K indeculiar /kin-duh-kyool-yer/ n. an exceptionally eccentric relative Edward St. John Gorey, also called the “Grand- daddy of Goth,” was an American artist and writer whose pen-and-ink drawings take you deep into a part of your imagination that you never knew or may have forgotten. This limerick from the “Listing Attic,” offers a window into Gorey’s eerie world,
“A timid young woman named Jane found parties a terrible pain. With movements uncertain, she’d hide in a curtain and make sounds like a rabbit in pain.” A genius and polymath, he drew his first sketch, The Sausage Train, at 18 months and learned to read 18 months later. His love of literature culmi- nated in a collection of 25,000 books. His academ- ic success led him to pursue a French Literature degree from Harvard. Throughout his career Gorey published roughly 100 of his own books and illustrated 300 for other people. Each book was short; filled with illustrations and minimal text. The often gruesome and morbid stories were rendered in fine pen sketches marked by tiny hashmarks and elaborate detail. His artistic style translated well to the stage, as Edward Gorey’s Dracula was nominated for scenic design and won in costume design at the 1978 Tony Awards. All of his drawings feature Edwardian, Victo- rian, and Jazz Age clothing. He used fashion of those eras to underscore his unsettling stories. The articles of clothing used in this story are from the MaristFashion Archive which houses over 1,000 articles of vintage clothing dating back to the early 19th century.
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FM/AM FASHION MAGAZINE AT MARIST
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