Book-Inspired Fashion: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Fashion inspiration can be found anywhere, and books are incredible sources for style innovation. Book-Inspired Fashion explores these treasure troves, and brings them them to you in looks inspired by vibrant characters, far away lands, brilliantly woven plot lines, and more.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen several horror movies and they got me thinking about the appeal (read: fear) of multiple or split personalities within a single person. Being a literature nerd, I immediately thought of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for this week’s book fashion article because while not quite figures of horror, the characters embody all the creepiness and mystery of the split personalities motif.
Believe it or not, Jekyll and Hyde make great sources of literary fashion inspiration, whether your personality veers toward one or the other (or both).
Table of Contents
Reading Between the Lines
Robert Louis Stevenson, who also wrote the equally well-known Treasure Island, published The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886. The novella is among the most beloved and influential works of Gothic literature, and its titular characters are two of the most referenced and recognized fictional characters in Anglophone literature.
Dr. Jekyll is the upstanding gentleman that is, by all appearances, a decent, respectable man. Mr. Hyde, on the other hand, seems to be the complete opposite, and is recognized by friends of Dr. Jekyll to have an evil aura about him as he lurks around the city. The big twist, of course, is that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, despite their contrasting stature and appearance, reside in the same space and body. In fact, Dr. Jekyll reveals that Mr. Hyde is the embodiment of his own evil thoughts and vices, although it only becomes an issue once he is unable to control his transformations.
