A (surprising) Q&A with celebrated writer Susan Orlean

The prize-winning author dishes on fashion as "a performance," her current guilty pleasure, and why she doesn’t believe in old age.

“I’m fascinated by how fashion evolves and changes (which it does constantly!). What body part is the focus now? What is the silhouette that looks modern today? It’s an art form that anyone can participate in, and that’s what makes it so interesting.” - Susan Orlean

When

Susan Orlean

joined Substack recently, I immediately signed up for

Wordy Bird

as one of her paid subscribers in order to “get all the goodies,” as she puts it on her About page. I am such an admirer of her work; she’s been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992 and is the author of nine books, including the best-selling The Orchid Thief and The Library. Because she promised to offer her paying readers “instruction” about writing, I wanted in. I was delighted when she started her first chat thread and responded to my “hello” message. So I screwed up my nerve and asked if she would consider doing a short Q&A with me about fashion and old age. (Susan is 68 but does not consider herself old.) She responded promptly: “Sure, I’d be happy to do it!” The result is this lovely Q&A with some surprising answers about fashion, style, identity, and aging.

As Susan put it in her first Wordy Bird post, “I’ve long wanted to meditate on fashion in a way that’s different from what I’m seeing elsewhere—fashion as memory, fashion as sociology, fashion as three-dimensional functional sculpture that has to stand up to repeated wearing.” I wanted to know more, plus like Susan and many other women (even if we consider ourselves serious and intellectual), I am very interested in clothes, style, and the impacts they have on our day-to-day lives and beyond. More about Susan.

Q&A with Susan Orlean

DW: What feels important to you about fashion and clothes? 

SO: First of all, it’s fun—that’s the essence of it for me. And it’s about a kind of performance, in the best sense. Today I want to feel this way or that way, and I costume myself to do that. Or I want to be warm or to be comfortable, and it’s fun to do that successfully. 

As an observer, I’m fascinated by how fashion evolves and changes (which it does constantly!). What body part is the focus now? What is the silhouette that looks modern today? It’s an art form that anyone can participate in, and that’s what makes it so interesting.

DW: Has your style changed as you’ve aged and your body has changed? For example, do you avoid wearing sleeveless dresses or blouses like I do?

SO: I don’t wear really short skirts (although, to be honest, I never really liked them). And I don’t wear anything that’s very cropped — but I never really did that even years ago. I refuse to give in to the arm self-consciousness, even if my arms flap and sag a bit. But otherwise I really haven’t changed what I wear. My taste has never been very age-specific, so it still serves me well. I wear what I love, and hope it flatters me, and beyond that I don’t like to worry too much. 

A recent photo that Susan posted on Wordy Bird; she’s checking our her Sacai bandana sweater.

DW: What is your guilty pleasure right now when it comes to fashion and buying clothes? I’ll go first: I’m addicted to ordering clothes online, trying them on, and then sending them back for a refund if they don’t fit or I don’t like the style.