The Secret Lives of Dresses - by Erin McKean (Paperback)

About the Book

After the grandmother who raised her suffers a stroke, Dora rushes back home to North Carolina and finds herself running her grandmother's vintage clothing store. Dora can trade her boring clothes for vintage glamor, but can she trade her boring life for one she actually wants?

Book Synopsis

When her grandmother has a stroke, Dora returns to the small town where she grew up to take over her family's vintage clothing store -- and meets a handsome contractor. Is he interested in Dora? Or is he working from a different blueprint?
Dora has always taken the path of least resistance. She went to the college that offered her a scholarship, majoring in "vagueness studies," and wears whatever shows the least dirt. She falls into a job at the college coffee shop and has a crush on her flirty boss, Gary.

But just when she's about to test Gary's feelings, Mimi, the grandmother who raised her, suffers a stroke. Dora rushes back to Forsyth, NC, and finds herself running her grandmother's vintage clothing store while her grandmother recovers -- andmeets Mimi's adorable contractor, Conrad.
The store has always been a fixture in Dora's life; though she grew up more of a jeans-and-sweatshirt kind of girl, before she even knew how to write, Mimi taught her that a vintage 1920s dress could lift a woman's spirit. But why has Mimi started writing down -- and giving away -- stories of the dresses in her shop?

Amidst personal and professional turmoil, can Dora can trade her boring clothes for vintage glamour and her boring life for one she actually wants?

Review Quotes

"A sweet tale, stylishly told: THE SECRET LIVES OF DRESSES is a find!" --Lauren Lipton, author of MATING RITUALS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN WASP

"McKean adroitly combines a warm small-town sensibility with a sophisticatedly modern sense of humor. As well-constructed and appealing as the vintage dresses it describes, this novel is a pure delight." -Claire LaZebnik, author of IF YOU LIVED HERE, YOU'D BE HOME NOW and KNITTING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

"Pleasantly effervescent debut." -Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Erin McKean is the blogger behind A Dress A Day, the inspiration for this novel. Her writing has been featured in many media outlets from The New York Times Magazine to Foreign Affairs. She currently works as the editor of VERBATIM, and was previously at OUP.