Eight Perfect Pairings of Fashion and Fiction
Best new fiction releases paired with their clothing counterparts, featuring ONFEMME.
There is a specific kind of afternoon that makes you feel like yourself in the best possible way, the kind where the light is good, you're wearing something you love, and you have a book so good you've stopped looking at your phone. The relationship between what you're wearing and what you're reading is underrated. Both set a mood. Both tell you something about who you want to be in that moment. The right outfit and the right novel can turn a Tuesday afternoon into something worth remembering.
ONFEMME has always been about more than clothing. It's about the woman wearing it and the life she's building in it, the vacations, the dinner parties, the quiet mornings and the nights out that turn into stories you'll tell for years. This season, we paired eight ONFEMME pieces with eight of the best new fiction releases of the year. Whether you're poolside, at a café, curled up in bed, or getting dressed for somewhere worth going, the outfit and the book should be equally good. Here are eight reasons they can be.
The La Bon Bikini Set + Habits of the Sea
Hand-crocheted from 100% cotton in almond and plum tones, the La Bon bikini is the kind of swimwear that doesn't feel like swimwear, it feels like something a woman on a beautiful island would wear without thinking twice. Which is exactly where this book lives.
Habits of the Sea follows Ellie, a woman who rediscovers a mythical floating island off the coast of Nova Scotia that she once stumbled upon as a child, and finds the man she met there still living in the same weatherworn farmhouse, unchanged by time. Part magical realism, part lush romance, part love story that defies every natural law, this is Shea Ernshaw's most hypnotic novel yet.
Who it's for: The woman who romanticizes the ocean, believes in things she can't explain, and reads on the beach until the sun goes down. Why it pairs: Both the bikini and the book feel handmade and timeless, like something that exists slightly outside of the ordinary world, asking you to slow down and stay.
The Manon Knit Cardigan and Short Set + Kin
The Manon set in serene bleu is the kind of outfit that belongs on a Sunday morning with good coffee and no plans. Mid-weight knit, bobble stitch detail, refined without being fussy, it's an outfit that says you have taste and the sense to be comfortable in it.
Kin is Tayari Jones's sweeping fifth novel, an Oprah's Book Club pick about two women from a fictional Louisiana town, following their friendship from girlhood in the 1950s all the way through adulthood and the tragedy that pulls them back together. Sparkling with wit and deep feeling, it's exactly the kind of literary fiction that makes you put the book down just to sit with what you just read.
Who it's for: The reader who loves emotionally intelligent literary fiction about women's lives, friendship, and what endures. Why it pairs: The Manon set is cozy, considered, and quietly beautiful, and so is this novel. Both reward your full attention.
The Vailo Floral Silk Chiffon Dress + Love Song
The Vailo is made for moments. Halter neck, cascading ruffles, sheer silk in the Afternoon Rain color, this is the dress you put on when you want to feel like something is about to happen. Elle Kennedy has built a career on that exact feeling.
Love Song is Kennedy's latest, a slow-burn, high-tension romance between two people who should not be falling for each other and do anyway. At 528 pages, it's the kind of novel you clear your schedule for, with the chemistry and emotional pull Kennedy is known for delivering on every single page.
Who it's for: The reader who wants a romance that earns it, complex, charged, and completely absorbing. Why it pairs: The Vailo is a dress that makes ordinary moments feel cinematic. So does this book.
The Elysia Cotton-Silk Crop Top + Just Friends
The Elysia in Lemon Haze is sunshine in top form, sheer lace, ditsy floral print, spaghetti straps, asymmetric hem. It's the top you wear when the day feels light and full of possibility, when you're somewhere warm and everything feels slightly golden.
Just Friends is Haley Pham's debut novel: Blair and Declan grew up inseparable, became something more in one impulsive moment, and then lost each other completely. Years later, they get a second chance, and neither of them is prepared for it. It's warm, swoony, and full of the kind of romantic tension that makes you read faster than you meant to.
Who it's for: Anyone who's ever wondered what could have been with someone from their past. Why it pairs: Both the top and the book have that golden, first-summer-of-something energy. Breezy on the surface, quietly unforgettable underneath.
The Florencio Tweed Mini Dress + The Calamity Club
Pink Hibiscus tweed, pearl-embellished neckline, bow at the bust, the Florencio is vintage femininity done exactly right. It has the kind of considered detail that belongs to another era: intentional, a little romantic, quietly bold.
The Calamity Club is Kathryn Stockett's long-awaited return, set in Oxford, Mississippi in 1933. Birdie Calhoun arrives to ask her socialite sister for help, only to discover that her sister's charmed life is built on lies. What follows is a story about women, some socialites, some outlaws, banding together through the Depression to take back control of their lives. Big-hearted, witty, and beautifully written.
Who it's for: The reader who loves historical women's fiction with real teeth, stories about female solidarity told with warmth and a little fire. Why it pairs: The Florencio nods to the past without living in it, and so does this novel.
Zoa Cotton Crochet Mini Dress + The Mash Up
Tropical Swirl knit, scallop hem, halter tie, the Zoa is a vacation dress that somehow also works everywhere. 100% cotton crochet, breezy and easy, it belongs somewhere sunny with nothing urgent on the agenda.
The Mash Up is a pure delight: Ruby Wynne, a staunch rule-follower whose 35th birthday ends with a brutal breakup, makes a wish, and wakes up inside the childhood game of M.A.S.H. she played in middle school. This is a love letter to growing up in the 2000s, following your heart, and the chaos of getting what you actually want. It's fun and funny and exactly what you need when you're not in the mood for anything heavy.
Who it's for: The woman who grew up in the 2000s, loves a rom-com with a wild premise, and needs something genuinely joyful to read. Why it pairs: The Zoa is not a serious dress. It's a this-is-exactly-what-summer-should-feel-like dress. So is this book.
The Marini Corset Top + Still Into You by Erin Connor
Structured, light pink, with a lattice back designed to be noticed, the Marini Corset Top is a going-out piece with actual confidence behind it. It doesn't ask for permission and it doesn't apologize.
Still Into You is a sizzling second-chance romance between Sloane, a music journalist who's been chasing her big break for years, and Dax Nakamura, the notoriously elusive frontman of one of metal's biggest bands, who also happens to be the only person she's ever loved and lost. When Dax offers his first interview in eight years, Sloane has to decide if the story is worth reopening everything she's been trying to close.
Who it's for: The reader who wants a romance with actual heat, a heroine with ambition, and a love interest who earns the second chance. Why it pairs: The Marini is a statement top for a woman who knows what she wants and shows up anyway. Sloane is the same energy in novel form.
The Estelle Backless Mini Dress + Two Can Play by Ali Hazelwood
Metallic Sea Blue shimmering knit, long sleeves, micro mini, open back, the Estelle is a night-out dress that makes a case for itself the moment you walk in. It's confident, it's striking, and it's not for the faint of heart.
Two Can Play is Ali Hazelwood's enemies-to-lovers novella about Viola Bowen, who lands the opportunity of a lifetime, designing a video game based on her all-time favorite book series — only to discover her co-lead is Jesse Andrews, her archnemesis, who has spent years making it clear he wants nothing to do with her. Forced together at a snowy retreat, things get complicated in the best possible way.
Who it's for: The reader who wants something spicy, fast, and full of tension that pays off completely. Why it pairs: The Estelle walks into the room and immediately changes the dynamic. So does Viola.