Last Sunday I had the great pleasure of attending the Jane Austen Society of North America North Texas Region's Annual Spring Tea in the French Room at the Adolfus Hotel in downtown Dallas. (Thank you, Ashley Kath-Bilsky!) The speaker was a Regency period re-enactor named Brian Cushing who gives a wonderful talk called Undressing Mr. Darcy. Here's a little video clip to give you an idea.
I was absolutely fascinated by Brian's talk, and I will never again read a Regency novel in quite the same light. Clothes do indeed make the man, and Brian took us through the Regency gentleman's wardrobe literally from the top (hat, although they weren't called top hats quite yet) down. I learned, among many other things, that the Regency gentleman's long linen shirt (they reached to just above the knee) served as a one-piece undergarment. I'll let your imagination take it from there...
I've also been watching (last person on earth here) the adaptation of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander, and have been riveted by the men's clothing. I mean, really, how can you top a Highlander in full kilted plaid? (Speaking of undergarments, ahem...)
All this started me thinking about how I dress the characters in my books. I do pay a good deal of attention to what my characters wear, and each of my main characters has a very specific style. Gemma, for instance, avoids the stereo-typical female detective's suit at all costs. She wears greens and browns and russets, and never black, unless it's to a funeral. Melody Talbot, on the other hand, does wear suits, but they are very expensively tailored--part vanity, part armor--and if you see Melody in ragged jeans and an old t-shirt, you know something is up. (Melody, with her dark hair and fair skin, looks terrific in black.)
Doug Cullen's wardrobe I imagine as what I call nerdy/preppy. He's never without his wire-rimmed glasses, and while he does care about his appearance, he will, if focused on a problem, put on whatever is closest to hand. And yes, he has a cardigan or two, and they are slightly ratty...
Which brings us to Duncan. Duncan pays attention to his clothes, as befits a detective superintendent. But no pin-stripes, ever! His suits are well tailored, usually in blues and grays (not black!), and he shops in the menswear department of House of Fraser, just down Victoria Street from New Scotland Yard. On a splurge he might buy a Crombie suit--for obvious reasons I am partial. But I never see him in a waistcoat, and I always like him best in casual clothes--button-down shirt, an Arran pullover, or his scuffed leather jacket.
All this may seem silly, but it helps me (and, I hope, the reader) to visualize my characters. Even more importantly, what my fictional people wear reveals much about their personalities and backgrounds.
Which brings us to the big question, the one I had never considered until I contemplated Mr. Darcy's one-piece undergarment--does Duncan wear boxers or briefs?
Maybe we'll find out in #17...
Readers, do you pay attention to fictional character's clothes?
