Book Style: Poisonwood Bible

Since my husband has finally started reading some of my favorites, those books that I've been begging him to pick up so that I could share all of my feels with him, I have realized that I've never Book Styled many of them. Like the Hitchhiker's Guide one I did last, I think it's because the covers don't easily lend themselves to being styled. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver is a perfect example, I look at all that beige and panic. But my love for this book runs deep. I've never really liked any of Kingsolver's other works, yet I read and reread The Poisonwood Bible at least every couple of years. It speaks to my soul, often in new ways, at each reading. 

I wanted a Congolese/African feel to the outfit and thankfully crop tops and flowy skirts evoke the right imagery without being too appropriative of African culture (a fine line, I know). I started with this "Leah" one-shouldered crop top; Leah being my favorite character, and it's only partially because that's my middle name. Next a "Leah" skirt - honestly, it was just a lot easier to find Leah stuff than Rachel, Adah or Ruth Ann! The shoes are "Congo" sandals from the Brother Vellies x Madewell collaboration. And they're made in Kenya! The "Anatole Bonbon" bag is for Leah's love interest/Nathan's foil.. A crocodile leather cuff for one of Nathan's largest (and most obvious) failures at understanding the local people, a "Mamba" ring and necklace for Ruth Ann's tragic demise, a pair of parrot earrings for the wonderfully crass Methuselah, and a "Modern Primitive" ear cuff from Rachel Entwistle for Rachel and for the Prices' initial assumption about the nature of the villagers of Kilanga take care of the jewelry. Toss on an "Out of Africa" silk scarf and you're set. 

If you've never read The Poisonwood Bible, I swear it is phenomenal. It deals with cultural misunderstandings, the dangers of hindering your own progress through pride, family issues, interracial issues, and is a great jumping point for digging into African colonialism and Congolese history. 

Book Style: Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

I'm a pretty big, large, massive, gigantic, (do you get the picture yet?) fan of all things Douglas Adams/Hitchhikers Guide. So you may wonder why it's taken me so long to create a Book Style for the books. I really don't know, to be honest. In all fairness, the covers of the individual books are a little hard to work with. Even this The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which includes all five of the novels, gave me some palette conundrums. I also kept overdoing the space theme in all my previous efforts and ended up with something that only a really bad extra in a really campy '70s sci-fi film would wear. Nothing felt like it captured the spirit of the Guide. Nothing until now, that is. I kind of, in all my humble honesty, feel like I nailed it this time. 

It's important to remember that while set in space, the world of the Guide begins (at least) in the late '70s early '80s. A large chunk of Adams' aesthetic influence came from that era, so I decided to embrace it. This outfit may not be my most wearable creation for most people, but if you're into to whole '80s revival, classic hip-hop, retro roller derby thing, I think you'll dig it as much as I do! Let's start with some base layers - a "Petunia" thong (for the very important bowl of petunias) and some "Galaxy" tights. Next we have some Dolphin shorts (for the dolphins! duh!  - also dolphin shorts are a style of short, I swear), a rocket-embroidered top, and "Demolition Derby" jacket (for the demolition of Earth). A pair of retro-style high top sneakers anchors the outfit and were absolutely necessary to mimic the look of The Heart of Gold, which is sneaker shaped in the novels unlike the orb shaped one in the 2005 film. 

A terry cloth (for your towel!) purse has ample room for your Guide, and any sandwich making tools you may carry with you. I added a digital watch, because, according to Adams, humanity is a bit obsessed with them. A "Don't Panic" necklace (rather comforting words), a whale ring (not sure it's a sperm whale, but close enough), a "42" cuff (the ultimate answer), and some mouse earrings (sneaky little hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings projecting into our universe) complete the jewelry. Top everything off with this sparkling "Across the Universe" nail lacquer and head off to The Restaurant at the End of the Universe!