Clothing Cultures - Volume 4, Issue 1, 2017

In this article, I investigate the wardrobe as a possible explanatory framework and methodology for studying and analysing the relationship between people and what they wear. Since I have previously elaborated on the human–object–time relationship in my concept of the biographical wardrobe (Skjold 2016), here I wish to elaborate on the human–object–space relationship. This implicates decoding and analysing the kinds of stylistic references people make use of when they build up their personal collection of garments and accessories in their wardrobes over a lifetime, and what these references carry with them in the form of institutionalized rituals, institutions, values and practices that the individual co-creates and reproduces. Based on this, I end up concluding how the discourse of fashion – as a set of values, practices and driving institutionalized rituals – cannot explain fully what goes on when people dress. Instead, I point to some coexisting discourses that I found to be represented in the wardrobes of my informants as carriers of alternative or even contradictory values and practices.

In February 1745, English gentlewoman Gertrude Savile paid the large sum of almost 24 pounds (not including labour) for a gold-trimmed green damask sack dress with matching petticoat. The opulence of these materials and their high cost would have made for a rich, formal ensemble. Despite regular acquisitions of other fine textiles and clothes, the green damask reappeared in Savile’s account books numerous times over the ensuing decade. Thanks to her meticulous account-keeping, we find that Savile’s gown was retrimmed and made over multiple times and that leftover materials were used to fashion additional items such as pairs of shoes. The obvious motive behind these activities is thrift; however, by the time the green damask entered her life, she was a woman of significant independent means. And from the loose narrative, or lifestory, of this ensemble, several additional thematic threads may be teased: the practical interaction between women and fashion during the eighteenth century; the changing functions and status of garments within an individual’s wardrobe; aspects of personal taste and attachment to garments and even relationships and marks of affection between women.

Consumption and waste of clothing has dramatically increased in recent decades due to the acceleration of changing fashion trends. As a result of this expanding textile waste, this study explores the closet as a space for waste and further examines how creativity might assist in the reuse and recirculation of idle clothing in wardrobes. One way to encourage more efficient apparel reuse may be through effective recirculation of stored clothing that is no longer worn, yet remains a part of the wardrobe. By adopting participatory design research methods, specifically using stories and storytelling, the researchers aimed to explore how female consumers might use their creativity to reuse/recirculate clothing in their closets that they no longer wear. The data from this study illustrates the possible reasons idle clothing contributes to textile waste. Boredom with the same outfits, lack of time and disorganization are contributing to participants feeling less creative in coming up with new outfit ideas to best utilize their existing garments. Further, new strategies for the recirculation of idle apparel are discussed.

Reuse organized by non-profit and commercial actors is a sustainability strategy that recently received a lot of attention. This article discusses the question: what do we know about the amount of clothes that circulate outside the pecuniary markets? And is this amount increasing or declining? The questions are answered based on quantitative material from Norway. Almost twice as many had received used clothing as those who had bought used clothing, and our material do not indicate that this is declining. At the same time, 59 per cent of Norwegian adults had neither received nor bought used clothing for themselves during the past two years. For children, inheritance is very common and the younger the children are, the more they inherit. The amount of the private clothing exchange is greater than the formal market in Norway. Therefore, when the goal is a more sustainable clothing consumption, we need to include the parts of consumption that are not only related to money.