What are some of your favorite literary works, either from the genres your collections are inspired by, or from other genres?
Brit: "I love '20s American literature, it's my favorite. Hemingway, Faulkner, T. S. Eliot, and James Joyce, for example. I especially love the expat writers of the '20s who centered their novels around being young, traveling, eating well, drinking well, and running around making love. The whole running rampant/forever young thing is really appealing to me. I think it stems from my wish to remain childlike."

Kara: "I have new favorites every week, but the works I'm most nostalic for are the books we read when we were young. I vividly remember being inspired by what I visualized the characters wearing, and the clothing made every story so much bigger to me. I loved Steinbeck novels mainly because the dreary, dusty settings forced the characters clothes to stand out more than anything else. I went through a phase when I was 12 after reading A Tree Grows In Brooklyn where I would dress like I couldn't afford a loaf of bread! I guess I love Depression attire, it's so chic!"

Photographed by Molly Cranna