How To Dress Like Donna Tartt
How To Dress Like Your Novel is a series in which we explore what Creative Director Raquel calls “the pursuit of literary aesthetic coordination.” In this edition, we turn away from the novel and, instead, towards the iconic writer herself who has produced novels of our generation. Culture Editor Eliza Campbell investigates Donna Tartt’s signature style, the fashion she has inspired, and shares how you can master it too.
Eliza Campbell, fully suited and draped across a London Women's Club sofa just as Tartt herself would approve.
“When you look at the relatively few pictures of her over the decades you can’t help but think ‘of course…of course this is the woman who wrote The Goldfinch.’ ”
Kate Sylvester Fall/Winter 2015. Runway photos via Pinterest.
Donna Tartt is, without a doubt, a legendary literary figure. She is notoriously secretive and yet has commanded an impressive cult following since 1992 with the release of The Secret History. In the rare interviews she gives, she is dazzlingly intelligent, bright-eyed, and terribly keen to give her exact thoughts on her own writing. I’ve loved Donna Tartt ever since I was sucked into the black hole of The Secret History in my mid-teens. What I’ve noticed recently is that I absolutely adore her style and how it’s progressed overtime. When you look at the relatively few pictures of her over the decades you can’t help but think ‘of course…of course this is the woman who wrote The Goldfinch.’
Donna Tartt is a fashion icon in her own right, her writing even inspiring a frankly gorgeous collection titled Tartt by fashion designer Kate Sylvester in the Fall/Winter season of 2015. The collection exquisitely captures the best descriptions of her characters’ styles and mixes them with elements the writer herself probably keeps lining the walls of her no doubt impeccable wardrobe. It’s filled with long scarves, adapted cricket whites, and little pops of colour. The whole collection looks like a trust fund scholar woke up wearing last night’s clothes and grabbed the first layer they could find from their perfectly selected wardrobe on the way to Greek composition.
“There’s a certain coolness that comes from her style choices that echoes in her novels.”
Tartt is clearly a fan of masculine style. In many of her interviews and press events for The Goldfinch in 2013 she’s wearing a suit with a pinstripe shirt and bright tie underneath. On other occasions she wears open-collar white shirts, blazers, large overcoats. There’s a certain coolness that comes from her style choices that echoes in her novels. In fact, you could say that she writes how she dresses: with precision, detail, and a sense that she knows exactly who she is. It’s academic, it’s detail-orientated, and relatively eccentric.
Image via Harper's Bazaar.
Image via Independent.
As autumn thrives and winter approaches, many of us may be tucking away the softness and femininity of our summer wardrobes and opting for more structure and androgyny in our clothing for the colder months. The best way to do this is with coats and blazers.
When looking around for Tarttian influence, look for structure and clean lines in the pieces you pick up. I’d also advise looking for dark, cool colours like black, navy blue, or grey. & Other Stories have this beautiful double breasted black coat and for a longer, more dramatic coat you might want to take a look at this Lucy & Yak recycled wool tailored coat.
The same goes for blazers in terms of structure. Look for sharpness in the tailoring. I like this Uniqlo soft tweed jacket and this & Other Stories oversized blazer (it has a little seashell button!)
If you’re a more adventurous shopper, any menswear section can provide stark options as well, or try digging for vintage suits at your local charity shop. Pair with minimal pieces already in your wardrobe — button downs, dark loafers, smooth hair, and a look in your eye that says you have absolutely no interest in what journalists think of your film.
I hope this has inspired you to dress more like the woman behind the books that so many of us love. Before I leave you, here are two outfits that I’ve put together from my own wardrobe that I think have a Tarttian vibe.
For more on the elusive icon, read Eliza and Rachel Tay's discussion of Donna Tartt's works here!
Eliza Campbell is Culture Editor of the Attic on Eighth. When she’s not reading, writing, or in a rehearsal room, she loves to sit in galleries, libraries, and coffee shops listening to period drama soundtracks and watching the world go by.
In our latest look at The Attic’s personal wardrobes, we visit the favorite cold weather prints, patterns, and cozy textiles that break us free of the hum drum dark days of the season.