And why not? They’re fun!

Well okay, that’s on the level of prescription, not description.

For my part, I distinguish between formal events (things like the Hugo awards) and everything else. In the “everything else” camp … well, I just make sure I’m reasonably clean, have shaved where appropriate, and am wearing clean clothes. Typically jeans and a t-shirt (both black), and maybe a good quality jacket that raises the tone a bit if it’s an upmarket venue.

Formal stuff gives me a headache: I have a major necktie aversion and will go a long way out of my way to avoid the things. As for the kilt at the Hugo ceremony, that was on a bet (and besides, as a hirsute resident of Scotland, I’m allowed)!

And on that note, I have one strong recommendation for male writers: unless you live in Scotland or hang out in certain bars, don’t do the kilt thing. Real kilts are (a) extremely hot (think Scottish winters) and (b) cost considerably more than a tux.

Don’t crush your teenage readers: Us old fogies can go hang.

2. Or try black shirts with Chinese dragon patterns: looks cool, and people will assume you know kung-fu.

3. Avoid bandanas in any form, especially in L.A. — they could be fatally misinterpreted as gang signs!

SF authors should be surrounded by a shiny silver cloud of nanites which sinuously ebb and flow around them, anticipating their movements via swarm intelligence.

Weird Fiction authors should be enveloped by some kind of coruscating, spiny beast-entity. Depending on how dark the fiction is, the beast may be vegetative with tendrils intertwining the hair, reptillian, or decayed and smoking. How much of you the beast-entity should cover/envelop is a matter of personal taste and season. For New Weird or urban weird fiction authors, the beast-entity may be wearing a leather jacket.

Splatterpunk authors should be wearing leather or flannel, drenched in blood and with cunningly arranged bits of brain and spinal cord.

Literary authors must smoke a pipe and wear a tweed jacket with leather pads on the elbows. Their hair should be clean, but inexpertly combed.

Erotica authors may wear sparkles, silk pajamas, or ball gag and O-rings, depending on subgenre.

you know, i can’t imagine jack k. or bukowski or alasdair gray or angela carter or a truckload of other writers even caring about this issue or spending any time on it at all.

jv

Goes excellently with flats. Can be casual with a nice Tshirt or quite fancy with a cool jacket or blouse. Just as comfortable as jeans, and travels like a dream.

Why have we devolved to such extreme casualness? I don’t support it.

JeffV

But, ya know what, I’ve done readings in jeans and t-shirt and sometimes dressed it up with a blazer. And sometimes I’ve done a reading in shorts. And sometimes in a suit. As long as I don’t smell and my clothes aren’t dirty, who the hell cares?

JeffV

Case solved! Mission accomplished!

I totally agree, by the way, about how gorgeous Holly Black and Meg Cabot look at their appearances. Something most excellently yummy to aspire to!

Jeans can be casual, or semi-dressy, or dressy depending on what you pair it with. I read your post on shoes, so put on a nice dressy pair of flats. Doesn’t matter if you think the shoe is ‘too dressy’ .. no such thing lol. You could actually wear like, a fitted t-shirt and then put a nice fitted blazer-like jacket on over it. (There are lots of tweed ones that look really nice, but not so sure about this tweed phenomenon (sp?) but try it out. See what you like) Don’t know what it is, but ‘fitted’ things make you look ‘put together’, or so they say.

That sort of outfit, is pretty much a casual dressy staple for work, events or anything of the sort where you need a happy medium between black-tie swanky event, and just a day off doing whatever.

Also like victoria said black, or charcoal trousers, or tailored pants are good. Their great too because you can pair it with a more casual top. As for a lined skirt … I wear em but not real big on em lol All depends on what you like. They look fabulous but I have been anti girl-dress since I was about six.

Being a jeans person who can’t wear them to work, I’m big on comfy trousers and sweaters or button down blouses that are designed not to be tucked in.

PS. You rock!

For more formal than jeans but not Dressy, it’s hard to go wrong with a pair of charcoal-colored trousers, or navy, or dark brown if you hate grey. Or an A-line skirt, likewise. You can then add on your funky pieces, and it will balance out. Black is great, but a lot of people wear black, and it kind of blends into the background after a while. I guess the trick for looking fashionable is to find something that doesn’t look standard business-y in cut, and that suits you…I’m starting to sound like a fashion magazine! Which is really weird, considering what I’m wearing right now.