Uniform is a new series on the blog about the language of clothes. I grew up in actual uniforms, kindergarten to my senior year of high school. So clothes have always held a special thrall for me; creating my own uniform was novel. And this first segment is about pants, about Tennessee made denim to be exact. I dress practically, mostly like a boy, and with the odd bit of lace thrown in. I like slacks and button ups, boots and wide brimmed hats. I rarely wear bright colors, and I expect the bulk of my clothes to do work. Naturally, I own denim. Lots and lots of denim, chambray to stonewash. I own more pairs of high waisted jeans than anything else, mostly due to a search for the platonic ideal. I never found them…until I did, and you’re looking at them: the Elizabeth by Nashville based Imogene + Willie (pronounced eye-mah-jean). I don’t just like to buy my food from real people when I can; I like to buy my pants and bowls and all the objects that make up the fabric of my daily life from real people. In this case, I got my pants from Carrie & Matt. You can read their story here (and the stories of their grandparents, their inspiration, one set of whom the shop is named after). I just had the chance to visit their store while weekending in Nashville, fell ever more in love what they’re doing & wanted to share this southern gem with you all.
As a lot of you (especially if you follow me here) have probably gathered, along with food I have a passion for aesthetics in general, spanning everything from Cy Twombly to to mantle vignettes to linen smocks to the death of a beautiful woman. To pants. Which is why I’m incorporating new features into this space, features that will allow me to share those things with you too. But don’t worry, there’ll be no shortage of southern victuals & baked goods. That said, I was, for the better part of a decade, hotly concerned with the philosophical defense, definition, and differentiation of aesthetics, of beauty, art & taste. I could entertain very long discussions of why an original work possesses (or, depending on your position, does not possess) more intrinsic worth than an exact replica. My relationship to the notion of beauty has been ever evolving. But I think it started with fashion or, more precisely, with a leather mini skirt. When I was 9.
In retrospect, it was probably a pleather mini skirt. I saw it in a department store with my grandmother who, being my grandmother and not my mother, let me try it on and subsequently bought it for me for Christmas, much to my mother’s dismay. Something alchemical happened in that moment. That skirt had properties, and I thought it would change my life, that it would change me. I thought that black, pleather mini skirt would give me super powers. It was an amulet, armor. Magic. It seemed that in a moment I could put that skirt on and no longer be a painfully shy 9 year old girl (yes, I was painfully shy as a child, once recalled by a former class mate as “the girl with big eyes who never said anything”) into something altogether different, something older. And the thing is that’s almost true. Just like in art & everything aesthetic theory is forever going on about, clothing deals in signs & symbols. Change people’s perception of you and you change, at the very least temporarily, the ways in which you interact with the world. The whole of reality will bend and ripple around you in different ways depending on how you present yourself. Should it be that way? Probably not, though I’m not qualified to answer that question. But it is that way; clothing is an elaborate system of signs & symbols similar to language. How you dress is not the only or most important thing that bends and ripples reality around you, but it a thing. You can choose to care , not care, or you can choose to amuse yourself with it. I choose some combination of the latter two.
Fashion can say a lot or very little. I knew that even at 9 years old—though what, exactly, my 9 year old self hoped to become or say with a leather mini skirt is beyond me. I was an eccentric child. Fancy that. What I wear varies wildly; to this day I play dress up. But on an average day I prefer quiet, handsome, well-made clothing. I’m a less is more kind of girl. Except on days when I’m not. I’m certainly less risqué than at 9. But still, I have always loved & still do love the language of clothing. The peacock way we are. I love to see men in their dashing, mean suits and leather shoes. I love to see women dripping like Stevie Nicks, little gypsy witches. I love the quotidian blacks, the stripes & khaki, shoe strings & leather. The Edwardian lace and fringed suede. My feelings about fashion are, indeed, like my feelings about food. I like it all.
