Style and Substance: Why What We Wear Matters

by Bay Garnett

'Compelling' HARPER'S BAZAAR
'Richly textured' GRAZIA
'Completely riveting . . . an eclectic compendium of style, subversion and literary snippets . . . all about the magical meaning of clothes' CALENDAR MAGAZINE

Maya Angelou imagined she'd feel like a movie star in a dress of lavender taffeta. Rachel Weisz loves the democracy of denim. Zadie Smith's look differs depending on whether she's in New York or London, while Joan Didion always packed the same clothes. Jarvis Cocker found inspiration at jumble sales, Bella Freud in Colette's novels and Harris Reed in the gender fluidity of Virginia Woolf's Orlando. Oscar Wilde understood the importance of proportions, Stanley Tucci favours a narrow stripe and Chloë Sevigny delights in traditional, with a twist.

For Bernardine Evaristo style is about a refusal to be stereotyped. Jilly Cooper and AJ Tracey appreciate retail therapy. Sienna Miller misses the freedom of a less self-conscious age. For Davina McCall, an outfit begins with underwear; for Sophie Dahl it's not complete without scent. Clothes allow Susie Cave to hide and Charlotte Tilbury to feel empowered.

With over sixty pieces on everything from thrifting to modesty dressing, drag to vintage sportswear, Style and Substance is a gloriously eclectic celebration of self-expression.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction

232 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 9, 2023

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up Style and Substance: Why What We Wear Matters from the library's new acquisitions shelf, as the subtitle interested me. It is a collection of short nonfiction pieces and excerpts from fiction on the broad topic of dressing. Thus entries range from snippets of Dracula to tiktok influencers reflections, and from the poetry of Baudelaire to Jilly Cooper fetishising shopping. This is in addition to what I anticipated: fashion journalists, muses, and designers writing about what clothing means to them specifically and society more generally. I guess the wide-ranging and brief nature of the pieces is interesting as a collage, but I did not find it very cohesive. There were some particularly memorable bits, notably comments on dress reform from Oscar Wilde. It was also striking to contrast the attitudes of 20th century fashion writers with the influencers of today.

However the literary extracts seemed too brief and lost without context (e.g. two pages from Zola's brilliant and complex novel The Ladies' Paradise). I was irritated by the bolding of some sentences and paragraphs. Please don't tell me what I should consider the key points in a two page piece of text; I will decide that myself! Reading Style and Substance: Why What We Wear Matters also made me realise that while fashion still interests me in theory, in practise how my clothes look matters a lot less than it used to. These days I care much less about looking stylish or interesting. The desire to be comfortable and nondescript has led me to a uniform of long black dresses for outdoors and grey pyjamas for indoors, mostly bought second-hand for ethical and financial reasons.

If the topic of this book intrigues you, here are a couple of more substantive recommendations: What Artists Wear, Women in Clothes, and Worn: A People's History of Clothing.

[amritad · Rating 4 out of 5]

a love letter to clothes. collection of interviews, fiction snippets + celebrity writing. many references to people or decades I didn't know, still cool though. definitely lacked images - give us images for a fashion book!

[Meredith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Completely uninteresting. Full of commentary from people I had never heard of, and without any photos or drawings of the “Style Icons” showcased. Sad. I had read so many positive blurbs, I ordered it months in advance.
Alexandra Schulman’s book was very good, as is Linda Grant’s The Thoughtful Dresser. Joan Juliet Buck wrote a riveting memoir, there is even an interesting book by a woman who was a curator of clothing at the V&A. There are dozens of fascinating books about style if you are interested. This one you can skip.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a nice collection of personal essays on style and excepts on books, though I found a few of them so vague/impersonal or not really about style at all? A solid curation.

[Tracey Sinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compilation of interviews and extracts about clothes and fashion. As with all such compilations, some are more interesting than others - some, such as Pam Grier writing about the first time she, a Black woman, was allowed to try on clothes in a shop, have real power, some are a fascinating insight into history, some are as shallow as throwaway magazine interview. The hardback itself is suitably lovely, though, and overall this is a well-chosen assortment.

[Nickolette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing to write home about. Nevertheless, it is a casual, pleasent read for people who love clothes as a subject.

[Stephanie Dargusch Borders · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much potential here. This is a compilation of essays and excerpts about fashion. The content was overall great—I personally would have been more discerning about the excerpts from random novels and likely would have left them out altogether but I could look past that. What I can’t look past is how boring this book is to look at. It’s so inspiring if you’re willing to take the time to look up all the references as well as the content of the contributors (which are a lot—each essay is about 1-4 pages long and at over 200 pages, there are many contributors overall) you’ll find a lot to love about this book. But WHY not make it pleasing graphically? A book about beauty and whimsy and fashion should embody those same qualities and other than the cover and endpapers, this one didn’t. Such a wasted opportunity.

[Jessie Elland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always struggle to make time for non-fiction reads, and even when I do I often find myself drifting off or putting it down halfway through. Style and Substance however was a non-fiction read I thoroughly enjoyed. With an eclectic mix of voices that ranged from Oscar Wilde to Chloë Sevigny the collection is a quick and easy read exploring the power and importance of clothes and self-expression. I loved dipping in and out of the different writing styles, and I thought the pieces were very cleverly arranged. There’s actually something almost quite moving about reading so many different perspectives all united by a reverence for fashion and external expression. I only wish there were some more illustrations or fashion photography to flesh it out further!

[Hetty Uttley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this! Great variety of extracts, articles and original pieces. Obvs some better/more interesting than others. I particularly liked AJ Tracey, Lucinda Chambers and Sienna Millar essays. The Zadie Smith vogue article is fab so great to have that to reread. Would love more editions exploring the ever evolving topic with different people, and including stuff about social media and influencers etc. Would be a good gift for people interested in style/fashion and writing.

[Seaside Sparkles · Rating 4 out of 5]

As this is a collection of writings, it’s got 4 stars as not all the pieces were for me, but I really enjoyed others. Thoughtful, fun and engaging.