A Dress of Violet Taffeta

 

A Dress of Violet Taffeta

Tessa Arlen

Publication date: July 5, 2022 by Berkley Books

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: 3 🍷🍷🍷

Summary: A sumptuous novel based on the fascinating true story of Belle Epoque icon Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon, a woman determined to shatter the boundaries of the fashion world and support herself and her young daughter with her magnificent designs.

Lucy Duff Gordon knows she is talented. She sees color, light, fabric, and texture in ways few other people do. But is the world ready for her? A world dominated by men who would try to control her and use her art for their own gain?

After being deserted by her wealthy husband, Lucy is desperate to survive. She turns to her one true talent to make a living. As a little girl, the dresses she made for her dolls were the envy of her group of playmates. Now, she uses her courageous innovations in Belle Époque fashion to support her own little girl. Lucile knows it is an uphill battle, and a single woman is not supposed to succeed on her own, but she refuses to give up. She will claim her place in the fashion world; failure simply is not an option.

Then, on a frigid night in 1912, Lucy’s life changes once more, when she becomes one of 706 people to survive the sinking of the Titanic. She could never have imagined the effects the disaster would have on her career, her marriage to her second husband, and her legacy. But no matter what life throws at her, Lucile will live on as a trailblazing and fearless fashion icon, never letting go of what she worked so hard to earn. This is her story. 

My thoughts: This is a lovely story about a woman who overcame a scandalous situation as well as a tragedy of epic proportions and succeeded. While the book provided a wonderful account of the life of designer Lucy Wallace, aka Lady Duff Gordon, it lacked for a driving force to propel the read. Although Gordon was not guaranteed success it seemed like she cultivated it with ease. Yes she got divorced, struggled financially, started a business from the ground up, got deathly ill and had to rely on others to keep her business afloat. Those setbacks were not truly highlighted as momentous events, they just happened. Arlen's prose was beautiful to read and was the key factor in moving the story along. It was truly inspiring to read about how Lucy was ahead of her time in design and fashion and how she revolutionized the industry with her ingenious idea of fashion shows. This was a designer that had no place to go but up.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.