The Secret Lives of Dresses - McKean

The Secret Lives of Dresses

Erin McKean

Dora is vagueness personified. She is getting a General Studies degree from a small and unnoticed private university, she has a job at a coffee shop working for a man she loves but won't give her the time of day and her personal style can best be described as dingy comfort. When grandmother Mimi takes ill Dora must drop everything to take over at her vintage clothing store, finding herself and a fabulous new wardrobe along the way.

Here's the thing. Erin's a blogger and I have a lot of love for bloggers who are able to take their daily grind and make it into something I can pick up at a closing Boarders (this is not to say that you can't get The Secret Lives of Dresses other places, but I got mine at a Boarders that is presumably now an empty building with a Boarders sign above it.) but I wasn't a huge fan of The Secret Lives of Dresses. I went in expecting A Vintage Affair, the only other slightly chick litty thing I've read in the past year, which I realize was totally my mistake. Dora's indifference makes her hard to understand, and even harder to root for. Truly the beginning of The Secret Lives of Dresses was a fight to see if there were in fact dresses somewhere in this story.

Once I got over how questionable Dora was I really did enjoy the story. Mimi's shop is a beautiful setting and the stories behind her dresses are thought provoking and sweet. It is a perfect place for characters to interact and grow and live. It is even a place where a manly man like Conrad can enter with a cup of coffee without things taking an odd turn. Which brings me to Conrad. Hello Mr. Stereotype of Perfect, we haven't seen each other in a while but it's good to catch up. Conrad's the good guy to Gary's flighty free loving self.  He's funny and charming and makes all the girls swoon in a the way Colin Firths sweater clad self does. Only, he lacks a Colin Firth type characters substance. Which kind of fits in with the rest of the novel.

Over all The Secret Lives of Dresses isn't going to be one of this years favorites, but it was definitely a fun read. Come for the fashion, stay for the cozy love story.

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky 

Chris Greenhalgh

You've all heard of Coco Chanel, the famous fashion designer? Well this is the story of her amorous relationship with the composer Igor Stravinsky. Over the summer of 1913 she puts up the Stravinksy's in her beautiful estate in Grasse and brings an expected level of chaos into their lives.

Having know little of Chanel but her clothes before picking up this gem of a novel I was surprised to learn of her complicated life. After all a bastard  orphan up-starter isn't exactly what I would picture when I pictured Coco but that is exactly how Greenhalgh portrays her. Chanel is the essence of a modern woman, and because of that woman today will relate to her strength and power. Igor is intriguing. He is described as unattractive, but the intensity of which he works on his music is heart warming, and his inner turmoil over his love for his wife Catherine, and Coco is adorable.

This was the perfect end of summer read. Greehalgh has a way of describing places so you  feel your there. And what better place to spend the last days of summer than 1910's Paris? This was a really great read, and while all of the characters were deeply flawed, most were easy to relate to. Not the best book I've read all summer but still fun.

I haven't seen the movie based of the book. Have any of you seen it?