A Style Story

Introduction

Sustainable Style is inspired by the Lifers exhibition at ROM created by artist Noelle Hamlyn.

In 2019, Noelle collected some life jackets that had washed up on a beach, and these life jackets inspired the idea behind Lifers.

Noelle found previously used clothing in thrift stores and other places, and tailored them to cover the life jackets. These “Lifers” were made to inspire thoughts and questions. 

One important question is “what story would these garments tell?” 

Now is your chance to tell that story. Inspired by your favourite piece of clothing, stories In the Lifers exhibition, and your own research, it’s time to give your clothing a voice.

Background Information

When Noelle is creating a Lifer, she thinks about the style of the clothing, how it was originally meant to be worn, how it was made, what the worn spots say about how its original owner wore it, and how it was decorated.

Noelle wants to remind us that every piece of clothing holds a story worth preserving, and Lifers help to tell that story. 

At the same time, Lifers also make us think about how the ways we make and use our clothes affects the Earth around us.

The effects of the fashion industry affect water, the climate, the workers involved, and the waste we produce. 

By researching and telling the story of a piece of clothing, we train ourselves to think about how our choices affect the people and the world around us, and inspire ourselves to make sustainable choices in the future.

You will need

Instructions

Step 1

Choose a piece of clothing that’s important to you. It could be something you wear now, or something you wore in the past.

Step 2

Do some research to learn about the journey your piece of clothing might have taken. You could use:

Step 3

Use your research to plot out a timeline of the life of your piece of clothing (you can use your imagination to fill in the blanks).

Think about where it has been, how it travelled, and who interacted with it.

You can use the Style Story worksheet [Google] [Doc] [PDF] to help you.

Step 4

Get creative and turn your timeline into a story starring your piece of clothing.

Step 5

(Optional)

Get creative with the camera and book & quill to create an illustrated version of your story to add to the school library.

Be sure to sign your finished book and export a PDF before you put your book on the shelf!

Follow-Up

Thought questions: