A well developed story line. Very nice, clean story that kept my interest. Refreshing in the idea of a woman in those days running a successful business .

Really loved this book!

It’s original, fresh and fun!

I really like how strong the heroine is in this story. The plot moves quickly and keeps the reader engaged.

A heartwarming story that hits all the marks, check this one out.

Lady Duff Gordon was a famous fashion designer in the early 20th century. She was also a Titanic survivor. A Dress of Violet Taffeta begins with Lucy being abandoned by her husband. In order to support herself and her daughter, Lucy makes dresses for wealthy women. This leads to her becoming a celebrated designer. The novel also tells the story of her marriage to her second husband and her harrowing tale of survival on the ill-fated Titanic.

Before reading A Dress of Violet Taffeta, I knew very little about Lady Duff Gordon. However, I found her to be a fascinating heroine. Lucy is not only a very strong woman, but she is also a clever entrepreneur. She uses her passions for clothes to pursue her own career. Therefore, I really admire Lady Duff Gordon’s ability to innovate and be able to become successful. I also like her relationship with her maid, Celia. They had a true friendship and she played a major role in Lucy’s success. Thus, Lucy was a very compelling heroine, and I was glued to my seat to see how the novel ended.

Overall, A Dress of Violet Taffeta is about friendship, dreams, and survival. The message of this novel is to never give up and to pursue your passions. I found all the characters to be very complex and developed. Some of the things I did not like about this book were that I thought Celia’s narration often detracted from Lucy’s story. There were also some slow parts in the story that I thought were unnecessary. Still, there is a lot of glitz and glamor that will keep you captivated. A Dress of Violet Taffeta is full of drama and reads like a soap opera. It is also rich in historical detail and is very lyrical. This novel is a must read for fashion enthusiasts. I recommend this novel for fans of By Her Own Design, Mademoiselle Chanel, and The It Girls!

I have been enjoying historical fiction just so much lately. And this book was the cherry on top! 

Lucy Duff Gordon is abandoned by her wealthy husband. Again. Only this time he doesn't come back. At a time when divorce was not socially as acceptable, she does it anyway. 

On top of that, she becomes a dressmaker--and not just any dresses. She makes beautiful dresses that wealthy ladies salivate over. The kind of dresses dreams are made of. 

This story was based upon the real-life story of of Lady Duff Gordon, who was a true gem of her time.

Filled with vivid imagery of the beautiful designs, a peek into what life was like for women in the early 20th century, and one of my favorite parts--Lucy finds love after being abandoned. 

This book captivated me from page one. I loved it! I loved being transported and shown Lucy's dresses in a way that only a skilled author could accomplish with words.

This has so many of the elements I am looking for in a historical fiction book.
Based on true events the author has done plenty of research and made this a fascinating read.
Lucy Duff Gordon married a man who couldn't be faithful and had a drinking problem. Despite her mother's objections she divorced him, which caused whisperings and a scandal, but she didn't care. Left with a young daughter to support she had to do something and put to use her sewing skills she had developed since childhood. She shakes up the world of design in what had been a male dominated world of haute couture. I loved reading about the cut, style, and design of the dresses. I just imagine feeling the lushness of the fabrics and the weight of it in my hands. Such lovely designs. She is a real trailblazer not only as a fashion designer but as a woman going above and beyond what was expected of a woman. In her mind failure was not an option. This is a woman to be admired.

Pub Date 05 Jul 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

I have struggled to get into historical fiction lately. I think I am just not in the mood but I did find Lucy Duff Gordon’s story interesting. I had read about her before- from the Titanic disaster on though so reading about what brought her there and her relationship with Cosmo was interesting.

I think Lucy is an interesting lady and if someone is looking for a historical story with true to life characters and a strong female lead- this could definitely be the ticket.

I appreciated the opportunity to check this one out! Thank you NetGalley and Berkley!

Okay so I am primarily a romance reader, so while this book has some romance in it, it is definitely not my normal go to kind of book.

