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’re taking inspiration from another childhood favorite that’s been making the news recently for its impending Netflix adaptation: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events! 

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning cover via Amazon

Table of Contents

Inside Cover

A Series of Unfortunate Events is a children’s mock-gothic book series written by Lemony Snicket (the nom de plume of Daniel Handler). The first book in the series, The Bad Beginning, was published in 1999.

The story follows the three Baudelaire orphans – Violet, the inventor; Klaus, the bookworm; and Sunny, the biter – after they are orphaned by a fire, suspected to be caused by arson, and are sent to live with their strange relative, a distant cousin named Count Olaf. While avoiding the scheming machinations of Olaf to steal their inheritance, the orphans must contend with more and more strange relatives (who usually end up falling prey to their twisted pursuer) as they track down the secrets of their family and who, exactly, killed their parents.

The series totaled up to 13 titles, each containing 13 chapters, up until its final installment, The End, which contained 14, with the final chapter serving as an effective epilogue to the series. The series was known for its many subversions of typical standard book formats, particularly in regards to children’s fiction. For example, one book included a page completely filled with the word “ever,” while another including two pages that were printed completely black.