WEAR AND TEAR

This is an enchanting, candid, often humorous memoir told through clothes, from LA costume designer Tracy Tynan who as writer Kenneth Tynan’s daughter grew up in London in the 1950s and 60s, where her parents’ famous friends — Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Tony Richardson, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy—defined style.

Tracy Peacock Tynan was destined to be obsessed with clothing. Her father, Kenneth Peacock Tynan, was a theater critic and writer for the Evening Standard, The Observer, The New Yorker, and other publications. Her mother was Elaine Dundy, a successful novelist and biographer, whose works have recently been revived by the New York Review of Books.

Both of Tracy's parents were decided clotheshorses, known as much for what they wore as what they wrote. In the Tynans’ social circles, which included such stars as John Osborne, Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, and Tony Richardson, style was essential. The Tynans’ famous friends set a high bar for what Tracy thought she ought to be and, in turn, how she ought to dress. Tracy had firm ideas about her own clothing from an early age. Growing up in London before the days of Carnaby Street she combed vintage clothing stores and boutiques hunting for the perfect
outfit and just-so accessories. Shopping was an art passed down through the family, though shopping trips with her mother were so traumatic Tracy was given a clothing allowance and started shopping on her own when she was 14.

Wear and Tear is Tracy’s story from her childhood in London to her school years in the UK, at Sarah Lawrence, and at the UCLA Film School, to her career as a costume designer in LA, told through articles of clothing. As she recalls her father's dandy attire and her mother's Pucci dresses, Tracy also remembers her parents’ rancorous marriage and divorce, her father’s prodigious talents and celebrity lifestyle, and her mother’s lifelong struggle with addiction. Her own relationships, marriage, children, step-children, blended family, and work on movie sets are all recounted through the clothes Tracy and others wore.

Tracy Tynan is a costume designer and writer living in Los Angeles. Her credits include Breathless, Blind Date, Great Balls of Fire, and Tuesdays with Morrie. She is named for Spencer Tracy, and she is the goddaughter of Katharine Hepburn.