Notes on Style: a submittal invitation

At Saltmine, we’re interested in self-expression of all kinds. Clothes included. Personal style communicates effortlessly, and we’re admittedly fascinated by what everyone is wearing. Not because it’s news, but because clothes are loud, silent (and often smashing) messages to the rest of the world. This is me. Or this is what I want to be. Or this is what I love. Or this is what I hate. Or fuck you, Mom!

I (Brooke: editor, writer) have found great fun in answering Didion’s (famous) prompt, “Have you a clothes philosophy?” In fact, it’s been said that Joan Didion wrote too much about clothes (I disagree) and also that she wrote the way she dressed. The latter is extremely compelling. Might we all? My guess is yes. Or if we don’t write, we do the way we dress. The funny thing is, I can’t locate her saying this anywhere on the internet. Did I have a dream that she wrote this prompt and answered it? I really don’t know. It’s unsettling when you’ve been unflinchingly thinking of a thing as a fact, only to find the internet is not with you. And though the internet does not know all things, it does know most Didion quotes. Oh well. I still think it’s an interesting question, and one worth answering.

So, do you? Have a clothes philosophy? Or more aptly - what is it? Because everyone does. Some people, though, might not know it. We’d like to see a heaping chunk of these philosophies (conscious, or recently raised to consciousness) next to each other on pages, in all their clashing glory. Material human expression mashed up under one binding.

So we’re looking for a hefty handful of submissions on personal style to put into a collection in the form of a book, from all the people whose something-inside lights up after reading this invitation. There are no limits on format. Prose, poetry, a series of photographs, drawings, a single sentence…compose it the way you compose an outfit. Naturally. Or painstakingly. However you do.

We’d love it if you’d share this invitation with anyone that comes to mind. They don’t have to be “writers” or “artists”. And there's no age limit on creator submissions. If your kid, or the kid you babysit, or your grandpa, or your neighbor, has strong feelings about fashion or an obvious personal style, extend this invitation in their direction! Contributors will receive credit in the published work, as well as a free copy of the book. It’s just for fun - like so much of what we wear. It’s like a clothes-appreciator’s wet dream of a coffee table book.

Send submissions to: hello@saltminebooks.com

We’ll collect them through 04/30/24.

Please provide the following info with your submission:

Name (as much of it as you like, it will be in print), Age, Address (so we can send you your copy; it will not be in print).

Cannot wait to hear what you’re wearing. Truly.