Patch Work: WINNER OF THE 2021 PEN ACKERLEY PRIZE

Claire Wilcox's exquisitely written 'A Life Amongst Clothes' is not, as I initially thought, an account of the author's working life at the Victoria and Albert Museum (where she holds the post of Senior Curator of Fashion) but a memoir in which Ms Wilcox reveals glimpses of her personal life amongst the artefacts of her working life. Therefore this memoir, which is presented in the form of very short chapters, has titles such as: 'Kid Gloves', where we read about the handling of crinolines that are weak with old age, followed by 'Night Clothes', where we read about Ms Wilcox's childhood bedroom with its marble fireplace and sash windows and the vintage nightwear she wore as a young woman - not just for sleeping in but also as day-wear (fashion editor Grace Coddington, Ms Wilcox tells us, came into the vintage linen shop where she was working and borrowed some of the clothes to do a fashion shoot for British Vogue). And in amongst the author's interesting anecdotes and memories, she discusses family, motherhood, parents, illness, death, cats, gardening, dressmaking, laundry, the clothes moth and more, and Ms Wilcox also shares with the reader the feelings she experienced after the very sad loss of her stillborn son and of how those feelings still consume her, which was very poignant to read. As stated in my opening sentence, this is an exquisitely written book: Ms Wilcox's prose is almost mesmerising to read and although I had planned to keep this a bedtime book to dip in and out of each evening, I soon found myself immersed and loath to put it down. It may be true that if you like your biographies to be conventional and linear, then you might find the author's non-chronological approach and almost dreamlike feel to some of the writing not quite to your taste, but I found this patchwork of beautifully-told memories and experiences an interesting and very engaging read.5 Stars.

I feel my life has been enriched by this book; it is exquisite. Like the best patchwork, it is full of intense and meaningful segments in this case, of her life and career, and this method allows the author freedom to describe each segment in its own terms.

Great book to read read enjoyed it

I have sent this book to three friends so far...it is a book to pass on...

Snippets of lovely writing about a wide range of subjects and scenarios. I felt I couldn’t quite get a grip on what was going on sometimes. Loved the bits about her ( rather wonderful ) mum and dad. Not one I would return to, but glad I read it

Brilliant: strange, dreamy, sharp, moving, cerebral, tender, clever, painful...A glancing, roundabout love letter to the very fabric of the wonderful old V&A museum, to serious curatorship, to scraps of textiles of all sorts, to her parents, children & partner, to brave radicalism in fashion, to craft skills, to prettiness and fragility, to gardening and weeds and, I suspect, to therapy.All close to my heart too, so I am very grateful for this book.

This is a stunningly beautiful book, with words like jewels - totally absorbing. I'd love to read more writing by this author.

I don’t like giving negative reviews but I felt I had to on this occasion. Even with the reviews I had hoped It would have been interesting - it wasn’t! How it can be described as ‘A life in Clothes’ - it isn’t! It’s puzzling mystic meanderings that give little identity to anything. Such an opportunity to share missed! I laboured on to finish it in the hope it would improve- it didn’t. Not sure what it won a prize for - it’s like the ‘emperor’s new clothes’ syndrome!

I don’t usually care for memoirs, but this book is excellent. The chapters are short, but often evoke many heartfelt feelings.

I am a quilter with an interest in the history of textiles, so given the title of this book and the fact that the author works at the Victoria and Albert Museum, I was expecting a historical treatment: how early patchwork was done, where clothing used in patchwork came from, and so on. This book is not that at all! Instead, it consists of short personal reflections inspired by pieces of clothing and other objects. The writing is poetic and evocative. The author's reveries prompted my own memories of dresses I wore as a girl and the events associated with them. I enjoyed the book even though it is not what I expected. Sometimes the pieces are very dreamy and I wished for a few more concrete details.

Image provoking writing that reveals the essence of connecting events in a life. I loved that each chapter felt satisfying.

As a well-worn corset interior reveals the dips and curves of the original owner’s body, so a moment reveals impressions of a life. A curator examines a fragment, an object accessioned, and follows the fracture lines to time, place, use, inhabitant, radiating inquiry into the content of context.Similarly, Wilcox examines her remembrances of life moments that are attached to clothes as if they are objects in a collection, turning them over carefully.Each brief chapter of one to two pages is poetic in the use of these sparse glimpses to suggest a larger story. A moment polishing small red shoes never to be worn again causes the reader to wonder why. Each diorama invites puzzling out how it fits into the larger whole of a life. It’s worth going back to the title of each chapter and section to make more sense of the collection.Reading Wilcox is good for expanding your vocabulary. She uses special words from clothing (chatelaine, fichu, chasuble, rills, wadding, tambouring, crinoline, back-stays, drab (noun), Wales (machair), moths (tineola bisselliella and other kinds), and birds (phalarope, corncrake, moorhen, tufted ducks).Patchwork: A Life Amongst Clothes was written by the Senior Curator of Fashion at the V & A since 2004, Claire Wilcox, and published in 2020.

I found myself disappointed by this book, as it ends up less about clothes than about the writer. I found myself craving more details about the garments themselves. The author also seems to be withholding information about herself and her life that would give enough context to see the connections among the chapters. I read the whole book as I kept hoping it would include more about the clothing, but instead it is musings on her own life, from a guarded perspective.