Fashion journalism is not solely about reporting on catwalks, filing new stories or delivering on trends. There are many avenues to what you can write and where this can end up. One writing form is memoirs. In particular, “fashion memoirs”.

Fashion journalists penning compelling memoirs is not new, but what is new is the growth of the genre and the evolution into several types of memoirs, whether a journalist is writing their own or someone else’s.

As it is for most memoirists, the point of the memoir is to artfully illuminate a corner of the world to empower and educate others. It is a collection of memories that someone writes about their own life. While the memories can be public or private - and are often a mix of the two if the memoirist is a famous person - a memoir is understood to be as factual as memory permits.

Your Fashion Journalism Challenge:

Your challenge is to write a “fashion memoir” about an item of clothing or jewellery that means a lot to you. It could be something you inherited from a relative, an item that someone special gave you, or something that always brings you luck. Tell us the story of where you got it from, why it has special meaning, and how you feel when you wear it.

You have a minimum of 500 words to tell your own story. Enjoy.

Need some inspiration?

The best fashion and beauty journalists do a memoir

piece to explain their attachment to things from time

to time. Here’s one from Sali Hughes, who is resident

beauty columnist for Guardian Weekend magazine and

a features and comment writer for a range of magazines:

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/oct/15/

sali-hughes-life-in-makeup-beauty-products