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 a break from the summer heat to get lost in our bookshelves with a very vintage “Looks from Books” inspired by Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew mystery series!

The 1966 Cover of Nancy Drew Mystery Stories: The Secret of the Old Clock || via Wikipedia

Table of Contents

Inside Cover

The Nancy Drew Mystery Series are an iconic series of children’s novels published under the pseudonym of Carolyn Keene, beginning in 1930.

The series was actually constructed via an outline-method, with the Stratemeyer Syndicate publishing head Harriet Stratemeyer Adams creating outlines for the novels, while ghostwriters from around the country, including prominent Nancy writer Mildred Wirt Benson, fleshed out the novels themselves, and were paid a blanket sum for the work.

This unusual construction method, coupled with the extensive editing the Nancy Drew series underwent beginning in 1959, as well as the original genesis of Nancy having been in a proposal created by Harriet’s father – and Syndicate founder – Edward Stratemeyer, there is much debate over who actually carries the credit for “creating” Nancy.

The series follows intrepid teenage sleuth Nancy Drew as she solves mysteries, usually in her hometown of River Heights, with the help of her friends Bess and George, not to mention the always-understanding Ned Nickerson. Created to compete with Adams’ other high-selling mystery series, The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew novels soon outsold their competition. To this date, over 80 million copies have been sold worldwide, and the books have been translated into over 45 languages.