Amelie Varzi

Over the last decade, relocating abroad to pursue a career, education, and an aspired lifestyle, as well as repeatedly changing apartments before committing to a permanent address, has become increasingly common among young Europeans. In this context, sartorial activities that tend to be marginal and occasional in the lives and wardrobes of residentially settled individuals (packing/unpacking clothes, temporarily adjusting to spaces that may lack proper storage constructions), are becoming more frequent. While taking these developments into consideration, my thesis explores the mobile wardrobe practices emerging from the accounts and interim bedrooms of 10 young Italians who count between six and twelve residential moves since leaving their parents’ home in Italy. In particular, building on wardrobe theory, the thesis considers the significance of the subjects' wardrobes in the process of reflecting and constructing their personal biographies, suggesting that mobile wardrobe practices may be thought of as self-reflexive practices for transitioning between places, life-stages, and possible futures.