Comments on A Dress A Day: Great Dresses of Mediocre Literature, Meta-Discuss...

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2008-12-05T01:46:00.000-06:00

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Ah, the best part of the Nancy Drew movie starring...

2008-08-14T10:12:00.000-05:00

Ah, the best part of the Nancy Drew movie starring Emma Roberts was her dresses! (I hated that they made Nancy such a caricature though.)

The novel Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day had lovely descriptions of 1930s evening gowns.

The 'Irene Adler' books by Carole Nelson Douglas h...

2008-08-13T02:54:00.000-05:00

The 'Irene Adler' books by Carole Nelson Douglas have some great descriptions of late 19th century dress.

They are not great descriptions and the writing is...

2008-08-11T09:29:00.000-05:00

They are not great descriptions and the writing is generally bad too but my earliest memories of clothing descriptions came from the 1930 versions of the Nancy Drew books. We had about 20 of them that had belonged to my mother and her sisters as they were growing up and I read them as a small child. Nancy always wore frocks and pumps and cloche hats. Sometimes she wore "stout boots" when hiking. I think the clothes were described just enough that I could fill in the rest with imagination. I loved that plucky, titan haired sleuth. And her dresses.

Has anyone read "The Clothes on their Backs" by Li...

2008-08-11T08:27:00.000-05:00

Has anyone read "The Clothes on their Backs" by Linda Grant?
She's the Brit who writes The Thoughtful Dresser blog.
FYI: an article that mentions Liberty plans to reinvigorate their textile presentation:
www.livingcreatively.com.au/current_issue/issue_6/creative_uncovered/circle_of_friends
Cheers!

Check out Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye and The Blin...

2008-08-10T10:37:00.000-05:00

Check out Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye and The Blind Assassin. I just finished reading Cat's Eye, and there are some hilarious, in-depth passages regarding the main character, an "older" artist, and her search for what to wear to the opening of a retrospective of her work.

Mistress of Mellyan - Victoria Holt. The main char...

2008-08-09T20:51:00.000-05:00

Mistress of Mellyan - Victoria Holt. The main character is on the young side, but there are a number of older helper/rivals

How about Philip K Dick's Ubik? Yes, it's science ...

2008-08-09T19:27:00.000-05:00

How about Philip K Dick's Ubik? Yes, it's science fiction, but the descriptions of clothing definitely add to the atmosphere.

Laurie Colwin's always described her characters' s...

2008-08-09T14:44:00.000-05:00

Laurie Colwin's always described her characters' style beautifully. Plus her books are a delight to read.

Here's an excerpt from her novel "Family Happiness":

"Her silvery-gold hair was cut into an Eton crop, and the clothes she favored were a stylish edition of what a girl who went to a French convent school might wear: a black cape, a gray jumper, and a starched white blouse. There were diamond earrings in her ears, and on her feet she wore a pair of sude brogues."

L. M. Montgomory (of Anne of Green Gables fame) wa...

2008-08-09T14:01:00.000-05:00

L. M. Montgomory (of Anne of Green Gables fame) was fond of describing the clothing of her female characters of all ages. Who can forget puffed sleeves and skimpy wincey? ;) The last book of the Anne series takes place in the twentieth century (WWI era) and she wrote several others based in the early decades of the century as well, Mistress Pat, A Tangled Web, etc.

If you want women of the latter half of the century, female Suspense writers also loved to describe clothing. Isabelle Holland, Victoria Holt (some are 20th century, but not all of them), and others of that genre.

I like reading a current novelist and her descript...

2008-08-09T11:30:00.000-05:00

I like reading a current novelist and her descriptions of Miss Phryne Fisher (1920's heroine/detective) and her wardrobe:

http://www.phrynefisher.com/

Gloria by Keith Maillard. 1950s clothing in great...

2008-08-09T11:04:00.000-05:00

Gloria by Keith Maillard. 1950s clothing in great detail.

Thank you all for your comments! By the way, my d...

2008-08-09T09:54:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for your comments! By the way, my definition of "older women" is 50 plus. Lynn

ErinDid you post an illustration this time? I don'...

2008-08-09T09:19:00.000-05:00

Erin
Did you post an illustration this time? I don't see it.
Colleen

One of the best women's clothing moments is in E.F...

2008-08-09T08:12:00.000-05:00

One of the best women's clothing moments is in E.F. Benson's Miss Mapp - the War of the Chintz Roses.

I'm a regular reader, and this is my first ever co...

2008-08-09T04:20:00.000-05:00

I'm a regular reader, and this is my first ever comment, hi!

First off, my Amazon wishlist has gained quite a few additions as a result of this thread, so thank you everyone!

I'm wondering if Lynn wants descriptive passages of 'older' women's clothing for research reasons, or simply for pleasure. You've got to be cautious about any works set in previous periods, no matter how well informed the author claims to be. My university tutor, a renowned dress historian, used to make us laugh by telling us about one of her former students who cited Georgette Heyer's work as evidence. The clear message was - don't!

Authors addressing their own period/era are likely to be much more reliable and authentic in their descriptions. I suppose I'm stating the obvious, sorry!

Most of the books I am thinking of seem to focus on young women and their dress (Beverley Nichols' Self, published in 1922, has plenty) but I've recently read Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day by Winifred Watson, first published in 1938. The principal character is a dowdy middle aged governess whose encounter with a flamboyant and beautiful actress transforms her life. There's plenty of clothing descriptions, although I can't check right now because I've passed it on to Mum. You can get it from Persephone Books online. There's a recent film of it, which I really must seek out.

