My style inspo for summer is an autofiction horror novel

I'll be unpacking The Shards for months, but I'm borrowing its aesthetic ASAP

I read Less Than Zero in 2009 and was so enamored by Ellis’ ability to communicate the bleak glamour attached to coming-of-age 1980s Los Angeles that it lifted me out of a years-long reading rut. Ellis made me realize that fiction didn’t have to be self-serious to be “good.” It could be irreverent, sexy, and disturbing. When I found out (granted, a year after it was published) he’d written another coming-of-age/coming undone novel set in Los Angeles called The Shards, I purchased it immediately, knowing I was in for a stark and stylish treat.

The Shards is about a high school senior at Los Angeles’ prestigious Buckley school, whose name is…Bret Ellis (yes, it’s autofiction - wherein an author inserts themself into a fictional tale as a little postmodern treat). Bret is gay, but closeted, dating a popular girl, best friends with the captain of the football team, and convinced he can white knuckle his way through one more year of "playing the role” before he goes off to college on the East Coast, where he can be himself, once and for all. Until: a new student named Robert Mallory joins the class, enchanting everyone: except Bret, who is convinced Mallory is a sinister force, determined to shatter the illusory life he’s spent so many years building. As a series of break-ins and brutal murders begin to unfold across Los Angeles, Bret becomes increasingly convinced there’s something wrong with Robert - and that he’ll do much worse than break up their friend group unless Bret exposes him for who he really is.

The Shards is so many things: “not a good book if you want to sleep well” chief among them (I had nightmares every single night during the week I spent feverishly reading it). It’s also a transporting, meticulous depiction of Los Angeles: more than half of the book happens in cars - and he goes into (pleasantly, to me) mind-numbing detail about the various driving routes his characters take by way of immersing us as deeply as possible in his autofictional world (and perhaps communicating their mental states: the more distressed a character is, the longer and more aimless the drives they take; the more paranoid, the more convinced they are a car is following them; and they only ever seen relaxed when they’re ‘leaning against a hood’).

Beyond being an “LA” book, The Shards is also a story of the eighties. You can find a song reference on nearly every page: highly recommend listening along while you read. Bret sees The Shining and Chariots of Fire in theaters, him and his friends watch the Eagles break up onstage in Long Beach (did not know that happened), they see Pink Floyd perform The Wall - it’s a pop cultural feast for anyone with an interest in or tangential connection to the decade.

Outside of the drugs, sex, and violence (of which: chaste readers beware - Ellis delivers on this trifecta in abundance), there were a number of other references, sartorial and beyond, that stuck with me.

Beyond the story: my Shards-inspired shopping list

Though Los Angeles isn’t a city known for pushing the envelope when it comes to street style, there’s something appealing about the insouciant way Ellis’ characters throw on clothes and I’m hereby declaring them my summer style inspo. Here’s how I’m planning on spinning things.

Wayfarer Sunglasses

Image via METV

When it comes to sunglasses, The Shards is a world of wayfarers. It’s 1981: we’re five years off from Top Gun bringing aviators to the masses; and allegedly, Wayfarers have just entered the scene, thanks to Blues Brothers. This had me thinking: have we gone too far with trendy sunglasses? I’ve spent a LOT of money on trendy sunglasses that I either never wear or simply lose (a skill of mine): maybe the literal and metaphorical key to sunglasses staying power is taht simplicity is key.

Rugby Tees

Images via GQ, Prime, Vintage Los Angeles, Reiss, Ebay, Etsy

Ok: I can’t pretend I haven’t wanted a rugby tee since seeing Jacob Elordi in that 2006 Abercrombie rugby in Saltburn (devastating that 2006 is bordering on vintage, btw). There’s something deliciously American about a rugby top. Yes, I’m aware that they originated in England, but they’ve always reminded me of the romanticized ideal of the American high school experience - the type of shirt the captain of the 1981 football team might lend to his girlfriend to wear to games before a postgame meal of milkshakes & burgers at a local diner. (Can you tell by my idealized vision of American suburbia that I grew up in a city & went to all-girls school? xo <3)

For all of its drug-fueled glamour, The Shards does occasionally deliver on that promised American dream: homecoming floats, milkshakes, and afternoon movies - and their attire of choice reflects the vision, too: Bret’s girlfriend, Debbie, only wears clothing from the iconic Camp Beverly Hills brand, an iconic Californian purveyor of American loungewear, including, of course, rugby shirts.

