I’ve been fascinated by the world of fashion for more than a decade. Back in 2012, a serious bike accident left me incapacitated for the best part of six months. By the time I recovered from my injuries, a chance encounter with a Russian dressmaker would change everything; I decided to learn how to sew. I sat in front of my sewing machine, made my own clothes, and expanded into making dresses for my friends. Since I’ve always enjoyed reading gritty mysteries, it was only natural for me to incorporate my art into my writing. Cold Dresses was born out of a passion for fashion and dark thrillers.
Some dresses should never be touched. For years, they have haunted Chloe Westfield: ghostly visions in silk, restless whispers she tries to forget and put behind her. But the girl in the teal dress is different. Her tragic fate pulls Chloe back to idyllic Heavendale, a picturesque lakeside town where her estranged mother is now dedicated to dressmaking. It seems that many women are employed as dressmakers in her tiny hometown. Yet behind the innocent façade lies a much darker purpose, something sinister rooted in the women’s enigmatic leader.
As secrets from the past resurface, Chloe finds herself with only one choice: solve the mystery behind the teal dress before she becomes its next victim . . .
Okay, let’s start with stats: I love the story so much that I’ve read the book twice and watched the movie adaptation three times (Kate Winslet is wonderful, as always.) This will forever remain my first foray into “haute couture noir.”
Tilly is one of those characters that speaks to me: a gifted dressmaker with a troubled past. Her beautiful dresses not only arouse competition and envy but also cause old resentments to surface. As for Tilly herself, her mind is soon set on a darker design: sweet revenge on those who wronged her.
The writing is lush, and the novel is viciously funny.
A darkly satirical novel of love, revenge, and 1950s haute couture—now a major motion picture starring Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth, and Hugo Weaving
After twenty years spent mastering the art of dressmaking at couture houses in Paris, Tilly Dunnage returns to the small Australian town she was banished from as a child. She plans only to check on her ailing mother and leave. But Tilly decides to stay, and though she is still an outcast, her lush, exquisite dresses prove irresistible to the prim women of Dungatar. Through her fashion business, her friendship with Sergeant Farrat—the town’s only…
It’s been a while since I have read a book that I not only didn’t want to put down, but I wanted to speed through!
Ah, to be a young art student in Berlin in 2008 (or probably not!) It has it all: love triangles, murder mysteries, doppelgängers, crazy parties, and a lot of paranoia against a backdrop of the art of fashion.
Twisted and ingeniously plotted, it got me hooked until the very last word.
'Full of delicious layers . . . I felt drunk reading it.' Emma Jane Unsworth
Intoxicating, compulsive and blackly funny, Other People's Clothes is the thrilling debut novel from Berlin-based American artist Calla Henkel.2009. Berlin. Two art students arrive from New York, both desperate for the city to solve their problems. Zoe is grieving for her high school best friend, murdered months before in her hometown in Florida. Hailey is rich, obsessed with the exploits of Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears and wants to be a Warholian legend. Together they rent a once-magnificent apartment from eccentric crime writer Beatrice…
Yes, (almost) everyone has watched the movie. Sure, Meryl Streep was perfect for the role, but the book gives a whole different meaning to “The Boss from Hell.” The plot is more realistic too, in my opinion, and the world of fashion crueller and more difficult compared to the one described in the movie.
Saying that, there are many hilarious moments, too. Fun, fabulous, and, at times, slightly disturbing...
High fashion, low cunning - and the boss from hell
When Andrea first sets foot in the plush Manhattan offices of Runway she knows nothing. She's never heard of the world's most fashionable magazine, or its feared and fawned-over editor, Miranda Priestly - her new boss.
A year later, she knows altogether too much:
That it's a sacking offence to wear anything lower than a three-inch heel to work.
That you can charge cars, manicures, anything at all to the Runway account, but you must never, ever, leave your desk, or let Miranda's coffee get cold.
It's literally Dexter meets The Devil Wears Prada. It’s a slasher novel set in the cut-throat world that is the fashion industry (get my drift?) Yes, there’s blood galore and the bodies quickly start piling up!
The story is told entirely from the perspective of the main character (Anya), who is equally unhinged yet fascinating, friendly yet psychotic.
It’s diabolical, vicious, and darkly funny. I read it in just two days and had to literally force myself to put it down to go to sleep!
A darkly thrilling take on the fashion world - and soon to be a major television series on E! - #FashionVictim is Heathers meets The Devil Wears Prada.
Fashion editor Anya St. Clair is on the verge of greatness. Her wardrobe is to die for. Her social media is killer. And her career path is littered with the bodies of anyone who got in her way. She’s worked hard to get where she is, but she doesn’t have everything.
Not like Sarah Taft. Anya’s obsession sits one desk away. Beautiful, stylish, and rich, she was born to be a fashion…
It has a great plot and wonderful scenery and is definitely not as ‘twisted’ as the other four on the list. Saying that I had to mention it because the writing is so beautifully descriptive, and the mystery about the "eight dresses" got me hooked until the very end.
Set in 1950s Paris and London in 2017, the novel is as gorgeous as the exquisite dresses and an absolutely worthwhile read.
The secret is hidden within a collection of Dior dresses...
London, 2017. There’s no one Lucille adores more than her grandmother. So when her beloved Granny Sylvie asks for Lucille’s assistance with a small matter, she’s happy to help. The next thing she knows, Lucille is on a train to Paris, tasked with retrieving a priceless Dior dress. But not everything is as it seems, and what Lucille finds in a small Parisian apartment will have her scouring the city for answers to a question that could change her entire life.
Paris, 1952. Postwar France is full of glamour and…
In 1662, a man is wrongly executed for signing the death warrant of Charles I. Awaiting execution, he asks to speak with a priest, to whom he declares a curse on the village that betrayed him. The priest responds with a counter-curse, leaving just one option to nullify it.
Over four centuries later, Faith and James move to the country to start a new life and a family. They discover their village lives under the curse uttered by the hanged man. Could their arrival be connected? They fear their choice of new home is no coincidence. Unexplained events hint at threats or warnings to leave. They become convinced the village remains cursed despite their friends’ denials. Who can they trust, and who are potential enemies?
In 1660, a man is wrongly executed for signing the death warrant of Charles I. While awaiting execution, he asks to speak with a priest, to whom he declares a curse on the village that betrayed him. The priest responds with a counter-curse, leaving just one option to nullify it. Over four centuries later, Faith and James move to the country to start a new life and a family. They learn that their village lives under the curse uttered by the hanged man. Could their arrival be connected? Faith and James fear that their choice of a new home is…
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