Worn in New York: 68 Sartorial Memoirs of the City by New York Times bestselling author and columnist Emily Spivack is about taking a moment to celebrate the garments that do more than just save us from public indecency: the dress you wore in your own personal rom-com, the scarf that represents a past life, the colours of your sporting team, or the uniform you sported while skyrocketing through the glass ceiling.
The follow up to her 2014 published Worn Stories, the sequel stars the likes of actress Aubrey Plaza, muso Adam Horovitz, Lena Dunham, Coco Rocha, and producer Amy Hickerling alongside the dresses, jackets, shirts, hats and shoes that mark a moment in time in the City for the wearer. The short but memorable stories are at times mundane, at times almost unbelievable, but always compelling.
With Even at the beginning of my career, my fire department uniform symbolized my right, all women’s right, to be a firefighter,” reflects contributor Brenda Berkman, who was one of New York’s first female firefighters.
Also featured is a t-shirt from New York’s first five-borough Marathon, belonging to George Hirsch, one of the event’s founders.
“The morning of the marathon, October 23 1976, I put on the race T-shirt and headed to the starting line. Getting a T-shirt was a real attraction for runners in those days. Because it was such an amateur sport at the time, anything that we could get for free was a big deal. Right from the beginning, the marathon became the best day in the life of the city. There was no looking back.”
With stories never lingering for over three pages, this read is ideal for anyone who hasn’t picked up a book since their first of many Facebook feed refreshes. In fact, if your New Year’s resolution was to reduce pre-bedtime-bluelight, this is the book you need placed on your bedside table.
And like the garments described within, this isn’t the kind of book that will go in a donation pile after only one use. Let it take up real estate on your coffee table and it will take the form of a talking point, inspiring even more stories of sentimental threads to be shared between friends.
Learn more about Spivack and Worn in New York here, or share your Outland Denim story by tagging @outlanddenim on socials.
