Alison Lurie: The day I threw away fashion

Alison Lurie, Pulitzer-winning novelist, will be inaugurated as NYS Author on 9/20 at Page Hall. A scholar of fashion and avid clothes shopper, Lurie tells The Guardian about abandoning fashion at the age of 60 when fashion abandoned her.

The day I threw away fashion

When she hit 60 Alison Lurie realised that fashion no longer spoke to her. So she got rid of half her wardrobe, stopped colouring her hair, gave up wearing makeup - and felt euphoric

 

Soon after I reached 60 I was abandoned by Vogue magazine and all its clones. Like former lovers who drop you slowly and politely because they once cared for you, they gradually stopped speaking to me. Without intending it I had permanently alienated them, simply by becoming old. From their point of view, I was now a hopeless case. They were not going to show me any more pictures of clothes I might look good in, or give me useful advice about makeup or hair.   More.

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Alison Lurie on the Language of Fashion

"My clothes are making a statement and that statement might be making you feel uncomfortable," Lurie said after she appeared on stage wearing a head scarf and a raincoat. "The unconsciously learned rules of fashion tell you to try to interpret why I am wearing this costume and to make sense of it." (From the Cornell Chronicle, July 1997).

In addition to being a Pulitzer-winning novelist and a scholar of childrens literature, Alison Lurie, our new New York State Author is a recognized authority on the meaning and symbolism of clothing.

You are cordially invited to attend Lurie's inauguration at Page Hall on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 8PM. Head scarf and raincoat optional.

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