I get up out of the chair, advance my feet into the sunlight, in their red shoes, flat-heeled to save the spine and not for dancing. The red gloves are lying on the bed. I pick them up, pull them onto my hands, finger by finger. Everything except the wings around my face is red: the colour blood, which defines us. The skirt is ankle-length, full, gathered to a flat yoke that extends over the breasts, the sleeves are full. The white wings too are prescribed issue; they are to keep us from seeing, but also from being seen. I never looked good in red, it’s not my colour.

– The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) by Margaret Atwood

Bibliography:
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. New York: Anchor Books, 1998. Print.

Image Credit:
Red Dress by Anna and Elena Balbusso from Balbusso Twins