Anne Rice - A Sweater Thread in Her Writings

[jumbuck]

Note: This was originally posted a couple of months ago at the wool board at http://www.furfashionguide.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

I have a fetish for wooly clothing that goes back to as far as I can recall. And I also have a love for bondage and discipline so recently picked up a copy of 'East of Eden' by Anne Rice, one of her B&D themed stories written in the 1980s under the pseudonym of Anne Rampling.

I expected exotic sex and settings; I didn't expect a sweater thread though, albeit just a tiny one running here and there through the narrative. Perhaps I just have a keenly-tuned sweater radar? Or maybe Anne Rice understands something of the attraction of wool and has a bit of a liking for turtlenecks?

Try these two little extracts as a taster...all very innocent, of course...

There was a man standing at the bar who kept looking at me, the classically handsome young lawyer type wearing a white cable-knit sweater under his houndstooth jacket... (pg 10)

And that smile. He wore a black turtleneck for the picture, arms folded instead of at his sides. (pg 48)

And then the sweater stuff really picks up, as our heroine, Lisa, craves for the hero, Eric...

I reached over and picked up his file and I looked at the big glossy black-and-white photo of him in the turtleneck and the tinted aviator glasses, smiling at the camera. (pg 167)

Lisa starts going through Eric's suitcases, checking out his clothes....

….army surplus turtlenecks... (pg 173)

...burberry raincoat, cashmere sweaters... (pg 175)

And then this....the sweater action hots up!

I went back to the suitcases. I picked up the silver turtleneck that I had unfolded before, and I pressed it to my face, smelling the rich cologne. I slipped off my negligee and my nightgown. And I pulled the turtleneck over my head. It was like having his skin on, to feel it on my arms, over my breasts, and smell that perfume. (pg 180)

It's love!

Later, our lovers run off to discover the joys of togetherness, with Lisa buying Eric's clothes...

And she kept picking out blue and lavender and purple clothes for me – turtlenecks and velvet jackets, dress shirts and even suits. (pg 266)

And then, after an enforced but necessary separation, our lovers meet up again...

He had on his bush jacket and a white turtleneck and he was very brown, hair streaked with white... (pg 324)

And they lived happily ever after...sharing lots of sweaters, I hope

But wait, there's more...

After finishing 'East of Eden' I did a little searching on the internet, wondering whether she made other references to wool and sweaters elsewhere in her writings. 'Lasher', one of her Mayfair Witch series, popped up.

I downloaded the pdf version and turned up 15 references to sweaters simply using the pdf search tool. I admit it's not much for a book of over a thousand pages and most of them are simple descriptions of the clothes someone's wearing. But there's something about certain of these wool-themed vignettes that suggests someone who knows something about wool's other appeal. Here's two of these little scenes from 'Lasher':

Clifford didn't care. Bundled in a long huge Shetland wool turtleneck, and legs snug in wool stockings, she enjoyed the chill of the breeze....

Mmmm, reads to me as though it's written by someone with a sensuous touch and deep understanding of the delicious enclosure that thick woollen clothing brings.

And then there's the scratchy, rough side to wool...a form of (delicious) torment perhaps?

...and she could feel and hear him ripping her wool stockings, and she wondered if the sweater (he wore) wasn't scratchy and rough. What was it like to embrace someone in a sweater that was so thick and rough?

Now I'm not suggesting Anne Rice has a fullblown sweater fetish but these examples suggest a woman who knows something of wools tactile sexual appeal. That makes me smile - afterall, there aren't that many of us 'woolies' in the world. I have a soft spot for Anne Rice - she embraces difference and all things sensual.

I read 'Interview with a Vampire' 15 or more years ago. I can't remember any sweaters in the story but I'm now going to have to go back and find out. I suspect a turtleneck would be great for hiding a neck bite. In black of course. Vampires love black.

[sweaterdress]

Ha. That made me smile. Thanks jumbuck, a great write-up of two books that have a hint of sweaterism. An entertaining and unusal post. Thank you.

Now I wionder what other books are out there describing such nice things as "legs snug in wool stockings"

Naomi.