The blog is back–and looking back…



My lovely regular readers have noticed that the blog has been on something of a sabbaticalI was busy with an unrelated project – but I  always knew Clothes in Books would return. The long tradition of my doing Xmas scenes from books at this time of the year was the final push, and they will start up this week.

There will also be some catching up to do –  books I really want to write about in between the Xmas entries.




And first up is a reminder of my original inspiration for the Clothes in Books blog.

That was the wedding of Louisa in one of my all-time favourite books, Nancy Mitford’s The Pursuit of Love (endless posts on the blog, but this is the wedding one).
Louisa was married in the spring. Her wedding dress, of tulle frills and sprays of orange blossom, was short to the knee and had a train, as was the hideous fashion then. [Her sister] Jassy got very worked up about it.

‘So unsuitable.’
‘Why, Jassy?’
‘To be buried in, I mean. Women are always buried in their wedding dresses aren’t they? Think of your poor old dead legs sticking out.’

I always had a very clear picture of that wedding dress, and ‘Your poor old dead legs’ is a phrase that will never  not make me laugh. And I thought how nice it would be to find a picture of Louisa’s dress. And I thought of Harriet Vane’s wedding troubles, and Jane Eyre’s. And other people, who loved the same books as me, surely would like to see what those various outfits might look like. And now -  there has been nearly eight years of blogging, getting on for 2,100 entries (and nearly that many books), and close to 2-million pageviews.

Thanks to everyone who turned out to share my love of Clothes in Books – you are a splendid gang of people, and I hope you will continue to enjoy the entries. I don’t think I will ever run out of clothes scenes to write about – and I love that so many of my readers have suggested their favourites to me. Bring them on!

I also want to express my delight that my other great love - crime fiction - turned out to be a wonderful parallel strand on the blog, and that the official nicest people in the world are, jointly: book fans, clothes fans, crime fiction fans and writers. (There is obviously a lot of overlap.)


And now we have:


The Marriage of Mary Russell  

by Laurie R King

short story from Mary Russell’s War – published as a collection in 2016, stories from several years before this






Even if I’d had until July, I’d have regarded the traditional white satin wedding dress with floor-length veil as an absurdity, suitable for those wed in a cathedral with scores of family and a phalanx of uniformed groomsmen to hand. I did not even wish eggshell silk, since wearing it would instantly bring me into contact with engine grease, fresh blood, or a pool of quicksand. Surely something on this vast bed would serve my purpose? The eau-de-Nil sheath and the black-and-white frock with the dropped waist were both more suited to an afternoon tea than a midnight wedding. The brown-and-scarlet was beautiful, but those colours were a very long way from the traditional. And if I were to take Holmes’s caveat seriously (should I?), the magnificent ice-blue evening gown, the burnt-orange frock with the snug skirt, and the green lacy piece with the uneven hemline and train would each render brisk flight impossible. There was one piece with a lot of beads that I liked, but if silence was required in addition to speed, I’d have to strip it off and flee in my camiknickers. Which left the grey-blue wool skirt-and-jacket with the Kashmiri embroidery along the front. With a white silk blouse underneath and its matching hat, I would be both presentable and capable of an all-out sprint. I even had a dark overcoat, in the event of rain or skulking in the shadows. I wondered what the fashion pages might say regarding a throwing knife strapped somewhere about the bride’s person. Better than a revolver in the handbag, I decided, and told Mrs Quimby that I would have three eggs for my breakfast, and a lot of toast.

comments: A reader drew my attention to this on social media a while back, interested in Mary’s choice of wedding gear. It is a tremendous passage, and very typical of Laurie R King and her heroine – sumptuous descriptions of lovely clothes, before a puritanical decision to wear something simpler. Several Mary Russell books have featured on the blog before now.

In this story, we see the actual wedding of Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. This is how King introduces the story:
The second Russell Memoir, A Monstrous Regiment of Women, ends with a momentous decision: Russell and Holmes will marry. When the third Memoir starts up (A Letter of Mary), years have passed and the rough edges have worn off – but this story is set at the very beginning. Here, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes embark upon the riskiest adventure of their partnership: their wedding.
So off we go on midnight escapades, breathtaking challenges and bravery etc. Nice to finally find out how she did it.

I was very pleased with the picture above from the NYPL – an outfit from 1920. It is not wool, but I think the general look is very much what is being described here.



