“Clothing is an overlooked way of telling stories,” said Emily Spivack, a 35-year-old curator, editor, writer and social entrepreneur. “Sentimental Value,” her Internet found-art project (on display at the Philadelphia Art Alliance through Aug. 23), is all about sartorial narratives. It gathers some 40 of the approximately 600 garments she has purchased on eBay and pairs them with revealing tales the sellers shared when they listed them.  “These stories are a window into people’s lives,” explained Spivack, who was wearing a goldenrod A Détacher jumper she bought at Vagabond, her favorite boutique in Philadelphia. “You hear people’s voices come through. The stories are so rich themselves, they don’t need any commentary, what they need is to be drawn together and seen in contrast to one another.”  In the six years since she’s been collecting, her finds (some of which are in the show) have included a green chiffon dress soaked in the blood of a 1920s mobster gunned down in Atlantic City; a red sequined gown used in a levitating magic act; a wedding dress that never made it to the ceremony thanks to a drunken maid-of-honor; and a tie the buyer purchased because of a spiritual encounter in the store. The identities of these garments’ former owners haunts each listing. “Because these stories are out of context,” Spivack explained, “it winds up leaving a lasting impression.”  Spivack has become something of a master collector of stories about garments. “Worn Stories,” a book based on another project about clothing and memory, will be out next year from Princeton Architectural Press. She is also in talks both to restage “Sentimental Value” and to turn it into a book. She has found over time that many of the stories she collects on eBay fall into distinct literary schools. Some relate the success of a weight-loss program or tell of an unexpected brush with celebrity. Many lament unrequited or soured love. “I’m very aware of tropes that emerge,” Spivack said. But her great curatorial accomplishment is in showing the way that, at a time when so many objects seem quotidian and homogenous, we make them unique by attaching meaning to them. “I don’t see this as a fashion project,” she added. “They’re art objects.”  “Sentimental Value” is on view through Aug. 23 at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, 251 South 18th Street, Philadelphia; (215) 545-4302; philartalliance.org.
&#8220;Sentimental Value,&#8221; an exhibition of garments purchased on eBay alongside stories the sellers shared in their listings, reveals the profound meaning we attach to our clothes.