Welcome to the latest edition of Looks from Books, which aims to prove that you can look smart, while still being book-smart, too. Fashion inspiration can be found between the pages of your favorite stories, on well-designed book covers, and in your favorite characters… if you read closely enough.

Everyone’s getting into the Halloween spirit, especially us here at College Fashion! With ideas all around, from how to build a look that’s geek and chic but still unique, or where to shop for quality costumes on a college budget, I’ve been contemplating on how to celebrate the dark and spooky without going too literal… so I turned to one of my all-time horror favorites, Frankenstein, for a jolt of inspiration! 

Frankenstein book cover via Amazon

Table of Contents

Inside Cover

Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus, was written by then-nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley in 1816, and was published in1818.

The classic horror novel details the story of brilliant young scientist Victor Frankenstein and his ambitious undertaking of the creation of life, via the highly unorthodox medium of re-animating dead human parts. However, the monstrous end result of his experiments proves to be too horrifying for him to live with and the creature he creates soon begins to wreak havoc on his life.

The novel created quite the stir upon its debut, and not just because its young author – daughter of notable feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and novelist William Godwin – was carrying on a not-so-secret affair with notable (and married) poet Percy Blyce Shelley when it was originally written.

The elements of the novel – including the practice of galvanism – that took part in the monster’s construction were widely considered as bordering on the occult, and surprised critics when exposed to be the imaginings of a young woman. Despite this, or maybe even because of it, the novel was a best-selling success immediately upon its literary premiere.