Ruthie Lindsey in the Elizabeth
Imogene + Willie personifies everything I love about clothing these days: well-made, workhorse pieces that can take me from one mood to the next, one job to the next. They’re a blank canvas. And I really need to wash mine. If you have a chance to visit them in Nashville or online, their store is more than just a clothing shop; they have handmade goods & found treasures from all over the world. Being in there was, I admit, a sort of beautiful torture. I wanted everything. They make & find things with properties. Heirlooms & collectibles. Signs & symbols. Things that last a lifetime. My kind of things.
glad to hear there’s going to be more clothes related stuff on the blog!
you know i’m a big fan of your pinterest , so seeing your great taste at work is a treat.
i can totally relate to what you’re saying about food and fashion – i seem to like it all also. last time smb asked me what my style was, i said some days i dress like a bum, some days i dress like a 50s housewife.
maybe it’s just my fickle aquarius nature, or contradictory creative forces at work. or simply, the pains of growing up.
I discovered their work through Southern Makers and loved it. I am so envy…would love to have a shop like that here, every single thing looks amazing
I love the Clarke rinsed and Clarke blue ridge jeans-and hardly anybody in London will have them1
I am obsessed with I&W. I also own the Elizabeth jeans- By far my favorite pair!
Beth, you are just an amazing soul and such a wonderful curator of anything, definitely a ‘thing enthusiast’. I love reading your words and seeing things in a way as you see them. I wish I was half as eloquent as you, I’m more image driven sometimes I think… Thanks for sharing this lovely series!
I love their story. I can’t help but ache for my own sweet grandparents, and I too feel that the greatest gift I received growing up was living in close proximity to my dad’s parents. I owe much of who I am today to their influence in my childhood and adolescence, and their memory fuels much of who I want to be today. I’m so excited to soon find my home in a town that is home to so many accomplished artists.
I live in Nashville..heard so much about this place, I gotta go!
I really hope to make it to nashville sometime soon (maybe next year), and when i do, i will most certainly be stopping at imogen + willie!
I hadn’t heard about them but will definitely check them out after what I read about them in your post. lots to think about in there. it’s unfortunate that most people aren’t more aware that clothes and fashion are indeed languages that help us communicate who we are. no. help us communicate. period.
especially as we get older I find it surprising how many people still choose based on what they are told by magazines and other media. how can you not know yourself better than that?
I dropped in yesterday after reading your blog. Very cool items and some of the friendliest employees around! I left with a few kitchen goodies for my daughters new home.
On a funny note I pass imogene + willie every day on my way to Frothy Monkey and I had always wondered what the cool building with a + on it is.
Thanks for letting me know about them!
Ah! That makes me so happy. They are the friendliest aren’t they? Now I just need my dad to get with it and get *me* goodies! : )
Beth, give me your dads phone number and I will give him a call…..ahahaha!
A lovely store and a lovely brand indeed, but let me just say these words are so incredibly beautifully written! Your descriptions here are a tangled web of complex and simple, and somehow concisely state what I’ve never been able to put to words about my fascination with fashion. My oscillation between the dainty and the pragmatic, practical, and menswear-inspired; my adoration of the power to creatively convey messages through clothing, and the frustration of how stifled one can be when feeling constrained to conform to some sort of norm or definition of pretty with apparel. Anyways, I won’t yammer on, but as someone finding my way in a career centered on garments and wares, I loved every. single. word. here. Thanks so much for sharing!
I so agree! This is my first time seeing her blog and I’m blown away by the content here. Really incredible.
I too am a lover of the high waisted pant. I rarely wear any other type of jeans. I have yet to find my truly perfect pair though. I will definitely be taking a look at their shop online, as it looks wonderful!
I am so excited for these posts! Also, Imogene + Willie is opening a shop in Portland, which I am dying to visit!
I have a passion for both food and clothing too. They just opened a location here in Portland and I am so excited to finally be able to drool over their pieces in person instead of just on a computer screen…
Very nice piece, Beth. Lovely!
Such lovely photographs!
I never had a uniform, but my daughter does now, so I wonder what that will do to her. 😉
Also, high-waisted jeans. Yes. I’ve been having the hardest time finding them. You’ve encouraged me to keep looking. xo
you are stunningly beautiful in the realest way.
i grew up in uniforms as well, though i always loved their aesthetic. i think a lot of what i like to look at was inspired by my catholic school experience. all those churches with their stained glass and steeples, underground passageways from school to chapel, statues and gardens.
very much looking forward to more from this series!
<3Daniella
I love this blog and your outfit Beth!! Where did you get your tank top?