Free-dressing character in a novel
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2022 7:42 pm
I wasn't sure where to put this comment. I've just finished reading "The Left-handed Booksellers of London" by Garth Nix, a fantasy novel published in 2020 but set in an alternate 1983. I was slightly gobsmacked to discover one of the main characters engaged in free-dressing (i.e. wearing clothes from across the aisle but not cross-dressing). He arrives in chapter 1 in a man's suit and boots with two-inch Cuban heels, but by chapter 4 he's in a leather biker's jacket over a blue cotton sundress with Doc Martens, and after spending the more active part of the story in black leather trousers with a frilled white shirt and burgundy waistcoat, he finishes up in a Black Watch kilt and a pale blue shirt with ruffled cuffs. OK, he's written to be a bit of a dandy/fashion poser, but hey!
"Have you changed? Into a woman, I mean."
"No... But I like to wear a nice dress from time to time anyway."
"Have you changed? Into a woman, I mean."
"No... But I like to wear a nice dress from time to time anyway."