That being said, wow, I am so glad I did!

I haven't been hooked like this in a long time. I was up until 3 am two nights in a row reading to see what would happen (and knowing the titanic was looming large).

I also learnt a lot about fashion of the late victoria and early edwardian periods. It feels like the author did a LOT of research and was very passionate about it.

This was an interesting read on the life of fashion designer Lucile Duff Gordon. She was courageous to file for divorce from her first husband who was an alcoholic and unfaithful to her. She started her own business at a time in history when well to-do ladies did not divorce their husbands nor worked for a living.

I liked this novel but did not love it. The best part of the novel was how Lucile came up with her initial creations, The dress descriptions were beautiful. Lucy was not only creative, but also innovative as she was the first woman to stage a runway show of her spring collection. Truly remarkable what she accomplished.

First Initial Thoughts

We start the book with Lucy having a conversation with her mom stating that her husband, James has left her. Already widowed twice, she is ready to try to make it on her own. She also has a 5-year-old daughter to support. Lucy has an eye for design and as a reader, you can tell that immediately from the start. She can immediately look at someone and know what exact colors, shapes, and designs would look best on them. That is a true talent!

Lucy had to let go of all the servants in the household but kept on her scullery maid, Celia. Celia is a young girl who has nowhere to go and hopes that Lucy will keep her on by doing more than just washing pans. She is also skilled at sewing garments. When Lucy suggests that they partner up by creating gowns for ladies, Celia is thrilled to work her talents.

In the beginning, the book is focused on Lucy and her dress-making business. And I do have to say it does start off slow but it kicks up a few pages in.

Setting

This book is set during the Gilded Age and Tessa definitely made the reader feel like you were living in that era right alongside the characters. It was all about status and wealth and you got a sense of that right from the start. I also kind of relate it to the hustle culture of today - who can make the most profit and who can we become friends with to get us there?

Final Thoughts

Lucy was definitely talented. When she first debuted her designs, people were instantly enamored by her skills. I was kind of sad that Lucy really didn’t mention Celia and her talents when creating these art pieces for her clients. But that was the time, and often seamstresses were just there to do the work.

Lucy also was having such a great life, building a business and finding love again with Cosmo Duff Gordon. He was such a gentleman. He supported her in all the decisions she wanted to make. Though they still had their ups and downs in their marriage and I liked that Tessa wrote this in. I like it when authors are realistic about relationships, especially at the beginning. Then the unthinkable happened. She boarded the Titanic and we all know what happened with that ship. However, she did survive (this is recorded history so real no spoilers there).

We also get to know Celia more and her life before she partnered with Lucy. We really get a view of two complete different worlds - the poor and the wealthy. In the Gilded Age it was really apparent of who was wealthy because of the excess. In the poor neighborhoods - not so much. So it was interesting to read from both sides.

Overall, I was really impressed with this novel. Lucy had such grit and determination. She was willing to do hard work and become a self-made woman. She was not afraid to work in a male-dominated society and make herself known. Not only was she successful in the UK but also in America despite a scandal among the Titanic and its sinking.

Would I Recommend It?

Yes! Those that are interested in Fashion and the early days of couture will thoroughly enjoy this inspiring book. Please note that there are mentions of harassment and assault in the book.

This is a wonderful story about a woman who uses tenacity and ingenuity to reinvent herself and her prospects when the world hands her a rotten egg.

Lady Duff Gordon sees light, color and fabric like very few people. She can see how the folds will drape over a woman's body, how the light will catch on her hair and reflect brilliantly in her eyes because of what she is wearing. When her wastrel husband leaves her with a pile of debt and a family to support, she decides to turn her innate skill into a means of support. There's a huge obstacle, though, to her success. The world of fashion design is dominated by men, even though the seamstresses they employ carry the industry.

So her business begins innocuously. She decides she will make fashion available to working women and the wives of industrialists and bankers, the nouveau riche as well as the aristocracy. Her business campaign works, and she builds a fashion empire. But this business owner never forgets to uplift and supprt other women, to give them the credit for her success.

