I was recently sent a copy of Hadley Freeman's The Meaning of Sunglasses
The answer, of course, is "quite a bit". Hadley's voice is wry and quite often exasperated and she doesn't take either herself or the fashion industry too seriously. We also agree on the core issues, e.g., dresses:
A good dress will never make you feel fat, it can be worn with flats or heels, and everybody can find a style that suits them—absolutely none of these statements can be applied to trousers with 100 percent certainty.
and shoes:
The brilliant thing about the sudden and surprising emergence of the thick heel—aside from the fact that, after 2000 years, shoemakers seem to have come to grips with the idea of weight distribution—is that it doesn't look like you're trying so hard to be sexy, and this, in itself, is sexier.
Of course, there is much that Ms Freeman and I disagree on: she's very down on orange coats (my favorite coat of the fall was traffic-cone orange); she's not a fan of Liberty ("Liberty prints have a kitsch appeal and so can only be worn in measured doses"), and neither does she like cardigans ("it is a rare woman who gets too excited about buying just one cardigan, never mind four or five" — I must be a rare woman, then …). Wacky eyeglasses also come in for a little bit of finger-wagging. But her tone is such that I know if I met her in a bar wearing my orange coat, a cotton cardigan over my riotous Liberty-print dress, with bright-blue eyeglasses, she'd roll with it, and we'd have a great time.
Another plus: I laughed out loud several times, especially at this bit about Karl (He-Must-Be-Stopped) Lagerfeld: "Now he looks like a psychotic sixteenth-century German courtier, just as he'd intended."
Ideally, this is a book that a close girlfriend would give you as a gift, with the funnier parts called out with little post-it tags. At $24.95, it's just slightly too expensive (and the content slightly too lightweight) to really justify as a fashion-library addition. Also, if you read it straight through (as I did), some of it has the feel of reworked newspaper columns (Ms Freeman writes for the Guardian), with some repeated phrases and jokes. In fact, while you're waiting for someone to give you this book, I recommend subscribing to her RSS feed.
As for the sunglasses … you'll have to read the book to find out exactly what they mean. This is a spoiler-free zone, people!
A Dress A Day 
ooh I didn’t know she wrote a book. She’s the only one of the Guardian Weekend correspondents I actually give a toss about, and I wish she’d just punch that stupid Jess Cartner Morely and her “every position I stand in makes me think I look fat so I’ll stand this exact same way every single week because I think I look cute, teehee” pose and take over the fashion desk completely.There, I feel better now.Anyway, book, yes.
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Regarding Herr Lagerfeld, I got a kick out of the Homer Simpson as Karl drawing in Vogue last July.
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Ha! I think if I saw someone with bright blue glasses and an orange coat over a cardigan and a liberty print dress I’d go up to her and say, “Are you Erin?” BTW, your Liberty link the other day made me remember that I HAD to buy some of that Tana Lawn that has the knitting on it. Not enough for a dress, of course – I’m on a v. strict budget – but enough for a very simple blouse. I’ll just have to save for some matching yarn, so I can knit a coordinated cardigan…
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went to her blog: She’s cute, and how old? 12?O.K. she’s good with words, but her distinctly Brit POV makes the dislike of cardigans/Liberty prints/orange coats invalid here in the states.Your off the hook and on with the cardies,mini-prints and citrus colored Jackie coats as only us Yanks can do.
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Another plus: I laughed out loud several times, especially at this bit about Karl (He-Must-Be-Stopped) Lagerfeld: “Now he looks like a psychotic sixteenth-century German courtier, just as he’d intended.”hahahahaThat is priceless…
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I love Hadley! I’m so excited to hear she has a book out. Every Monday in the Guardian G2, she answers readers’ fashion questions – it’s pricelessAlso, I think she’s American…
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Ha! Karl Lagerfeld! There was a GREAT article about His Wackiness a while back in the New Yorker, it was so fascinating and funny. I think he might be half-robot–he’s actually quoted saying something to the effect of, “I don’t have any human emotions”. What a gem.
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Yep, Hadley’s American. And whilst her Guardian column on monday (and Charlie Brookers too!) makes my day, I can’t fathom why she would be down on cardigans… the cardy is a British institution, goddamn it! I have (conservative estimate) ten of the things- an outfit is not complete (or warm) without a cardy!
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I *love* cardigans and have half a dozen. And I get very excited over them. But I suppose that’s the fun thing about fashion–agreeing to disagree on what *you* think are universal truths.Gotta love her take on trousers, tho.
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I, too, am a rare woman, as I adore cardigans and have about 20 (can’t do a proper count at the moment) in wool, cotton, silk and rayon. Along with silk scarves, hats and funky Mary Jane shoes, they are my signature wardrobe items.
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Well booksellers have sales. I am putting this on my wish list.(I also love cardigans)
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oo gosh I hope having half a dozen pair of sunglasses doesn’t make me some kind of weidnik. 🙂
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you have a wonderful site!
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