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gallery
June 26, 2017

How Great Authors Became Style Icons

By Sarah Spellings

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Photo: Getty Images

The idea of a “fashionable author” is somewhat monopolized by the Baz Luhrmann–influenced view of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, wearing three-piece suits and drop-waist dresses, or the image of Joan Didion, starring in a Céline campaign at 80 years old. Lesser-known fashion/literature crossovers include James Joyce, who worked as a cloth salesman because he was so in love with Irish tweed, and Gertrude Stein (also part of the Fitzgerald expat clan), who supported Pierre Balmain in the early days of his line. The crossovers are the premise of the new book Legendary Authors and the Clothes They Wore, by Terry Newman, out tomorrow from HarperCollins.

Newman researched the style quirks of 49 authors, from what she calls the “inevitable” writers like Virginia Woolf and the Fitzgeralds, to Samuel Beckett and Gay Talese (who has worn bespoke suits since childhood). Of course, not all authors want to be fashion icons.

“Part of the fascination of these authors, for me, was the fact that they were very much out of fashion,” Newman told the Cut. “They don’t slavishly follow fashion, which is part of their authenticity and appeal. With Nancy Mitford for example, she talks about going to see the war and then going to Dior to be fitted, and how it was different to what she had seen before … It’s like having an oral history of fashion.”

Newman said authors often influenced designers’ collections throughout history, rather than the other way around. She writes in the book’s introduction about the “grace of unfashionability.” Authors like Simone de Beauvoir and George Sand brushed off “fashion” in favor of what felt best to them. Or more bluntly, “Their headspace is somewhere else because they’re literary giants.”

Somewhat ironically, that unfashionability then inspired new generations of designers “really interested in authenticity,” according to Newman, such as Miuccia Prada and Vivienne Westwood.

“When you interview designers and you ask, ‘What’s the inspiration?’ quite often it’ll be ‘I was looking at pictures of Virginia Woolf or Edith Sitwell,’” Newman explained. “They’re the inspiration behind fashion collections because they aren’t looking at fashion from a limited perspective, it’s as a personal expression.”

Click ahead to see Maya Angelou, Oscar Wilde, Sylvia Plath, Zora Neale Hurston, and more, with quotes from Newman on each author’s style.

Legendary Authors and the Clothes They Wore by Terry Newman
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Virginia Woolf "There's a quote from a Vogue editor about how Virginia Woolf was doing a reading and she said, [Woolf] was wearing a wa... Virginia Woolf "There's a quote from a Vogue editor about how Virginia Woolf was doing a reading and she said, [Woolf] was wearing a wastepaper basket on her head. She was wearing this extraordinary hat but who cares? Be interesting, wear the hat." Photo: Getty Images
Zora Neale Hurston  "The fashion styling of Zora Neale Hurston, feminist voice of the Harlem Renaissance, was synonymous with a hat.&qu... Zora Neale Hurston  "The fashion styling of Zora Neale Hurston, feminist voice of the Harlem Renaissance, was synonymous with a hat." Photo: This content is subject to copyright.
Oscar Wilde "His dress sense was an extension of his life flow, and as natural as his ability to entertain at the dinner table." Phot... Oscar Wilde "His dress sense was an extension of his life flow, and as natural as his ability to entertain at the dinner table." Photo: This content is subject to copyright.
Sylvia Plath "The outside is a juxtaposition of the inside because she was desperately trying to hold on.  In that moment in time in th... Sylvia Plath "The outside is a juxtaposition of the inside because she was desperately trying to hold on.  In that moment in time in the '50s — the cherry pie, Doris Day, prim era — we had just come out of a war, people had to have something to hang onto. ... That aspect of the '50s pop culture and fashion was very cheerful and in some respects that’s mirrored by Sylvia Plath’s dress, in my opinion. ...T he Bell Jar was a real insight in the way she used clothes to present this real zippy kid." Photo: Getty Images
Simone de Beauvoir "Simone de Beauvoir has this theory about fashion and clothes were work for women. When you think about that, of course i... Simone de Beauvoir "Simone de Beauvoir has this theory about fashion and clothes were work for women. When you think about that, of course it is. There are very few people who wake up in the morning and can look as glamorous as a catwalk model. ... She was Parisian, so there was an elegance to her natural sort of way. I really love that plain, utility fashion. So I really enjoyed looking at her clothes, quite severe, quite unfancy ... but also with her hair in a chignon and her manicured nails." Photo: This content is subject to copyright.
Samuel Beckett "Samuel Beckett is almost the template for the GQ man: the turtleneck, the wallabees, the quipped hair." Photo: This... Samuel Beckett "Samuel Beckett is almost the template for the GQ man: the turtleneck, the wallabees, the quipped hair." Photo: This content is subject to copyright.
Maya Angelou "Angelou's sense of self always manifested in her wardrobe, and that wardrobe was always elegant." Photo: 2010 Getty Images
Edith Sitwell  "It’s really strange and very ornate. And she forged her own path." Photo: This content is subject to copyright... Edith Sitwell  "It’s really strange and very ornate. And she forged her own path." Photo: This content is subject to copyright.
Jacqueline Susann "Susann wasn't deconstruted in any way: she had energy and zing; she was showbiz incarnate, and she always dressed to impr... Jacqueline Susann "Susann wasn't deconstruted in any way: she had energy and zing; she was showbiz incarnate, and she always dressed to impress." Photo: This content is subject to copyright.
Zadie Smith "Smith has been appropriated by the media as an empowering fashion icon, but in interview after interview she makes no bones abo... Zadie Smith "Smith has been appropriated by the media as an empowering fashion icon, but in interview after interview she makes no bones about her lack of love for a system that can divide and cause disaffection." Photo: 2017 Getty Images
Gertrude Stein  “She bought an Hermès suit with the money she earned from The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, and she also mentored Pie... Gertrude Stein  “She bought an Hermès suit with the money she earned from The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, and she also mentored Pierre Balmain.”  Photo: This content is subject to copyright.
Fran Lebowitz "The suit is often an easy shorthand for a man to throw on, but for these writers it was their signature look. There was a pre... Fran Lebowitz "The suit is often an easy shorthand for a man to throw on, but for these writers it was their signature look. There was a presumption to wearing the suit ... These women, were just being themselves, that was just how they wanted to dress, and there’s a power to it. " Photo: Patrick McMullan
Joan Didion  "What I found with her is she often used clothes as a way into the subject she was writing about ... Clothes are a mundane con... Joan Didion  "What I found with her is she often used clothes as a way into the subject she was writing about ... Clothes are a mundane conduit into extraordinarily emotional moments in time, and that lends a power to what she’s talking about.  Her own style is another thing. She’s sort of slightly been an 'It' girl of every moment she’s been in. In the '60s, '70s, '80s, and obviously Juergen Teller’s campaign for Céline. She’s the perfect look that encapsulates the moment. Maybe she’s not that keen on that, but it’s true." Photo: This content is subject to copyright.
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