Book Week and dressing up wasn’t a thing when I was at school. Even now, it’s not common in New Zealand. I can only remember one instance of my children dressing up for Book Week.
When my son was about eight, her persuaded us to buy him a three-piece suit to wear to a family wedding. He later wore the suit to school for Book Week—he was James Bond. I have to admire his choice.
If I was going to pick a character to dress up for during Book Week—and if money was no object— I’d choose to dress as Caroline Delacroix, heroine of A Gilded Lady by Elizabeth Camden. Caroline is secretary to Ida McKinley, First Lady of the United States, a role that requires a lot of fancy, expensive gowns to attend fancy, expensive functions.
But Caroline’s beautiful dresses were nothing in comparison to the $8,000 gown Ida McKinley wore for the inauguration ball:
Cream satin, embroidered with silver thread, and lavishly embellished with crystals and pearls … the gown was fit for a queen and tailored to perfection.
I couldn’t spent $8,000 on a single gown now, let alone in 1901 or whenever McKinley was President. But I still enjoy looking at pretty things, and we’re talking imagination and fantasy … I wish I’d been able to see the gown or even find a picture.