So what should Mary have been wearing? This is a picture of wedding in Australia in 1922, which probably gives a fair picture of the times. It’s from the State Library of New South Wales.















Comments

  1. Oh, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you back, Moira! So excited! I look forward to what you have to offer. Thanks for starting the blog up again.

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    1. Thank you so much Margot, it was lovely to see your name popping up, always the most loyal of friends.

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  2. Welcome back!
    I refuse to accept Holmes married and if he was so foolish and malevolent as to do so, the question would be which spouse killed the other first.

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    1. Nice to hear from you, and you made me laugh...

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  3. So very glad to see you back. I have kept a watchful eye for your return. And December is a very good time for it.

    Nancy Mitford's book is a good one to come back with. I have a copy of The Pursuit of Love to read in 2020. I was just planning to read Wolf Hall soon (because Glen wants to watch the series) and I thought of you. I wonder if that means I have to read the second book too.

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    1. Tracy, I think you will want to read Bring up the Bodies once you have read Wolf Hall! and the third book in the trilogy will be out in March, I have the date in my diary, it will be one of the events of the year for me.
      And I think you will like Pursuit of Love too- thought it has such a venerable place in my personal pantheon of books that I can't be sure what anyone else will think of it! But I hope you won't be disappointed.

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  4. Moira: It is a happy day to see the blog's return.

    I found Mary's discussion of her wedding dress poignant. She is an intently practical person but I think weddings should not be practical. She was almost wistful in describing the lovely celebratory clothes she would not be wearing. Even the phlegmatic Holmes would have appreciated a beautiful gown. I regret she felt compelled to wear a form of business suit. I am sure she got good wear out of it.

    I looked up while writing this comment and saw the photo of my paternal grandparents wedding in South Dakota in 1907. My grandmother is wearing a lovely gown with some flowers in her hair attached to the veil flowing down her back.

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    1. Well I agree with you Bill (and thanks for the kind words). A wedding need not be flouncy or expensive, but it does NOT need to be practical, there should be some magic and excitement in the clothes. Mary should have dressed up and had a change of clothes in a bag!

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  5. So glad you're back! The Pursuit of Love is the icing on the cake. Goodness knows how many times I've read it and I still laugh, every time.

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    1. Exactly - the book is always a comfort, always an entertainment, and always amusing. One of my best books of all time. Like you, I cannot count how many times I have read it.

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  6. So glad you're back, I was worried.

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    1. Thank you - I am fine, just got too busy with something else. But been realizing how much I missed writing about books and finding nice quotations and clothes, which will give me renewed enthusiasm now.

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  7. Oh, how I've missed you!

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    1. Oh thank you for the kind words, it is so nice for me to hear.

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  8. I'm so glad you're back - you have been sorely missed! I still haven't read Nancy Mitford, although I keep meaning to, but I do like the Mary Russell books. When I first heard of them I thought the whole concept was a recipe for disaster, but Laurie King manages to pull it off somehow. Wedding dresses are always fascinating, both in books and life.

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    1. I was very dubious about Mary Russell, but was won over by King's style - she is a very clever writer. I'm sure you will love the Nancy Mitford. And thanks for kind words.

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  9. I was going to email you personally this week! As everyone has said already: missed and very glad you're back. Hope the other project is working out or has worked out well.

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    1. Thanks for the kind words, that's so nice to hear. I feel I am back among friends...

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  10. Welcome back! I've always rather liked the wedding in Margaret Atwood's Lady Oracle - Joan, our heroine (if you can call her that) wears a white cotton dress with nylon daisies on it (from a Bargain Floor cheapness is the order of the day).

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    1. I answered this last week, but it obviously didn't appear! I occasionally get heartfelt messages saying people weren't able to post comments, and now I know how they feel - I am always sympathetic and disappointed myself that they can't, but naturally don't know what to do about it.
      Anyway, last week I said thanks for the kind words, and I read that book years ago and must read it again, sounds like a great Cib moment.

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  11. tempusfugit here in Canada, I didn't know how addicted I was to the blog until your pause. Anyway, as everyone has said already: your were sorely missed and I'm very glad you're back. Hope the other project is working out or has worked out well.

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    1. Ah thank you, messages like this mean a lot to me. It has been so lovely to think that people actually welcomed me back! it's not like starting again. When people say horrible things about the online world I do think about the sheer niceness and kindness we find in some corners.,

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