Authors in Long Dresses
The Real Story Behind Why I Do What I Do!
Long dresses are having a moment and I am here for all of it. Long dresses (and skirts) were my brand throughout my childhood, teenage years and a portion of my young adulthood, depending on how you define that timeline. I (famously in some circles) wore a long, flowered Laura Ashley dress, with puffy sleeves, which are also having a moment BTW, to my Bat Mitzvah in 1986. Did I envy all the other 13-year-old girls who wore drop waisted taffeta dresses with rhinestones on them? Yes I did.
I wore long prairie skirts in high school — to actual school. They worked with my straw school bag, penny loafers without socks and turtlenecks. I adored long dresses and skirts back then, and I while I stopped wearing them for a good two decades, my love for them never waned. I was and still am quite comfortable in them, and I am told by those in the fashion know that I can pull them off because I am tall.
This past year was my moment to shine in them, and I had a plethora of opportunities to do so. I am an author. I have a lot of author friends. I go to a lot of author-y events. These events present the perfect opportunities to wear long dresses. I mean what says let’s talk about crafting story, characters and dialogue more than a group of grown woman in long (often printed) dresses?!
Several years ago at one of these author-y, book(ish) events (and this was before long dresses were having a moment) I was wearing a short(!!) gray turtleneck dress with tights and boots. An author friend of mine (wearing black pants and a sweater at that event) told me that I should considering promoting other writers’ work because she told me I was good at promoting my own work and most writers aren’t. Something clicked.
My husband has on many occasions given me some version of this advice, and he gets paid to tell big companies what to do. I suppose I should listen to him when he makes these suggestions to me — for free. I love telling friends (and strangers!) about other people’s work. I so enjoy connecting people to each other and also making recommendations about what they should be reading, seeing, doing, writing and the like.
When I first read Malcom Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, I strongly identified as a connector and a little bit as a maven. I draw energy from engaging with people IRL as they say. And in recent months, I have realized that getting together with such people provides me with excellent opportunities to wear long dresses/skirts.
And so over the course of the last four years, after the publication of my last book, I started to promote other writers’ work professionally. I started an online baking show where I interviewed authors while baking along with them. I love baking too and my cookies may in fact be more famous than my long Laura Ashley Bat Mitzvah dress.
I also created and co-host a podcast where I interview interesting and introspective people about meaningful items from their lives. More recently I started interviewing authors as their books come out at my local bookstore and ancillary locations.
Writing books is a solitary practice. It’s just me and my laptop behind a closed door in my office or in a quiet corner of a coffee shop. No one cares if I am wearing a long dress, long skirt, jeans or leggings. I like so many things about the writing process — putting my thoughts down on paper, telling a story, figuring out the arc, and I love when a good ending comes together. I was running at a pretty good clip when it came to writing books as I was able to crank out a new book every three years.
It has been four years since my last book came out into the world, and I do not have a new book planned for anytime soon. I have written pages and pages of several different manuscripts but they don’t seem to be going anywhere. I find myself going nowhere literally and figuratively wearing leggings in my office with no great endings in sight.
I find myself instead spending most of my time doing what my husband and author friend (who I now call my work wife) suggested I should do. I am promoting other writers’ work. I am in conversation on various platforms and in real life with people I could talk to forever all day long. And the best part, I am doing a lot of this in long dresses (sometimes skirts!)
I am at a crossroads. Do I try to finish one of these manuscripts alone in my office in my leggings or jeans? And by the way. I am still wearing skinny jeans as I have not embraced the mom jeans, which I seriously can’t believe are having a moment. Or do I go all in on the in conversation author events, the interviews, the promoting other people’s work (in long dresses AND skirts!)
I suppose time will tell. The weather is getting cooler here in the Northeast this fall and the long dresses are still keeping me warm and quite content, as is the work I do in them.
I am thrilled to tell you that I will be in conversation with Maureen Petrosky, author of Wine Club on Wednesday October 25th at 6pm at The Newtown Bookshop (note new location!) This is going to be a super fun event and we will do a wine and dessert pairing. Register for this free event at link here. And yes, I will be wearing a long dress or skirt (obviously!)
Check out my most recent episodes of Life’s Accessories, The Podcast.
A Ring Reminiscent of Childhood: Author Brenda Janowitz and the Special Gift From Her Grandmother
A Journey of a Thousand Miles and Dr. Matthew Kulka's Seriously Simple Wrist Reminder
A Conversation Piece Like No Other: Barri Leiner's Sand-Charm Necklace
Just love this!