sure if the q’s are exactly right.
QUESTION 1 What are some dressing rules that you have for yourself, that you wouldn’t recommend to other people necessarily, but which you follow?
QUESTION 2 What are some dressing or clothing rules that you think every woman should follow?
QUESTION 3 What are the shopping habits you follow? Ex: are you always looking? do you only look for particular items when you need them? do you shop online? do you save up for great pieces?
QUESTION 4 Which people from culture, past and present, do you admire or have you admired, fashion-wise? Are there any people you took as models who you tried to emulate, even if only in details, not the whole?
QUESTION 5 Are you a fan of certain brands and labels, and if so, what are they?
QUESTION 6 What is dressing about, for you? What are you trying to do or achieve when you dress up?
FROM: Heidi Julavits
DATE: Sun, Apr 8, 2012, at 7:45PM
SUBJECT: Re: fashion survey
TO: Sheila Heti
hey sheila! sorry i’ve been on west coast and not online—but i LOVE these questions!!!! maybe you and i should write a women’s fashion book that isn’t stupid like all women’s fashion books. i was just reading in three cities and believe me, i gave questions like this way too much thought—actually packed a whole suitcase and wore the same outfit for two days, and on the third i wore a dress i bought in seattle, which was white and see-through (muslin, basically), and i hadn’t brought any white underthings, just black, and the store woman suggested that i “own it,” so i did, and wore the dress with very visible black underwear to a reading and i kind of liked that the people in the audience might think that they knew something about me that i didn’t know about myself.
On Fri, Apr 20, 2012, at 7:38PM, Sheila Heti wrote:
I think this could be a great book collaboration! I was trying to find a smart women’s fashion philosophy (philosophy of style) book this weekend, and not one! I love your black-underwear story. I’ve added some more questions. Are we missing anything? Do you think any should be cut?
QUESTION 7 How does makeup fit into all this for you?
QUESTION 8 What’s the situation with your hair?
QUESTION 9 Describe what you’re wearing on your body and face, and how your hair is done, right this moment.
