If you’ve had a look at the Books for Homeworkers page you’ll already know I like the novels of Linda Grant.  I’m presently re-reading her latest book, The Thoughtful Dresser, a non-fiction look at fashion and why it matters.  I collected my reserved copy from the library on Friday and read the whole thing during the evening, it’s so good.

There’s fascinating information about key designers, a spot-on analysis of how to shop and why it’s good to browse without intending to buy anything, and the staggering story of how a girl managed to survive the German death camps and go on to become a fashion leader in Canada, her adopted home.

I particularly liked Grant’s theory that the constant changes of fashion, rather than being a capitalist plot to get empty-headed women to keep spending, actually reflect our unconscious knowledge that we are always changing and cannot live in the past.  That strikes a chord with me because I find I ‘grow out of’ clothes, not in the physical sense, but because putting them on reminds me of the person I was when I wore them, and I can’t or don’t want to be that person any more.

And yet every so often there comes along a wonderful garment or pair of shoes that somehow continues to be so ‘us’, no matter how long we wear it, that we keep it till it’s in shreds and try forever to replace it.

I can’t recommend this book enough and I’m sure it will influence how I think about clothes in the future.