The story of this extraordinary woman had me enthralled. It's a deep dive into the double standards of Victorian misogyny, class difference and the rise of the middle class. It's an examination of ambition and commitment as tools for improving an impossible situation.

Highly recommended for readers of historical fiction who've enjoyed the books of Fiona Davis, Marie Benedict and Philippa Gregory.

A huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

After so long, I have read a historical fiction that too based on a true story. This is story of famous fashion designer Lady Lucy Duff Gordon and was

This was beautifully written and I enjoyed knowing how incredibly talented and accomplished Lucy was. How she fought back and took control over her destiny. I loved how she talked about her dresses with such a feeling that you can't help but imagine yourself in that.

This was slow paced and her journey talked about survival, life struggle, second chances and coming out strong to what life throws our way. Lucy showed how vision can be brought to reality. At times it felt a bit dragged otherwise everything was good. The part of Titanic was heartbreaking.

The author's notes and details were worth reading. I appreciate the effort that went into writing this book. I am glad to be approved for e-arc.

Overall I would recommend this one.

A Dress of Violet Taffeta is a great historical fiction book set in the late 19th century, through to the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. The main character, Lucy, has been abandoned by her drunk husband and she is seeking a divorce. However, now she must find a way to support herself and her young daughter. So Lucy takes her dress making skills to create a dress designing/creating business.

I really enjoyed this book. I did think that the Titanic plotline would occur much earlier in the book/play a larger role than it did, but it was still good. Some parts of the book dragged a bit, but I was very invested in characters and their well-beings.

What a wonderful book; it is engaging, fascinating and compelling reading, with a brilliant strong female lead, it has drama, emotion and tragedy a true story of a woman who goes above and beyond to make it. An inspiring read, one for all fans of historicals with strong women at the helm.

This is based on the true story of Lucy Duff Gordon, icon of La Belle Epoque, now I have to be honest and say I had never heard of Lucy, but then i am not one to follow fashion so I came into this book knowing zilch aboout her but the more I read this book I wanted to know more about hetr. She didn't have the easieest of lives, she was a woman living in a age which wasn't too kind on free-thinking, indipentad and creative women who used their brains, so i was fascinated by her story, and then add int the fact that ahs survived the tragedy that was te Titanic and I was even more interested in her. She was an incedible woman, strong, resilient ans defiant. No matter what is thrown at her she faces it dignity and grit determination.

I thoroughky enyed this book, the writng is intensly satysing, easy to read and comleeling and I will certainly be readign moe from the author. This really grabsyour attentions, it's a thought-ful, evocotive, atmosphearic and mesmersing account of a wonderful woman.

Thank you #netgalley for this #giftedebook. This book is a testament to the women in history who worked so diligently to break barriers in a man's world. A fabulous rags to riches story, but not just in the financial sense. As our protagonist grows into herself, she learns to value and trust love and friendship as well. An inspiration and an especially captivating novel if you are interested in fashion!

Fashion history can be a tough subject to base a piece of fiction on. We know the hallmarks and signatures of designers like Lucile so well, and it is easy to see if the author has done their research. Arlen has done more than her fair share of research with this book. She has brought Lucile’s life alive again, and done it with no small amount of skill.

Although her first and second marriages are obviously featured in the book, I loved that Arlen focused on Lucile’s career and relationships with women, particularly her assistant and friend, Celia. Having several chapters from Celia’s POV not only gives us insight into their relationship and business, it also helped to flesh out this Edwardian world for me. Given that she was essentially invisible in her own world, she is able to see many things that Lucile would not have been able to, and it is crucial for world-building.

I will admit, I went into this book having an idea of how the sinking of the Titanic would be written but I was happily surprised. “Seeing” the ship and the events from Lucile’s perspective brought it into a new light for me.

An amazingly scrumptious read with a strong female lead.