Wonderful thread, indeed! I have some treats in st...

2008-08-09T02:40:00.000-05:00

Wonderful thread, indeed! I have some treats in store after reading the above.

I am very fond of the role of clothing in Laurie King's A Monstrous Regiment of Women, the 2nd in her series of Russell-Holmes mysteries. Mary Russell, an orphaned teenager, meets the retired Sherlock Holmes early in the last century, becomes his apprentice, and marries him between novels #2 and #3.

In the first novel she rarely wears a dress, but in the 2nd, as she reaches her majority and attains control over her very large inheritance, she decides it's time for adult clothing. She purchases one fairly extensive, somewhat glam RTW wardrobe to disguise herself in an attempt to catch the bad guys, but she also orders a bespoke wardrobe from her mother's cousins (who happen to have one of the best dressmaking establishments in London), though she can hardly stand to be measured or to stand still for fittings.

She has a nasty scar on one shoulder where she was shot in the 1st novel, so she can only marvel at the clever evening gown they design for her:

"This dress, though--as a piece of pure engineering, it was fascinating; as a piece of evening wear, even in its present incomplete state, it transformed the padded torso on which it hung. High on the right shoulder, it dropped down to expose the left and continued down and yet farther down, the fabric barely meeting at the waist before it began a slit up the left side, where the hem angled down in a mirror image of the bodice line. The ice blue silk made it aloof--in any warmer colour, it would have been an incitement to riot.

I gulped, smiled feebly at Mrs. Elf, declined her eager invitation for me to try it on, and turned to the other two half-formed outfits."

Clothing is an important metaphor throughout the novel as she adjusts in fits and starts to this new clothing, as well as to adulthood. Simultaneously, she begins to recognize her new and very grownup feelings for Holmes.

It's all quite delicious. Of course clothing and costume descriptions always provide great detail and colour in any Russell-Holmes mystery because of the frequent need for disguise. :-)

Georgette Heyer's clothing descriptions were as ac...

2008-08-09T00:54:00.000-05:00

Georgette Heyer's clothing descriptions were as accurate as her historical ones. She truly researched everything about the Regency period. She also wrote an authoritative history on John of Lancaster, though it was never finished before she died. Jane Aiken Hodge, who also writes great descriptive novels, wrote a wonderful book about her. For those who are interested her are some websites--

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer

http://www.georgette-heyer.com/who.html

What wonderful descriptions! What springs to my ...

2008-08-08T19:46:00.000-05:00

What wonderful descriptions! What springs to my mind is a list of items from a Katherine Anne Porter short novel, Pale Horse, Pale Rider. The character, Miranda, has recovered from a near-fatal bout of influena during WWI. She is writing a list of items she needs: "One lipstick, medium, one ounce flask Bois d'Hiver perfume, one pair of gray suede gauntlets without straps, two pair gray sheer stockings without clocks--" for some reason I have never forgotten those gloves and stockings. I suppose these items represent a return to living.

I enjoyed reading this thread so much this morning...

2008-08-08T19:31:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed reading this thread so much this morning that I had to come back after checking out "High Rising" by Angela Thirkell suggested by another of Erin's anonymous commenters.

You All have mentioned so many of my old favorites like Heyer and Mitchell's Gone With the Wind (That lovely early chapter where she stands in her pantaletts and corsets and contemplates her choice of dresses in great detail.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder books also describe dresses in great detail as she is usually telling the story of sewing them.

Now I have to look into Doris Langley Moore and Berta Ruck. Melynda, thanks for putting in the excerpt. It is a most satisfying description.

Thanks Erin and all

I don't have any author suggestions, but the first...

2008-08-08T19:09:00.000-05:00

I don't have any author suggestions, but the first half of the excerpt's first paragraph perfectly describes the week before an anime convention... last minute cosplays, for the win! x_x;;

Wonder if any of you have read Doris Langley Moore...

2008-08-08T19:06:00.000-05:00

Wonder if any of you have read Doris Langley Moore? This from 'Not At Home' (1948):

"On the step was a woman laden with flowers, a wonderfully smart woman with a white cloth coat, a yellow taffeta turban draped in the newest style, and white wedge-heeled shoes as complex as a Chinese puzzle. Her hair was pale gold and her ivory-coloured face suggested rather than achieved the most extraordinary beauty. With a smile of such radiance as lies only in the consciousness of flawless teeth, she extended from amongst the flowers a lemon-coloured suede glove."

Doris was a noted Byron scholar, plus (more pertinently for our purposes) the founder of the Fashion Museum here in the UK, and you can see the facility of the costume curator in her effortless yet perspicacious clothing descriptions. Funny too that the Fashion Museum has a particularly celebrated glove collection, even to this day!

Yes, Dorothy Sayers' Gaudy Night has considerable ...

2008-08-08T18:52:00.000-05:00

Yes, Dorothy Sayers' Gaudy Night has considerable detail of the dress of female dons at Oxford in the early 20th century, not to mention a great story.

Adriana Trigiani's novel "Lucia, Lucia" has a wond...

2008-08-08T18:46:00.000-05:00

Adriana Trigiani's novel "Lucia, Lucia" has a wonderful account of a career-minded woman in the 50s who works in the custom dress dept. at B. Altman's in NY. Fabulous insider account of the end of an era in American fashion.

JUST HAD A HORRIBLE THOUGHT. For her project, what...

2008-08-08T18:17:00.000-05:00

JUST HAD A HORRIBLE THOUGHT. For her project, what is Miss Lynn's definition of an "older woman"? Brace yourselves, everyone!