Salutations,
I am Catherine, and these are my clothes. Not just my clothes, rather my clothes as my life; the clothes that tell the stories of my self.
Clothes are more than collected fibers, be they natural or synthetic, woven, knit, stitched, or sewn together. Clothes are ideas, inspirations, emotions and feelings, thoughts and theories, memories - both good and bad - purposes, momentums, and movements. They are transformers, informers, indicators and both conscious and unconscious methods of meaning. Culturally and socially learned, regionally understood and universally present, they voice who we are, where we came from, what we’ve been through, where we’re going, and where we wish to go. And as we dig into the bargain bin, carefully select from our grandmother's closets, pick through hand-me-downs, dream up wishlists from windows and collect ideas from catalogues, we are simultaneously choosing our selves and our stories in cloth. And beneath all the layers of cloth, clothes, and meaning, the most adept level of communication resides within the wearer, a dialogue between the wearer and themselves. And this is why my clothes are here. Some have been with me for months, others since I could neither read nor write. And among all the clothes I have outgrown in size or style, donated, handed-down or worn holes through, these are the ones that remain. They have a hold on my mind and a place in my heart that cannot and will not be forgotten. Through elementary school, high school, college, two out of state and five inner city moves, these are the pieces I've kept. Call it baggage, luggage, stories or cloth, they are here, and I am ready to claim them, to finally give them the proper eulogy that they deserve and I need. So for both our sakes, here it is: my clothes, our stories, myself and our 'selves.' Please enjoy, as I write to find, what I like to call “clothesure.”
