STITCHED

KIM TRIEBSEE

STITCHED is a startling essay collection from writer/designer Kim Triebsee that looks at fashion as reaction, instigator, muse, protection and disguise. Whip smart and high volume, its three pieces ask the big questions of how words and images can help reimagine gender and identity and – ultimately – help us reframe the way that we look at ourselves.  

In Mother in Stitches Kim takes us on a hilarious tour through her mother’s wardrobe to uncover and understand the woman who struggled to find her perfect fit. Through Kim’s eyes, both as child and adult, we witness her mother’s ferocious charge through the challenges of womanhood – marriage, mothering, sex and self, via an outrageous parade of garments that she chooses to both enable and defend herself. At turns, blackly funny and devastatingly moving, it shows us why 'It’s easier to look into a wardrobe than to stare into a mirror’. 

Funny Face is an outrageously fun, rapid fire, sexy short fiction of a woman in her butterfly moment. Intertwined with the beauty speak of lipstick shades – Cherries in the Snow, Cloud 9 Coral and Dirty Love – that know 'the black-lace thoughts you think while shopping in a gingham frock' are the stories of a woman who fractures herself against the icon that is Elizabeth Taylor, an unforgettable one night stand, and a female body builder who’ll be remembered for more than just her happy pants. And finally, with a little help from Kafka, a tattooist and a well angled mirror, we touch down with a contemplative piece entitled, Drawing On that looks at beauty as a state of revelation. Scratching a little deeper, it asks whether the female body can be experienced through what it can reveal rather than what it needs to conceal. 

Kim Triebsee

Kim Triebsee is a writer and designer based in Melbourne. In a previous life she worked in the fashion industry and tried to convince you to buy the white t-shirt that would elevate your wardrobe and upgrade your life. Since then, she has turned her words to art. With a background in art history, creative writing and design, Kim's endlessly curious about how words and images can reimagine gender, identity and the big questions, ultimately reframing the way we look at ourselves. Kim is working on her first novel and is currently skating on thin ice.

96 page paperback
178mm x 108mm