Fashion Inspired by Howl’s Moving Castle
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.
This week, we picked something a little light and fun to brighten up the frosty gloom of the current weather systems hitting the US. We’re searching through the pages of a classic young adult high fantasy novel – Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle:
Howl’s Moving Castle cover via Amazon
Table of Contents
Inside Cover
Howl’s Moving Castle is a well-known high fantasy novel written by British author Diana Wynne Jones, and was first published in 1986.
The novel follows the story of Sophie Hatter, eldest of three siblings, and thus most likely to fail should she and her younger sisters set out to seek their fortunes. After a chance encounter with a witch in her hat shop, Sophie is transformed into an old woman, and in her journey to find a reversal for the curse, she finds a cantankerous fire demon named Calcifer, an eager apprentice named Micheal, an intimidating hopping scarecrow, a dog that’s not quite who he seems, and, of course, the titular Wizard Howl.
The novel was not necessarily an immediate success, but grew to earn the Phoenix award twenty years later from the Children’s Literature Association for its strong rise from a relative lack of popularity. It has since spawned two accompanying novels, called Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways, and found renewed popularity through its 2004 movie adaptation.
A Fashionable Literacy
Movie poster via IMDB
Howl’s Moving Castle was adapted into a feature film in 2004 by the acclaimed animation studio, Studio Ghibli, helmed by director Hayao Miyazaki. The visually stunning and impressive film actually broke box office records in Japan, and even went on to be nominated for an Academy Award in 2006 (after having been released in the US, Britain, and Canada in 2005).
