Clothes... and other things that matter

Part memoir, part fashion history, part social commentary, Alexandra Shulman's Sunday Times bestseller explores the meaning of clothes and how we wear them, with a new preface on how recent world events have changed our relationship with clothes.

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'Warm, thought-provoking and honest.' - Victoria Hislop

'Clever, emotionally intelligent, revelling in style without making us yearn to shop.' - The Times

'Self-deprecating and stylish, this is sure to become a classic.' - Vanity Fair

'Thoughtful, wry and candid.' - Mail on Sunday

'A must-read memoir for even those beyond the fashion set.' - Evening Standard

'It's funny, honest and in typical Shulman style mixes high and low effortlessly. We don't know many people who can write about bras, Donald Tusk and Madeleine Albright all in the same sentence.' - A Little Bird

'Scintillating reading.' - The Spectator

'Alexandra Shulman's style is unaffected, immediate and hilariously dry. She's brilliant at observing everyday feelings in a joy-sparking turn of phrase.' - Helena Bonham Carter

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'Clothes... and other things that matter is a book not only about clothes but about the way we live our lives. From childhood onwards, the way we dress is a result of our personal history. In a mix of memoir, fashion history and social observation I am writing about the person our clothes allows us to be and sometimes the person they turn us into.' - Alexandra Shulman

In Clothes... and other things that matter, Alexandra Shulman delves into her own life to look at the emotions, ambitions, expectations and meanings behind the way we dress.

From the bra to the bikini, the trench coat to trainers, the slip dress to the suit, she explores their meaning in women's lives and how our wardrobes intersect with the larger world - the career ladder, motherhood, romance, sexual identity, ambition, failure, body image and celebrity.

By turns funny, refreshingly self-deprecating and often very moving, this startlingly honest memoir from the ex-Editor of British Vogue will encourage women of all ages to consider what their own clothes mean to them, the life they live in them and the stories they tell.

About the Author

Alexandra Shulman is a writer and commentator. She was British Vogue's Editor-in-Chief from 1992 to 2017 and was awarded the CBE in the 2018 New Year's Honours list. She is currently a columnist for the Mail on Sunday, a contributor to a variety of newspapers and magazines and a Vice President of the London Library. She has written two novels, Can We Still Be Friends (2012) and The Parrots (2015) and Inside Vogue: The Diary of My 100th Year (2016).