I really loved this book. Tessa Arlen has an incredibly easy writing voice and her way with words paint a wonderful tale. The story of Lucy Duff-Gordon really came to life and made me want to know more about the real life fashion designer.

Arlen's story is wonderful. I fell in love with Lucy and was amazed by her strength in a time when women didn't always have the means to make a living for themselves. She built a fashion dynasty with her own two hands, survived the Titanic and dictated her own life after her first husband left her.

This was a great read from beginning to end.

I seem to be reading a lot of books with a focus on fashion lately. A Dress of Violet Taffeta by Tessa Arlen took me on a wonderful trip through women’s fashion for society’s elite at the turn of the nineteenth century.
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However, while taking that trip, I saw a woman make a great, independent life for herself and daughter after her husband left her, at a time when women, especially divorced women, were not generally accepted in society. I experienced the sinking of the Titanic, the Gilded Age in New York, and learned a lot about Lucy Duff Gordon, a fashion icon who’s life and work inspired this novel.
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The dresses, characters, and setting were all so beautifully described, I ached to try on the dresses, drink tea with the fashion house workers, and attend the elite balls with the Upper Crust of 1900’s London.
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I really enjoyed this book. I was fully immersed and wanted Lucille to succeed so much. I can certainly see why this is a part of #BerkleyWritesStrongWomen because these characters are indomitable.
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After a disastrous first marriage, Lucy Wallace must find a way to support her young daughter and disapproving mother. With a talent for designing dresses and an unskilled but willing scullery maid, along with the social assistance of her sister, novelist Elinor Glyn, Lucy begins what will become her lifetime’s work. Success finds Lucy as she builds the Lucile fashion design house and becomes Lady Duff-Gordon after finding love with an understanding and patient man.

While a dry wikipedia entry may provide the highs and lows of her life, in this biographical work of fiction Tessa Arlen tells a story of the living, breathing, loving, and suffering of one woman's eventful life. From Lucy’s visions of fabric and color, to her innovations such as the first use of live mannequins (models), to the devastation of accusations after she and Cosmo Duff-Gordon survive the sinking of the Titanic, in A Dress of Violet Taffeta Tessa Arlen has crafted a compelling portrait of Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon, imagining the emotional side of her work and relationships.

Recommended for fans of fashion design, fictional biography, historical fiction, and a well told story.

This review refers to a temporary digital galley I voluntarily read via NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. A positive review was not required and all opinions expressed are my own.

I love good historical fiction. There’s something about the genre that is captivating in a way that other genres can’t be. I guess it’s this feeling of echoes, maybe voices from the past whispering to us. When I read historical fiction, I can at least access the feelings I get by traveling to far off places, like the Royal Mile, where you can feel the steps other have taken.

Add in fashion and the titanic to those feelings, I was hooked. And OMG the fashion was fantastical. I have no use for a tea gown but now I want one. Lucy is a great lead character bc she trusts herself and her own instincts above what others think. I hope I can one day prioritize my thoughts and feelings this way. It’s honestly life goals. Lucy’s courage throughout her life is truly remarkable.

Even the sequence from the titanic was harrowing though I knew exactly what would happen and how. Thanks to Titanic the movie I had a visual going for each event and that was both helpful and heartbreaking.

Even this beautiful cover had my eyes popping before I opened a page.

A Dress of Violet Taffeta is a story about survival and a woman rising up in a time that was intent on keeping women down. For some reason, it really resonated with how I’m feeling right now as a woman in the United States.

Conclusion
Beautiful characters, beautiful book, beautiful message. 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏

I have to say that Tessa Arlen has been an author that I have enjoyed in different ways over the years. I started reading her earlier books years ago which were mostly historical mysteries. Later on I discovered her new heroines and historical fiction series as well and later on a standalone historical fiction novel. Some times, some authors are better at writing mysteries while others thrieve with general historical fiction. Arlen is wonderful at all of them! I have loved many of her books for different reasons as they are always well written and researched.

