Love Letters to my Clothing: Understanding Emotional Attachment to Clothing
Written by: Micaela Yawney, Story Map Coordinator @ Threading Change
Editor: Sarah O’Rourke, Communications & Engagement Manager @ Threading Change
[6-minute read]
I hold on to clothing like I hold on to friends - with tender care and loving, always. Why? Because my clothing is an outward expression of who I am. I can’t go anywhere without feeling comfortable and happy in the things that I wear, but even more so, I can’t go anywhere without feeling like my clothing tells a story. And this dear reader, comes from an emotional attachment to my clothing.
I have always believed in the power of the stories we wear through our clothing. I won’t be surprised if one day, I walk into my closet and hear chit chat coming from my t-shirts and shorts, arguing over which piece I love more or complaining about the one time…okay many times, I have spilt chocolate on myself and left it to dry and stain. I love my clothes, and I think they love me back. But is that enough to make me want to hold onto them for longer?
I spent the last two years of my undergraduate degree researching and unpacking this question. It was selfish really. I wanted to justify the deep love that I have for my clothing and relate it to my other passion in life, sustainability, and so I did.
This article is a coles notes version of my Senior Honours Thesis titled “An Analysis of Patagonia’s Stories We Wear Initiative: Understanding How Emotional Attachment to Clothing is Fostered Amongst Outdoor Apparel Consumers”.
For my research, I took a grounded theory, qualitative approach focused on narrative, thematic, and content analysis to gain a deeper understanding of the values, behaviours, and motivations behind emotional attachment to clothing. My primary research involved analyzing Patagonia’s Stories We Wear blog posts and videos for common themes that indicated an emotional attachment to clothing, followed by a detailed literature review of secondary sources to support the results of my primary research.
Emotional attachment to clothing can mean many things to many different people. For the purpose of this article, emotional attachment to clothing is defined as the deep care and love that a person has for certain items in their closet. This concept is contextual, meaning that it is completely based on different personal experiences that people have in their clothing. This is important to note because while some may resonate with the results of my research, others may not, and that’s okay! Everyone’s experiences in and with their clothes are their own.
Through my research, I discovered that there are four key themes that drive this attachment; individual themes, cultural themes, utility themes, and sensory themes.
Individual themes relate specifically to the personal experiences, memories, and stories experienced and created while wearing an item that helps to reinforce an individual’s sense of self. I own beautiful handmade and hand dyed mauve coloured pants, bought one summer at a folk music festival from a female-run business based out of North Bay, Ontario. The pants remind me of summertime happiness, hot weather, and dreamy nights dancing along to the greatest folk music I have ever known. I don’t ever see myself giving up on these pants because of the experiences and memories associated with them, along with the fact that these pants help to reinforce my inner sense of self; a free-flowing and folk-music loving woman.
Cultural themes relate to items that are connected to familial and social ties that help foster a person’s sense of belonging in a family, community or group. There’s a beautiful story from the Stories We Wear blog called, “The Wedding Jacket”, in which the author, Emily, talks about her connection and desire to keep wearing, repairing, and altering her white-hooded Patagonia down sweater because she got married in it.
Once I read this, I had to ask, “Why is it that some women hold onto their wedding dresses long after their wedding day, knowing that it might never be worn again?”. My conclusion was that the wedding dresses that sit in the back of women’s closets around the world serve as a physical reminder of the magic, love, community, and belonging that was experienced on that special day that they will never forget.
This is an interesting part of emotional attachment to clothing because while some attachments are rooted in the constant wear and use of an item, others are rooted in an item never being worn, but still being kept because of the connection to the garment.
The next theme centred around utility is connected solely to the use and performance of a garment. This could be anything from a rain jacket to a winter coat, or a swimsuit to a pair of leggings. A person may become attached to one or all of these items because of its quality, shape, fit, weight of the material, repairability, functionality, longevity, ease of maintenance, or warmth.
The last theme, sensory, is all about the attachment that a person has to a garment because of the comfort that they receive through the body to garment interaction. The body to garment interaction is connected to the feel of the garment on the skin, and how much comfort a person receives through that sensory experience.
When it comes to sustainability, I believe that emotional attachment to clothing has an important role to play.
With all of these themes in mind, the conclusion from my research was that through fostering emotional attachment to our items, we create the conditions to want to care for, repair, alter, postpone the replacement of, or never let go of certain garments in our closet, therefore reducing unneeded consumption as well as the amount of clothing ending up in landfills.
My thinking is that either one of the themes identified above could inspire and facilitate a life-long connection to a garment strong enough that the person will want to hold onto it for longer and continue to show it love when wear and tear inevitably begins.
Emotional attachment to clothing is a mindfulness movement. It’s about mindfulness when you consume, mindfulness when you wear, and mindfulness when your clothing is in need of a little extra care and repair. Emotional attachment to clothing is about saying to yourself, “Even though I could easily just throw out these socks that have a hole, I’m going to repair them anyways, because we’ve been on so many great adventures together and they always keep my toes warm”. It’s about the wedding dresses in the back of closets, and the mauve-coloured pants that remind me of summer. It’s about recognizing that while there will always be new clothing to buy and wear, the stories and memories hidden within the seams of the items already in your closet are one-of-a-kind, and that kind-of love will always be enough to make me want to wrap my clothing up in a loving embrace for a little while longer.
P.S. My task to you, dear reader, is to write a love letter to a special item of clothing in your closet. Sit down for tea with one of your dresses. Take a walk in your favourite pair of shorts. Ask yourself, “What is it about this garment in particular that makes me feel so connected to it?” and write it down!
If you’re feeling brave, share your love letters with me at storymap@threadingchange.org, comment them below, or share it with us on Instagram (not forget to tag us)! All of us here at Threading Change would love to hear from you!
About the Author:
Micaela is a writer, poet, and adventurer with experience in telling the stories of sustainable fashion brands. Her undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo has led her to research and work which revolves around sustainable fashion, emotional attachment to clothing, environmental justice, and gender equity. When she's not working on dismantling the patriarchy, you can find her as one of the voices behind the Sierra Youth Podcast, working on her next piece to contribute to an environmental magazine, or in the woods finding solitude in nature. Micaela is a visualization and storytelling geek, avid outdoors-woman, gardener, and climate advocate.
