From Fiction to Fashion Statement: YA Books Spawn New Fashion Trends

Teen interest in fashion is at an all-time high, and it's hard to pin down 'what's hot' and 'what's not' from month to month. It's helpful, of course, to look to the usual magazines, and to shows like Project Runway, but that's only scratching the surface. The role models teens look to for their fashion trends are not only found inside glossies, but also in the pages of books!

Go into the Young Adult section of the bookstore and you'll be bombarded by any number of titles centering on the fashion world (Catwalk, Airhead, Violet on the Runway), as well as characters that are notorious fashionistas (Clique, Poseur, and of course It Girl and Gossip Girl). The super-hip authors name-drop brands, describe clothes in painstaking detail, and lo, a trend is born.

This is most obvious with Gossip Girl, a book series that spawned an extremely popular CW show, turning the fashion seen on the pages into fashion seen on the small screen. As the New York Times observed, the show has spawned a huge number of fansites devoted just to the fashion of the show. Devotees watch, take notes, and then retailers watch the sales numbers spike after Serena Van Der Woodsen is shown with a hobo bag.

YA novels influence fashion trends in less overt ways. As The Telegraph's Natasha Cowan notes, in the UK the signature round, wire-frame glasses that Harry Potter wears have been flying off the shelves. Signature items like that have become increasingly popular with the publication of Twilight; Walmart started promoting Twilight jewelry in March of 2009. This is by no means a new trend: hardcore fans of the Lord of the Rings have long been able to order expensive "Rings of Power" from places such as the Skymall catalog. But never before have book-related fashion items been met with such a huge and eager audience! Only the geekiest of kids in high school owned the "one ring to rule them all;" now gaggles of girls crowd around each other in the lunchroom comparing their latest Twilight paraphernalia. Are you Team Edward, or Team Jacob? Get a t-shirt from Hot Topic or Nordstrom, and let the world know! Doubtlessly there will be innumerable such shirts at the premier of New Moon in November.

And with Halloween just around the corner, it's difficult to ignore the most obvious parallel of all: dressing up as a character from your favorite book. How many teens will log onto twilightbeauty.com and pick up a canister of Body Glow to get that vampiric 'dazzling marble skin' look has yet to be seen, but numbers will probably be pretty high. And then, of course, there are the redheaded Anne of Green Gables and Pippi Longstockings, the round-rimmed Harry Potters, the green-and-silver-wearing Slytherins, and innumerable other characters from the well-worn pages of today's YA books.

 

Follow Regina Brooks on Twitter: www.twitter.com/serendipitylit

Comments

[docMom12]

Thanks for that great article Regina, I always assumed Teen magazines (such as Seventeen), movies and TV influenced the fashion trends for YA.... but most importantly....I am just really happy to know that YA are reading........

[Marcia Mayne]

Very interesting connection. Thanks, Regina!

[blindvision]

This article reminds me of the constant work parents have in shaping the images children have of themselves. With overwhelming media outlets, it's no longer enough to just deprive them of TV during the week. Books, which once allowed youth to create images in their heads, now force those images to the forefront with their stated versions of perfection. Not a big issue, except that impressionable youth can derive their self worth from their image as measured by an ever-changing fashion industry. And if their hooked when their young, the industry has a potentially rabid customer for life, who's worth will always be defined by what's hot and what's not..yikes.
Yes I know this article focused on the more innocent affects of YA books an fashion, but I just couldn't help myself.:-)

[C Elliott F]

It's great to know that teens are doing independent reading. Hopefully, this will set the stage for them to one day determine fads and styles as oppose to being enticed by them.

[KatStar]

Insightful article, interesting content! I'll be curious to see more teen lit fashions hitting the market this season!

[hybrid769]

Regina, what a great reality check. As I read your article I thought about how books expand imagination beyond words, but forgot how that imagination gives way to fashion and style. I never would have made that connection. Great work! Thanks for the insight.

[Serendipity A]

That is an interesting point. It certainly makes Halloween more interesting and diverse to see young kids dress up as their favorite book characters.

[ekgref]

It's really interesting to see how fashion-aware teens and YA books are these days! The bookshelves at the store definitely do reflect it.

[ElizabethHarper]

Great article Regina. One thing I am becoming more aware of is the impact a book can have on fashion. Recently, someone pointed out that one of my bracelet designs "Shapeshifter" would go down well with Twilight fans. I had no idea Vampires were so hip! Your article has given me additional food for thought. Thank you!

[La Mariposa]

Regina, this would have never occurred to me. Good to know, and a useful tool to inspire our YA's who are interested in fashion for reasons beyond personal style.

[Gil Robertson]

Wow! I never knew the connection between YA novels and the fashion industry. Great read and extremely informative.

[Todd S]

Teens do love fashion. Too bad they generally don't feel the same way about physics.

[donlafferty]

Good stuff, Regina. Being a father of three daughters, I learned a long time ago that I was never going to get the female focus on fashion, and while I agree that looks and clothes should be kept in their proper perspective, it's mostly just good fun.

[Margena A Christian]

I think it's fabulous that YA novels have found a way to engage teens. It's almost as if these types of books have started a movement of their own! Pretty informative read.

[LisaTener]

I'm working on a middle grade novel, but reading this post made me think I need to understand my modern day audience better than I do, even if the book is set in the past. Is this a trend in middle grade fiction, as well, Regina?