There are two books (well three actually if you count India Knight’s new one – more of that to come) that are sitting by my bed enticing me to read them. Both are by amazing women with lots to say and if the first couple of pages are anything to go by they make for a cracking read – of only I had the time to indulge.
Betty Halbreigh is the now 85 year old personal shopper at New York department store Bergdorf Goodman, who has been helping Manhattan’s rich and famous to shop for almost 40 years. Her unique blend of honesty and wit see customers return to her again and again as she has a remarkable eye for style and ability to assess what people need.
‘Those young sales people, they are happy if they sell you a dress or a coat, but my job, it’s psychology. You have to size people – and their personalities – up, before you even unzip a dress for them to try on.’
Her book I’ll Drink to That, documents her childhood in a successful Chicago family and marriage to Sonny Halbreich and move to Manhattan, where they led a glamorous life of cocktails and Park Avenue parties. The marriage eventually broke down down, leading to Betty’s attempted suicide, after which was offered a job at Bergdorf Goodman as a personal stylist.
Betty also featured in the recent documentary Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorfs.
The other book I am desperate read (again the first few pages are hilarious) is a hand book to modern living by my favourite funny millennial Lena Dunham. If you haven’t watched Girls yet, why not and if you don’t have Not That Kind of Girl on your Christmas list, then add it right now. Also buy it for your daughters, sisters and nieces, its a must read for all modern women – old and young.
Interestingly Lena Dunahm is also making a new comedy series called All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go with HBO, based on the life Betty Halbreich, which will definitely be one to watch.
