Fashion in Crane's World
One thing people sometimes point out about the Crane books is the role clothes play. I frequently talk about what Crane or another character is wearing. There’s a lot of mentions of designers and luxury brands.
Some readers aren’t sure what to make of this. One of my favorite Amazon reviews for Rope on Fire starts off by giving the book five stars for “writing and pace” (Great! He liked it!) But then takes away:
Minus one for incessant description and plugging of brand name famous label items. Who cares which brand shoes imaginary characters "wear"?? Paid by the word? Advertising dollars?? Meh!
I love that review. Yeah, I wish I was getting product placement money for Crane!
The real reason I started focusing on clothes (and cars, food, etc.) was that I wanted to evoke a glamorous fantasy world of suave agents, fast cars, beautiful women, exotic locales. Fleming did that by detailing the things Bond surrounded himself with - what he chose to eat, drink, drive, wear. All were described to give Bond’s world its particular texture.
For Fleming, the character angle was that Bond knew his life was always in danger, so he insisted on living to his exacting standards while he was here. And even though Crane isn’t so fatalistic, my premise naturally led to the same place. If Josh’s resources mean money is literally no object, why wouldn’t Crane choose the best of everything?
And so in addition to staying in luxury hotels, eating in trendy restaurants, and so on, John Crane became something of a clothes horse. It became something I can use to both expand the setting and characterize Crane. It’s something other characters notice and sometimes tease him about.
And once in a while I manage to actually give it some importance in the story. A favorite example comes from Wrecker. Crane has been captured by the villain, and word of this has reached Swift, who has shown up to check him out. Crane hasn’t met her before - at least not out of disguise - and, Swift being Swift, she’s messing with Crane by pretending to be some jungle dwelling communist guerilla leader there to put him on trial for crimes against the people. Crane sees through her act because he recognizes her very expensive Manolo Blahnik boots.
It’s not as though I’m a hardcore fashionista in real life, any more than an elite covert operative. So I do a lot of research into designers, hotels, restaurants - probably as much as the weapons and tech Crane uses. So far, I haven’t had any real experts call me out on the choices I’ve made, but I probably get it wrong sometimes.
So maybe don’t use the Crane books as a guide to trends and styles. But that’s why I pay attention to the shoes imaginary characters are wearing. I hope that texture helps make Crane’s world feel a little more exotic, and a little more lived in.
til next time,
-- MP
Spy My Stuff
You can find me at MarkParragh.com and my books here at Amazon. The John Crane series is currently in Kindle Unlimited, and so exclusive to Amazon. Rumrunners can also be found at other fine ebook retailers.
Reading: With a Mind to Kill by Anthony Horowitz. New Bond novel! His Forever and a Day might be my favorite non-Fleming Bond of them all, so I’m excited about this.
Watching: Moon Dog, an adorable short about maybe not always going with your first instinct.
Listening To: Crystal. By 80s synth band New Order, believe it or not.