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Nobody Does Book-Tour Style Like Alex Aster

By Swedan Margen

Nobody Does Book-Tour Style Like Alex Aster
Alex Aster promotes her new book Starside wearing a silver strapless minidress with sequin floral embellishments.
"For my fifth appearance on Good Morning America (truly a dream come true!!), I matched my cover as best as I could with this sparkling Oscar de la Renta minidress. Their pieces are so detailed and whimsical. This particular dress reminds me of the enchanted-ball scene in the book, where gowns are made of high metals and other dazzling materials!"

Alex Aster, the best-selling author behind the wildly popular young adult fantasy series Emblem Island and Lightlark, surprised her avid fans when she announced her latest novel Starside back in September. It was confirmed that a Barbie fantasy novel was on the way (Barbie: Dreamscape, out this July), but nobody knew, not even her agent in its early stages, that Aster was quietly cooking up her next big project—a 500-page adult romantasy novel about a young woman named Aris who, on a quest to secure a magical sword, signs up for a deadly competition to get revenge on the gods.

This is exciting for two reasons. We have a new thrilling page-turner just in time for spring break, and we are treated to yet another stylish Aster book tour. If you are familiar with the latter, then you know the author treats her book tours like a rolling red carpet, carefully curating her press looks to mirror the aesthetic, themes, and characters of her latest book with the occasional Easter egg for eagle-eyed fans. We love a good method dresser.

Such a thoughtful approach requires some serious planning. Before excitement could even start building around Starside, the author was already scouring the internet and mapping out her looks. Think lots of silver and sparkles and some Aris-inspired chain mail for good measure. Here, Aster talks us through her process.

Author Alex Aster poses for her appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show wearing a navy two-piece suit with gold buttons on the jacket.
"I always try to match my outfits to my books in some way during release week. Though Starside's cover is mostly silver, it has a blue sheen, so I went with this navy two-piece suit moment from Oscar de la Renta for my appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show. The oversize golden buttons reminded me of the gold willow tree in one of the scenes of the book!"

You have followed a fashion theme for each of your book tours. How did you want to approach your looks for Starside?

Starside centers around sword magic, with silver being the highest of the high metals. I knew from the beginning it would have a silver cover, so that meant silver clothing! I also wanted to try to tie in some nods to chain mail since a knight is one of the main characters.

If you could encapsulate your Starside wardrobe into three words, what would they be?

Starry, whimsical, and metallic.

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