I Actually Wore This

Clothes We Can’t Believe We Bought

Tom Coleman
Photography by Jerome Jakubiec

Everyone can relate to this book because everyone has had at least one fashion disaster in their life. Maybe it’s the “fashion forward” item you bought because you thought it would be cutting edge, only to discover that leather rabbit ear baseball hats actually are just idiotic looking. Perhaps it’s the formal dress or suit you bought hours before the event, never to be worn again (but occasionally dredged up in photos by malicious friends). And there’s always those wonderful “bargains” that somehow convince us that the massive savings somehow makes the item more desirable, or at least wearable.

Coleman and Jakubiec interview numerous people about their fashion faux pas. The blurbs are brief and funny:

“I bought it at Neiman Marcus – on sale – so I managed to convince myself it must be good.  Neiman Marcus doesn’t sell crap, right? Neiman Marcus sells gold-plated teddy bears and helicopter rides over the pyramids.” – Susan Sandlund

“I started to envision where I might wear it. I pictured myself living in a garret in Le Marais… I would throw on this sweater when I strolled down to my local tabac to buy another pack of Gauloises. Odd, considering I don’t smoke, but apparently I did in my fantasy.” Annie DeWitt

“This suit is a perfectly fine suit. On the right person, it would look great. I am not that person.” Douglas Hand

“I walked down the street like this. I had family and friends and coworkers who cared about me, and yet none of them stopped me. Where were you people?” Paige Novick