I now feel validated in adding one of these two (the latter in camel) to my cart. I’d pair them with these shoes, which I came across via Monica Ainley’s newlsetter, and feel like a) an elevated pair of Keds in a perfect color (which I’m sure I’d get dirty in .000242 seconds) and b) a timeless reaction to the relentless onslaught of trendy sneakers. Lord deliver me from my desire to own a pair of Wales Bonner Sambas.

I’d throw the rugby on with denim shorts and the aforementioned shoes, or over a bathing suit by the pool for a summer afternoon spent reading in the shade. (Hopefully I’d have more peaceful poolside experiences than the one Ellis writes about in this book).

White bikini

Speaking of bikinis: there’s a style moment in the book, featuring Bret’s best supporting actress, Susan Reynolds, that stuck with me. Susan, our book’s “numb beauty,” is the most popular girl in school, dating the captain of the varsity football team. Like Bret, she’s disenchanted with the high school fairy tale, but is halfheartedly committed to seeing her role through the end of the semester.

She does, however, have her moments. One of those moments: a weekend in Palm Springs where she wears a white bikini everywhere - catching eyes and enjoying it as a gesture of defiance against the role she finds herself relegated to playing.

Before anyone worries: this wouldn’t be my intention were I to own and wear a white bikini. But it simply reminded me that I do want one.

White bikinis are easier to pull off in theory than in practice: the reality is, unless you want to scandalize everyone around you, you need to invest in quality here - the fabric has to be thick enough not to completely *expose* you when you get wet. And that, ladies and gentlemen is how we justify purchasing bikinis from Eres. (Image - via CNN - completely unrelated to The Shards - it’s Ursula Andress in James Bond, but felt eternally chic enough to include).

Outside of my sartorial ~Americanaissance~ courtesy of these 1980s California teens, this book had me:

Ready to finally buy this body wash: Bret’s obsession with maybe-villain-maybe-not Robert Mallory throughout the book extends to the cologne and body wash he wears, which he describes as a mix of “sandalwood, cedar, ash, and citrus.” I’ve had a bottle of Le Labo’s Hinoki Shower Gel sitting pretty in my Net-A-Porter cart ever since I used it at a friend’s house, and it feels just like the woodsy/citrusy mix Bret was describing.

Craving good Mexican food & ice cold white wine: Drugs & clove cigarettes take precedence over food for our Buckley High students - but when they do eat, they go to still-iconic restaurants like Las Casuelas in Rancho Mirage and La Scala in Beverly Hills, which have me craving a good-old-fashioned marg night with my friends and an ice cold glass of white wine. I recently went to a “trendy” Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village, which I was…not enchanted by…BUT I had the best white wine of my life, the 2020 varietal of this - maybe I’ll repurchase it to drink alongside a homemade version of the famous La Scala salad.

Reminded of a few of my favorite books/shows that fall along the Less Than Zero/Shards lines:

• Skins. If you missed this the first time around, PLEASE watch the UK version right now. Sometimes I just watch the theme songs in succession on YouTube. (Only Series 1-3 are good). It’s on Hulu.

• The Riot Club. A supremely disturbing movie about the UK elite that descends into similarly horrifying (though not actual horror) territory as The Shards and also explores the consequences of performing a role for the sake of fitting in.

• Animal, Stray, Play it As it Lays, The Girls: A few of my favorite California-centric tales

• Brideshead Revisited: Posh & intense, characters exploring their sexuality - not quite as sinister, but there are certainly shades.

• The Shining: The movie is obviously fantastic, but the book is underrated - it’s just as scary. Ellis is not shy about the influence King has on him - and it would be obvious even if he wasn’t.

• The Talented Mr. Ripley: Similarly tense character dynamics - a visual feast (young Jude, young Gwyneth, need I say more?) Have heard the book is fantastic.

That’s all for now - but like I said up top, I’ll be unpacking the actual content (most specifically the ending) of The Shards for weeks to come. The reddit threads are FUN. If you’ve read it, pleeeeeeease text me. I must discuss with someone!