Through small journal-entry style short stories, Stephanie Hart explores themes of family, tradition, loneliness, ethical etiquette, insecurities and beauty. The three pieces that we read: “Clothes”, “Shopping” and “Birthday Cake Dress” are somehow dependent on detailed descriptions of clothes and dress to inform the themes that she explores. This is particularly noticeable in the intricate mother/daughter relationship that is experienced throughout all the stories. In “Clothes”, there is a sense of nostalgia that is created through descriptions of the different epochs in her mom’s life in terms of the different clothes that she wore. She begins this story by saying that “Clothes are my life.” This is a statement that we often hear from fashion fanatics that find no better way of expressing their unparalleled passion for fashion. Hart, on the other hand, means this in that clothes have helped her understand the intricate situations that life has put her through. When her mother left her father, she noticed a turn in her mother’s wardrobe towards darker colors. When her mother’s death approached, she wore lighter colors of silks. And yet, throughout her entire life, her mother’s wardrobe maintained a level of elegance that matched her unapproachable personality. Because of all this, Stephanie Hart views clothes in the form of coping mechanisms. At times, they served to expose feelings, nurture feelings or conceal feelings. At the beginning of this text, Hart personifies clothing items that seemingly “brushed shoulders like good friends.” This personification points to the fact that each item or “friend” had a personality that was embedded into certain situations, and that served a purpose in her and her mother’s life.
Dress has since long ago been involved with notions of body and body image. In “Shopping”, Hart voices a personal experience with a body image insecurity that had been caused at the seams. She describes a scenario that we are all familiar with: shopping with your mother. Unlike the way in which this scenario usually goes, Hart seems to respect her mother’s opinion and not offer much input in the dress choice. However, we note her discomfort where she says that “I think I am crying but the tarsier internal.” She not only seems uncomfortable in the ill-fitting dress, but she also seems uncomfortable with letting her mother know her opinion. The cry stays internal throughout the other anecdotes, and Hart takes a passive stance in the face of odd familial relations and awkward situations. Her mother’s reaction to the dress is an attempt to be reassuring. Although it seems as though she tries to reassure herself more than her daughter. Her mother’s relationship with clothes seems to be all-consuming and genuine, while most of her relationships with men seem ill-fated and forced. This is further explored in the “Birthday Cake Dress” segment.
Questions for Stephanie Hart
1. How would you best describe the relationship you had with your mother?
2. How important do you consider family in informing the person you become?
3. In what ways is your relationship with clothes different to that of your mother’s?
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