Think of your favorite poet. Who comes to mind? Is it the dark and mysterious Edgar Allan Poe? Perhaps sensitive and romantic John Keats? If you’re like me, it’s one female poet that stands out beyond the rest: Emily Dickinson.

Dickinson never had fame during her life. Her poems were published posthumously against her wishes by her sister Lavinia. While I don’t often promote going against a person’s last will, I believe Lavinia did the world a favor. Emily did not pursue a career, in fact, she rarely left the house! Close to her siblings and father, she kept mostly to her family home in Massachusetts until her death in 1886, dedicating her life to solitude, reading great authors such as Keats, the Brownings, and Whitman, and writing poems.

Since Emily wrote for enjoyment and fulfillment, and not for any profit, her work is a rare study in making it whatever she wanted it to be. She doesn’t commit to one style of poetry, one strict form or another. Her work is completely unique, which is why it is remembered so many years after her death.

Let’s dive into some tales of hope, death, and flowers, and take some fashion inspiration from the poetry of Emily Dickinson.

Table of Contents

She’s happy, with a new Content 

Products: Earrings – Chloe and Isabel, Tank – AEO, Skirt – Miss Selfridge, Jacket – Forever 21, Boots – Lulu’s

If you think the titles of these outfits today are a bit strange, it’s because Emily Dickinson never actually named any of her poems, so they are referred to by the first line of the poem. Let’s start our inspiration with this poem, which focuses on the theme of happiness. In this poem, the narrator takes contentment from religion, which Dickinson featured a lot in her poetry.