This book was a no brainer! First I featured an excerpt for a tour of the book, but I knew this would be one that I would absolutely read, sadly the tour timeline didn’t line up with my own reading calendar so I had to just do a feature for the tour but immediately started reading the book as soon as I read the excerpt! It sounded so good and plus—that COVER! I am so in love with the cover! It’s stunning and a wonderful historical fiction read.

One of the reasons that I was so drawn to this book (besides the author and cover) was the time period. I love Edwardian era books so much and often they are few and far between with authors favoring either the Victorian era or WWI. The Edwardian era is such a weird time period with authors often just lightly touching on it and then moving on into WWI, but with Arlen I knew that I would get a well researched and well written accounting of my favorite historical period! And I was not disappointed!

Summary
A sumptuous novel based on the fascinating true story of Belle Epoque icon Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon, a woman determined to shatter the boundaries of the fashion world and support herself and her young daughter with her magnificent designs.

Lucy Duff Gordon knows she is talented. She sees color, light, fabric, and texture in ways few other people do. But is the world ready for her? A world dominated by men who would try to control her and use her art for their own gain?

After being deserted by her wealthy husband, Lucy is desperate to survive. She turns to her one true talent to make a living. As a little girl, the dresses she made for her dolls were the envy of her group of playmates. Now, she uses her courageous innovations in Belle Époque fashion to support her own little girl. Lucile knows it is an uphill battle, and a single woman is not supposed to succeed on her own, but she refuses to give up. She will claim her place in the fashion world; failure simply is not an option.

Then, on a frigid night in 1912, Lucy’s life changes once more, when she becomes one of 706 people to survive the sinking of the Titanic. She could never have imagined the effects the disaster would have on her career, her marriage to her second husband, and her legacy. But no matter what life throws at her, Lucile will live on as a trailblazing and fearless fashion icon, never letting go of what she worked so hard to earn. This is her story. (Summary from Goodreads)

Review
Before I read this book I had no idea who Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon was. Essentially I was a blank slate when it came to the main character of this novel and I found that the more I read her as a character, the more I wanted to know about her. I often found myself distracted from the book and down a Wikipedia rabit hole looking for more info about this interesting main character. That’s not to say that book was ‘boring’ just because I was distracted—on the contrary I was so interested in the main character that I wanted to know all the things about her! You cannot help but fall in love with Lucy. Her husband leaves her with a young daughter to raise and ultimately she is divorced from her first husband—practically unheard of in that time!She was also one of the survivors of the Titanic and the whole time I was thinking ‘I need to know everything about this woman!”. She instantly captured me heart and imagination. I felt positively transported by this book thanks to her character, not to mention the historical details!

Arlen knows her history. But with this book she really highlights the fashion of the time period in addition to capturing the details of the time period. I love fashion and Edwardian era fashion was elegant and for women, complex. I can’t imagine wearing a dress that was so hard to get on that I needed a lady’s maid to help me! But then again I wear mostly gym clothes so there’s that! At any rate, I couldn’t help but be interested in the dresses and the designes of the time and I loved how Arlen let the fashion industry take the lead in some ways throughout the novel.

This book is full of history and intereting characters and plot. But it doesn’t read like a history book. It isn’t full of boring and cold facts but rather it’s full of vibrant and interesting details and a thrilling story of perseverance, emotion, and charm. The prose is elegant and as you are reading you feel like you are reading something just as elegant and polished as one of Lucy’s designs. I absolutely loved this book and cannot tell you how much I recommend it. I knew it was going to be great but it ended up not just being great but exceptional! I adored my time with the characters and story and was sorry to see it end. Historical fiction fans, this is the book you have been waiting for this summer! Add this one to your TBR immediately!

Book Info and Rating
Paperback, 352 pages

Published July 5th 2022 by Berkley Books

ISBN 0593436857 (ISBN13: 9780593436851)

Free review copy provided by publisher, Berkley Books, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and in no way influenced.

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: historical fiction