Dorothy Quigley

Dorothy Quigley is a little-documented author best known for What Dress Makes of Us, published in New York by E. P. Dutton in 1897. The book survives in major public-domain collections, and its preface says the pieces were drawn from articles she had contributed to the New York Sun and the New York Journal.

Her writing treats dress as more than decoration: it is a source of comedy, self-presentation, and social meaning. With a lively, conversational tone, she offers practical observations about how clothing, hats, hair, and personal style can flatter, distort, or even turn a person into a caricature.

Very little biographical information about her appears to be confirmed in the readily available sources, so much of her life remains unclear. What does come through strongly is her voice—wry, observant, and entertaining—and that has helped keep her work in circulation through libraries, Project Gutenberg, and audiobook editions.