“My Cherished Garment”: Rethinking Fashion, Attachment and Durability

Abstract

Confronted with the fashion industry’s serious socio-environmental impact and acknowledging that fast fashion provokes unstable relationships with clothing, accelerating loss of value and early disposal, this article explores those cases in which garments are still valued and attachment is strong. We are interested in identifying the motives behind the bonds that are developed toward cherished pieces of clothing. For this, we have analyzed more than 600 short stories, written by men and women from all over Chile, that justify those garments that remain in their closets for many seasons and reasons. The results allow us to identify a set of attributes and their correlations, enriching the discussion about the relationship between people and dress.

Keywords:

• everyday fashion
• clothing
• attachment
• durability
• sustainability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tomás Errázuriz

Tomás Errázuriz is full professor at Campus Creativo at Universidad Andres Bello. With a background in history, architecture, and urban studies, his research is situated in the intersections of material culture and everyday life, with a special focus on the mutant lives of things and places. He is co-founder and director of the collective «Cosas Maravillosas» [Wonderful Things]. Some of his recent publications include “The countless lives of newspapers and the right to repurpose” (Design and Culture, 2021), “The bright side of Coronavirus. Reinventing home from quarantine”, (entanglements, 2020), “Everything in place: Peace and harmony in an overcrowded home” (Visual Communication, 2019). [email protected]

Emilia Müller

Emilia Müller Gubbins holds a M.A. in Fashion Studies from New York University and a PhD in History at Universidad Católica de Chile. Her thesis focused on the relationship between modernity and women’s fashion in Chile between the years 1850 and 1920, from the perspective of gender, hygiene and material culture. The project “My cherished garment” is an example of her recent interest in the study of contemporary Chilean everyday fashion practices. She is the curator of dress and textiles at the Museo Histórico Nacional de Chile. [email protected]