The "Book Dress"

I've been saying for a long time that I'm going to blog about the "Book Dress" so here it is . . .

I've worn the Book Dress to various events and everyone loves it, including me. I love it because well . . . it's a dress covered in books. But also because it's comfortable and has sparked many conversations. Best of all, I don't have to try to figure out what I'm going to wear to my next author event!

My story starts when I was looking for a dress to wear to Book Expo. I wanted a dress that would start conversations so I searched "book dress" online. I found one and ordered it, but when it arrived the dress didn't fit right and I noticed that while on the bottom half of the dress the books were right side up, on the top half of the dress the books were upside down! Disappointed, I returned it.

Octavia Spencer thinking "What a boring outfit she's wearing."

I continued my search this time for "book material"' thinking that perhaps I would sew a dress. Yeah, like that was ever going to happen. I found something to wear to Book Expo that didn't spark any conversations and I went on my merry way.

Then one day, I was walking through Macy's where I always check out the Tommy Hilfiger section. As I walked closer to the rack I couldn't believe my eyes. There was a BOOK DRESS! It was love at first sight. A shirt dress covered in books! I snatched one off the rack and fell in love with it. It was PERFECT! There was just one problem . . . it wasn't the right size. I immediately went home and searched the Macy's website and found one at another location. I rushed out the next morning and purchased it. So there you have it. Where did I get the dress? At Macy's.

Where can you buy the dress now? Maybe on eBay for three times the price I paid for it. At the last author event I attended everyone had their phones out searching for it online. Save yourself the time. They will tell you, they had no success.



I was so excited about the dress I called my daughter and described the Book Dress to her. She said, "Great, now you're going on school visits looking like Miss Frizzle." I'll be making her proud by wearing my Book Dress for an event at her school this coming October.

Naomi rockin' the Book Dress

Now, I'm not the only person in the world that owns the Book Dress. Writer Naomi Gruer rocks the Book Dress. She wore it to our New Jersey SCBWI conference and of course it was a big hit.

An employee of the New York Public Library was spotted in the ladies room wearing it and a New Jersey librarian told me she owns it. For those who don't own it and want to, I'm writing a letter to Tommy Hilfiger to request that he rerelease the Book Dress. I'm sure he will listen to me.

I was also asked by a fellow author to email her the fabric code number on the inside label of the dress so she could send it to her friend who works in the garment industry to see if she could get the material. Ummm, okay. I sent it to her but pointed out that Tommy is one smart designer. His name happens to appear on some of the spines of the books.

Hilfiger appears on the spines of some of the books.

The Book Dress was so popular at my last event that I began my presentation with, "For the
record . . . you can no longer buy the Book Dress."

The Book Dress even made an appearance on the television show Bad Teacher. She wore with a bright colored belt. Hmmmm. Maybe I'll mix it up a bit next time I wear it.

To My Dearest Tommy Hilfiger,

I'm writing on behalf of authors, librarians, teachers, and book lovers everywhere. PLEASE rerelease the BOOK DRESS. We will be forever grateful.

Love,