• Intelligencer
  • The Cut
  • Vulture
  • The Strategist
  • Curbed
  • Grub Street
  • Subscribe to the Magazine Give a Gift Subscription Buy Back Issues Current Issue Contents
    Subscribe to New York Magazine
  • Subscribe
  • Profile
    Sign Out
The Cut
  • Style
  • Self
  • Culture
  • Power
Style
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Parties & Red Carpet
  • Fashion Shows
  • Cathy Horyn
  • The Cut Shop
Self
  • Health & Wellness
  • The State of the Uterus
  • Parenting
  • Advice
  • Sex & Relationships
  • Horoscopes
Culture
  • Books
  • Television
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Celebrity
Power
  • Politics
  • Work
  • Money
  • Rebecca Traister
More
  • Latest Stories
  • Video
  • About Us
  • nymag.com
  • New York Magazine
  • Intelligencer
  • Vulture
  • The Cut
  • The Strategist
  • Grub Street
  • Curbed
just kids
December 12, 2014

The Artist Who Draws All Her Daughter’s Outfits

By Erica Schwiegershausen

Share

  • Share
  • Tweet
Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books

For the past two years, Williamsburg-based artist Jenny Williams has documented her 12-year-old daughter Clementine’s outfits, as well as those of her two sons, and many of her daughter’s friends, almost daily. The resulting illustrations — colorful sketches of tweens wearing playful, zany, and largely un-self-conscious outfits — are the subject of her popular blog, What My Daughter Wore. This week, powerHouse releases a new book of the same title, featuring highlights from Williams’s blog as well as new illustrations.

The Cut spoke with Williams about what inspired her to start the project, her daughter’s own evolving style, and why she dressed as a Victorian orphan as a kid.

What was it about your daughter’s dressing habits that intrigued you?
I think that she’s very creative and very unique. She never took much input from me — I dressed her for the first year or so, but ever since she was about 1 1/2, she’s had her own ideas about how to dress. I remember there was an entire year when she was 2 or 3 that she only wanted to wear a Danskin leotard — a convenient thing right around toilet training.

How would you describe her style now?
It’s kind of whatever strikes her fancy. To me, it was interesting and poignant the way she would get dressed to express something about how she’s feeling. She has a sort of off-kilter way of thinking about most things in the world, including the way she dresses. She has a lot of hand-me-downs from her older brothers and a lot of vintage. It’s a mix-and-match kind of thing. I would say, though, that it’s become a bit more conventional as she’s gotten into her tweens, and into the middle-school years, which is a little bittersweet.

So what does she wear now?
Skinny jeans. Although she did borrow a pair of my jeans yesterday, which are very slouchy. But mostly it’s skinny jeans, leggings, Doc Martens.

What about your other kids?
The way that all three of my kids dress could not be more different. My oldest son, who’s 22, dresses in found clothing on principle. And my middle son could care less. He wears T-shirts from national parks that his friends have brought back from vacations and jeans.

How do you choose who to draw?
It’s totally just based on my reaction to what they’re wearing and how they look. On the surface level, the project is about making drawings of interesting outfits that kids are wearing. There’s a more emotional tide to it for me that it’s also recording the passage of time of my own daughter and the kids that I draw on a regular basis. It’s got a time-capsule element to it.

Do you remember what your own style was like as a kid?
Yeah. When I was in middle school, I was definitely an outsider and an eccentric. My best friend and I dressed like two Victorian orphans. [Laughs.] It was definitely a way of setting myself apart from everyone else.

Do you think your blog and book have changed your daughter’s awareness of the way that she dresses?
I would say no, but I could be wrong. The other day, she overheard me saying that I thought she was kind of indifferent to the whole thing, and she corrected me and said she’s very excited about it. So it may influence her more than I think it does, but to my eye, she just does her own thing.

How much longer do you think you’ll keep drawing her?
I mean, from the time my kids were born, I’ve always drawn them privately, for myself, and I’ll always be doing that. In terms of this project, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be doing it. It may have run its course at some point soon. I don’t know. But I’ll always be drawing her.

Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
View
1 / 12 Photos
Helmet  Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
Batman  Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
On A Skate  Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
Feather Mask  Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
Salon  Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
Lion Kimono  Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
Flo Mask  Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
Flower Crown  Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
Blue Birds  Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
Cat Slippers  Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
Guitar Willow  Photo: Jenny Williams/Courtesy of PowerHouse Books
1 / 12

Tags:

  • gallery
  • kids
  • what my daughter wore
  • dress up
  • illustrations
  • jenny williams
  • slideshow
  • just kids
  • q&a
  • More

More Galleries

oscars 2023 Mar. 12, 2023
Oscars Red Carpet 2023: Every Look  Rihanna! Florence Pugh! Michelle Yeoh! They’re all here. 
celebrity Feb. 19, 2023
All the Best Looks From the 2023 BAFTAs Red Carpet  Florence Pugh, Barry Keoghan, and Angela Bassett brought color to the red carpet. 
grammys 2023 Feb. 5, 2023
Every Look From the 2023 Grammys Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Lizzo, Bad Bunny, Adele, Doja Cat, Jack Harlow, Mary J. Blige, Sam Smith, and more.
By Brooke LaMantia
Jan. 10, 2023
All the Looks From the 2023 Golden Globes  Sheryl Lee Ralph, Jenna Ortega, Jessica Chastain, Julia Garner, Jeremy Allen White, Angela Bassett, and more. 
parties! Sept. 23, 2022
Katie Holmes, Chloë Sevigny, and More of the Bestest Party Pics This Week  Chanel, Mejuri, and more celebrate. 
parties! Sept. 16, 2022
Doja Cat, Lil Nas X, and More of the Bestest Party Pics This Week  Fendi, Frame, and Coach all celebrated NYFW. 
emmys 2022 Sept. 12, 2022
Emmys 2022: All the Red Carpet Looks  Updating: What Hollywood is wearing to the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards. 
By Olivia Luppino
nyfw spring 2023 Sept. 9, 2022
Gigi Hadid, Chlöe Bailey, and More of the Bestest Party Pics of the Week  Saks Fifth Avenue, Longchamp, and more celebrate the beginning of NYFW. 
rip Sept. 9, 2022
The Queen Sure Did Love to Color-Coordinate  Monochrome for decades. 
red carpet Sept. 6, 2022
The Venice Film Festival Is a Major Fashion Event  Valentino and Gucci and Armani, oh my. 
red carpet June 5, 2022
All the Best Looks at the 2022 MTV Movie and TV Awards  Sydney Sweeney, Vanessa Hudgens, Jay Ellis, and more! 
parties! May 20, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Harry Styles > everyone! 
parties! May 13, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Bury me in Dove Cameron’s Saint Sintra skirt. 
parties! May 6, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  Cue the Met Gala after-party FOMO. 
met gala 2022 May 2, 2022
Met Gala 2022: All the Looks [Photos]  Billie Eilish, Kim Kardashian, Michelle Yeoh, Hailey Bieber, Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Blake Lively, and more. 
parties! Apr. 29, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  This one goes to Olivia Rodrigo and her sweater vest. 
parties! Apr. 22, 2022
The Bestest Party Looks of the Week  “Fuck those Zoom tops.” 
celebrity style Apr. 18, 2022
The Best Looks From Coachella 2022  From Harry Styles’s sparkling Gucci set to Megan Thee Stallion’s metallic bodysuit. 
style Apr. 13, 2022
A Look Inside the New Museum’s Spring Gala  Featuring all the best looks. 
grammys 2022 Apr. 3, 2022
Grammy Awards 2022 Red Carpet: All the Looks  Lady Gaga, Olivia Rodrigo, Lenny Kravitz, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, and more. 
  • Style
  • Self
  • Culture
  • Power
  • About The Cut
  • About New York Magazine
  • Newsletters
  • Help
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Media Kit
  • We’re Hiring
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Ad Choices
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Accessibility
The Cut is a Vox Media Network. © 2023 Vox Media, LLC. All rights reserved.