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!

Book Style: Water For Elephants

When I asked my sister-in-law which book was her favorite, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen was the answer. I totally get why this period romantic fiction captured her attention and her heart. Gruen did a fantastic job of  evoking the mysterious glamour of the 1930s as well as the bleakness and desperation of life during the Great Depression. It's always hugely disorienting to me that these images are from the same year (1936) and same country (USA):

I wanted an outfit that I could see Marlena wearing in her downtime but that would also work in a more modern context. Luckily the bohemian glam aesthetic that I envision for an off-duty circus lady (who happens to be married to one of the big shots and is therefore just a little bit privileged and pampered) works very well for a festival worthy outfit. Or, if you're me, standard weekday wear. Some Big Top-esque stripes work well on these cotton trousers. I paired them with a "Marlena" camisole and a decadent kimono-style jacket (trés '30s chic) and "Queenie" flats. Marlena for protagonist Jacob's love interest and Queenie for Kinko/Walter's Jack Russell. I added an elephant cross-body bag because elephants are kind of an important thing in this book, in case the title didn't clue you in at all ;) Those eye catching horse hoop earrings are a nod to Marlena's talent/career and the "Ginger" ring is for poor Camel and all the tainted Jamaican Ginger he drank that left him helpless. The feather necklace is mostly because I like feathers and I can't picture a circus horse and stunt rider without copious amounts of feathers. Finally I added a bandeau style headband in Marlena's signature red satin.