Brooklyn based writer and New York Times columnist Emily Spivack recently released Worn in New York (2017), the sequel to her best-selling 2014 book, Worn Stories . Early on in her career, Spivack combined her drive and her interest in fashion to benefit humanitarian efforts. She worked with Dress for Success, an organization which provides work- appropriate clothing to low-income women seeking employment. Following her mother’s battle with breast cancer, Spivack founded the nonprofit “Shop Well with You,”dedicated to helping women with cancer achieve a positive body image. The garments provided by Spivack become part of the emotional healing process as well.
Congratulations on the launch of Worn in New York . At your book launch, you said, “In NYC, we wear our clothes and we wear them hard.” Do you feel this city has enhanced the stories people have shared with you? I think that New York City touches so many different people and even if you’ve never been here, you’ve heard about it, and it can be aspirational. But, it can also be a place that people actually don’t like. People have feelings about this place and things happen in New York City that I feel just can’t happen anywhere else. I think about Thelma Golden’s story, and the dress that she wore to get married at City Hall. I mean, getting married at City Hall in New York is very distinctive. But that can happen anywhere else, but it is only in New York City that you’re going to see such a cross-section of people. And then the fact that her cab driver bought her flowers at the bodega. I mean, that could happen anywhere else but there’s just something so perfect about it happening here and I think that it just seems less likely that it would happen anywhere else. Also, because there are so many people here, when those things happen, they feel even more special. You’re probably never going to see that bodega owner again or the cab
driver again. And yet, acts of generosity happen here. Many people have been taught that New Yorkers are mean or New York City is scary or something. And then you’re just like, “But no, it’s not.” Actually, people, they’re nice. They want to help you.
the reader to be able to imagine who they were and not place anything on them: such as assumptions about gender, size, or age. You can’t make any judgments. Who is the one person you wish to interview in the future or wished you could have interviewed in your past books? Bill Cunningham. He would wear his distinctive blue jacket while riding his bike all around New York City. He had so many stories to share and a perspective on things that I think no one else had at the time. You have said before, “Everyone has a memoir in miniature in at least one piece of clothing.” Why is it important to tell that story? It’s more than just the clothing itself. There are these rich experiences that can be conveyed using the piece of clothing as a launching point. I treat the pieces as snapshots, they can disappear so easily once given or thrown away. When the person passes, their stories are lost too. I try to capture as many of those stories as I can before the clothing, or the narrative, is forgotten.
How did you choose the people that are featured in your new book?
I start with 10 people, and then look through and say, “Okay. Well, it feels like this type of profession is missing, or this age group, or this background, or this perspective,” and try to seek that out a little bit more. There’s also this element of surprise with interviewing someone over the phone; I don’t know what their story is going to be. I also consider tourists or people who really haven’t spent much time here. It’s just kind of always balancing that out; I like it to be a combination of names you would recognize and then people who are just incredible storytellers. How did you you decide on the accompanying artwork for each story? I wanted the stories and people’s voices to come through. I didn’t want any photos of the people who had been wearing the clothing because I wanted
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