Male duds as in clothing.  Why? What were YOU thinking? If it’s colorful, please mention in the comments.

What Color Is your Boa?

Most of you know that last week was the Romance Writers of America national conference, in which Romance authors the world over meet to eat bon-bons, compare our boas, and send our assistants off to do all the work. I drove down to Anaheim with the marvelous Isobel Carr, by the way.
Anyhow, the weekend before the road trip, Isobel, Miranda Neville, and Pam Rosenthal drove up my way so we could have High Tea at Patisserie Angelica.  (OH MY GOD! I am officially a name dropper.) Have I mentioned that Jo Bourne once came to Patisserie Angelica for High Tea? She did. And then she won a RITA. Just saying.

Patisserie Angelica: where all the cool historical romance authors have High Tea.

I’m still working on Jennifer Haymore. I got Grace Burrows as far as Petaluma after RWA. We had an amazing dinner, but the meeting was a bit ad hoc and she had Big Trees to see so the jaunt to Sebastopol was not possible. Not so long ago, Liz Maverick was here and now her life is sparkly. Our very own Risky Megan has been here.

Sonoma County:  Where all the cool writers come to visit. Or live. (I am not kidding.)

 
If you’re ever in Sonoma County, hit me up and I will show you the awesome.

Right. So, Isobel Carr, on the pre-RWA trip to Sebastopol, was telling me all about this book about male fashion that was super cheap for some reason she couldn’t fathom. Isobel Carr is, as many of you probably know, something of a history of fashion expert, so when she identifies a great reference book, it’s wise to listen up.

Since I had my iPad handy I immediately went in search of the book, found it after a bit of trouble with the spelling of the author’s last name and saw it was indeed available for $5.00.

Dear Readers, I bought it.

My Book Has Come In

Today, the book arrived. It had to come all the way from Canada. I think a dog sled was involved. The Male Image, Men’s Fashion from 1300-1970 by Penelope Byrde. It’s hardback and in excellent condition since it has a library binding. And guess what??? This is so low tech I’m giddy.

It’s an old fashioned Library Book!
Look! The pink thing comes out.

I can’t wait to go through it looking for pictures of men in high boots (definitely not male duds!) or gentlemen in tights and that dead sexy frac. Also, I see there is a lengthy section on the history of the neckcloth.

Also, I can’t wait for publishers to get their acts together and start doing books like this in color.