The Secrets We Kept

The importance of clothing appears throughout the story, not only as an element of spy-craft but also as a signal of who one is. In the first chapter for Irina, her choice of a wool skirt versus linen brings her grief as she tries to prevent sweat marks with paper towels. Once she begins fieldwork lessons, she learns the principles for evading attention, such as avoiding excessive makeup and conspicuous clothes and accessories: “[Her] instructions were to dress well but not too well, to look nice but not too nice” (113). Being “nondescript” is the goal, though she struggles a bit when the venue for her test, the Mayflower Hotel, is posher than most of her clothing. The Agency provides her with a Chanel bag to do her carrier work, and she grips it “like a talisman” (114). It is a symbol of her assuming a new identity, one more stylish than what she’s used to.

While clothing does not make someone a new person, it can act like a new feathers or a costume, something that signals a class, profession, or even a story. Irina’s nun outfit is an obvious example, but so, too, is the clip-on tie that Sally and Irina spot on a man in the park.