Sixth Birthday Giveaway: Ima Read
The blog turned six this month.
Six years...blooming heck, time flies.
In order to celebrate I thought I would host a little giveaway as a way of saying thank you to all you lovely people. Thank you for coming back time and time again to read the blog, and for all the wonderful emails you send, it means more than I can say.
For the past month I have been debating what prize to offer. I wanted to offer something personal, given that I was buying it myself to give away, but I also wanted something that represented the blog. I had considered buying a bottle of Yohji Homme perfume, but posting perfume internationally is a bit of a nightmare, so that idea went out the window. I then thought a copy of My Dear Bomb, Yohji Yamamoto's biography, would make a nice prize, but it appears to be out of print now and prices are astronomically high (clearly I should have bought extra copies when I bought mine!).
Books seemed a good idea though - they are something you hold, something you read, something you cherish. My sister bought me a Kindle for my birthday this year, and it has had quite a remarkable effect on the way I approach books. As many of you are already aware, I try to keep as few possessions as possible. There is a freedom in having an edited number of possessions, all of which you love and have a meaningful attachment to. The way I use my Kindle is quite simple - it is for books I do not want a physical copy of. In other words, the vast majority of books. Which books do I have, and buy, physical copies of? Books on fashion, dress, art, photography and a select number of fiction books that hold personal meaning. As such I thought it would be nice to give away brand new copies of three of my favourite books - books I own, books I read, books I cherish.
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The first book I want to give away is Adorned In Dreams by Elizabeth Wilson. This book is the starting point for anyone interested in fashion and dress. If you only ever read one book on fashion and dress, make sure it is this one. This book is part of the reason that I now know what I want to do in life. Coming to that realization shocked me, but there we are. Read it.
The second book I decided on was White by Kenya Hara. An entire book about the colour white? Damn straight. When it comes to my relationship with clothing, black and white mean a lot to me. I want to understand the reason why I wear what I wear, and in order to do that I feel I need to start with the basics. Colour is not something I want to tackle yet, it is all too often used to hide flaws in a garment and its fit, so I like to focus on black and white. Start with the basics, they are not quite as basic as they seem.
The last book I thought I would give away is In Praise Of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizaki. A meandering meditation on aesthetics first published in the December 1933 and January 1934 issues of Keizai Orai. In this essay Tanizaki covers everything from tea to toilets, and in doing so he deftly introduces the reader to the world of wabi-sabi and the beauty of impermanence. To me the idea goes hand-in-hand with that of mindfulness, of being aware of the moment, and being content with things however they happen to be right now. If we could all learn to be happy with things exactly as they are right in this very moment, wouldn't that be something?
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So what do you need to do in order to win brand new copies of all three books?
Simple. Take a photograph of something in your wardrobe that you love, and write a line or two about it - why you love it, a memorable time when you wore it, where you found it, whatever takes your fancy! The only rule is that it has to be something you currently wear.
Email your photograph to me at thedapperkid@gmail.com by Friday 13th June.
The best entry wins brand new copies of three of my favourite books!
Good luck!
Good luck!
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Just to give you an idea...
This is my favourite jumper. It is a Y's For Men piece from Autumn/Winter 2001. Yohji knows how to do oversize, and this is no exception. For me wearing this is as close as I get to wearing a hug.
xxxx