Some garments live on. Why do the outfits that we hold on to, say more about us than the ones we wear?
Debbie Harry, iconic frontwoman of Blondie, recently shared that she has kept ‘everything’ from her punk-rock days. Appearing at the New York City Ballet Gala in Manhattan, the 79-year-old rock star said she hopes to put her collection on display eventually.
Be it sequinned tees or shredded denim, Harry’s style was as much a part of her performance as the music itself. Her look — edgy, spellbinding, and unapologetically punk helped define the late ’70s aesthetic.
Emotional archive in every closet
Many of us share the value Harry places on her now-no-longer-in-use wardrobe, clothes we may have grown out of physically or in terms of personality evolution, but are still precious because of what they remind us of. Stylist Ambarish Sonari, founder of The Boy in a Bowtie Co., says that certain outfits bring back vivid memories. “The outfit I wore with a certain print might take me back to a wild styling week or a wedding I worked on that had its madness,” he says. “My style is loud, layered, emotive; every ensemble is a storyteller in its own right.”
Keeping culture
Designer Gautam Gupta, Creative Director of Label Asha Gautam, views the act of keeping old clothes as a form of cultural conservancy. He points to fabrics like khadi, Banarasi, and handloom cotton. His wardrobe contains a kurta that belonged to his father, not worn, but preserved. “It’s more than a memory,” he says. “It’s a thread connecting generations.”
Of grief and love
Fashion creator Kanishk Anand has kept a blazer that’s two sizes too big. Not for utility, but for love. “ It bears the shape of someone I once loved, moulded by their shoulders,” he says. “I will never wear it again — but I can’t give it away.” His wardrobe houses objects that have outlived the occasions they were bought for — a school farewell kurta, a cotton sari that still smells of his grandmother’s rosewater, a jacket gifted by his father. “Carefully folded, perfumed with memory, tucked away in trunks or closets.” One of his grandmother’s sarees remains untouched, kept aside for his sister’s wedding. “A way of bringing her with us into a new chapter,” he says.
All from revelry
Sarah Jessica Parker’s Sex and the City wardrobe, as well as Ashley Tisdale’s High School Musical ensembles, and other iconic outfits kept by celebrities stand not as keepsakes, but as symbols of who they were when the world was watching. Fashion contracts sometimes allow stars to buy and keep custom gowns. Some are now displayed on mannequins, like Jennifer Lopez’s green Versace dress.
Not for the grid
Fashion creator Viddhi Giri takes a different route. Her wardrobe has no obvious aesthetic. “People ask me to define my style in a word. I can’t,” she says. “But if you’ve seen me, you’d know — this is a Viddhi outfit.” Confidence is her constant accessory. Her wardrobe swings between colour-blocked joggers and co-ords, floral bags and sneakers, depending on the day’s feeling. “Every piece I’ve kept has a reason to stay,” she adds. Her outfits are impulsive choices that mirror who she is, or was, or might become. “It could be a co-ord I wore on a lazy day, a blouse that reminds me of a summer spent laughing — my wardrobe holds energy and versions of myself I love.”
