eleanorfrances's review against another edition
4.0
i really enjoyed learning about a fashion history event that i hadn’t heard of before. I am interested in learning more about fashion and this was a good intro. it was interesting to hear about its influence as fashion changed through the decades.
nvciel's review against another edition
4.0
The research in this book is excellent. Givhan does a wonderful job explaining the history and function of fashion, the fashion houses, the differences between European and American fashion, the designers and the models. I was not aware of the power of fashion until Diane Von Furstenberg’s wrap dress. I loved learning about the history of fashion from the standpoint of this fashion showdown.
tita_noir's review against another edition
4.0
This was an entertaining, gossipy, cultural & fashion history that described events that led up to and surrounded the glittery night at the Theatre Gabriel in the Chateau de Versailles that put the world on notice that American ready-to-wear fashion was to be taken seriously.
The book starts out as a mini-history lesson in how French haute couture developed and how as a result, France and French designers became the defining body of what was chic and fashionable. It moves across the pond to also give background on how the American fashion scene developed.
It is chock full of dropped names, including not only designers as far back as Worth, but also socialites, industry big wigs, society matrons, taste arbiters and even the models. Almost every person mentioned gets a mini-biography distilled into giving you just enough information to make their story interesting and relevant. The result is it gives the book a chatty intimacy that made the pages really turn.
The book also does a great job of building up anticipation and suspense for when it finally gets to The Event. The run up is chock full of anecdotes of the personalities, insecurities, battles and genius of not only the ten designers involved, but also of the models themselves.
I admit what really attracted me to the book was what little I had heard over the years about the involvement and yes, triumph, of the black models in the show. A lot of the credit for the success of the Americans at the event is given to the black models. They only made up 1/3 of the models included (10 out of 30) but their presence is heavily felt.
One of the things that I heard over the years -- and what this book reaffirmed -- is that the fierce walk/strut/showmanship of he black models was a huge factor in how the clothes were presented. It also created a major contrast between the vitality, youth, brashness of the American show and the staid, stiff almost too much pageantry of the French show.
The author invokes the name of the Ebony Fashion Fair as an influence on that showmanship and I immediately 'saw' in my mind's eye what it must have looked like as she describes Pat Cleveland whirling down the runway like a moth while the sophisticated Parisian onlookers gasp in awe.
One of the biggest downers of the book is the lack of pictures. There is a good reason for this as we learn in the book. It was a confluence of many factors that make images of this night somewhat scarce. The chairperson of the event, Helene Marie de Rothschild ruthlessly controlled any access to images as she wanted to preserve an air of exclusivity for the show. In addition the official American photographer was drafted to help out backstage and was not able to take as many photographs as he could have. And finally, Liza Minelli was the celebrity performer for the Americans and her contract stipulated no film.
Since the author could do a romance novelist proud in her breathless descriptions of the looks of the models and the clothes, I found myself relentlessly googling images of people just to see what they looked like. Additionally I decided to watch the Versailles '73 documentary done by Deborah Riley Draper as a companion piece to the book. This proved go be a great decision as the documentary had some images and even some filmed snippets and many of the personal reminiscence of the models and others who were there affirmed much of what was written in the book.
All in all this was a hugely entertaining foray into fashion history.
The book starts out as a mini-history lesson in how French haute couture developed and how as a result, France and French designers became the defining body of what was chic and fashionable. It moves across the pond to also give background on how the American fashion scene developed.
It is chock full of dropped names, including not only designers as far back as Worth, but also socialites, industry big wigs, society matrons, taste arbiters and even the models. Almost every person mentioned gets a mini-biography distilled into giving you just enough information to make their story interesting and relevant. The result is it gives the book a chatty intimacy that made the pages really turn.
The book also does a great job of building up anticipation and suspense for when it finally gets to The Event. The run up is chock full of anecdotes of the personalities, insecurities, battles and genius of not only the ten designers involved, but also of the models themselves.
I admit what really attracted me to the book was what little I had heard over the years about the involvement and yes, triumph, of the black models in the show. A lot of the credit for the success of the Americans at the event is given to the black models. They only made up 1/3 of the models included (10 out of 30) but their presence is heavily felt.
One of the things that I heard over the years -- and what this book reaffirmed -- is that the fierce walk/strut/showmanship of he black models was a huge factor in how the clothes were presented. It also created a major contrast between the vitality, youth, brashness of the American show and the staid, stiff almost too much pageantry of the French show.
The author invokes the name of the Ebony Fashion Fair as an influence on that showmanship and I immediately 'saw' in my mind's eye what it must have looked like as she describes Pat Cleveland whirling down the runway like a moth while the sophisticated Parisian onlookers gasp in awe.
One of the biggest downers of the book is the lack of pictures. There is a good reason for this as we learn in the book. It was a confluence of many factors that make images of this night somewhat scarce. The chairperson of the event, Helene Marie de Rothschild ruthlessly controlled any access to images as she wanted to preserve an air of exclusivity for the show. In addition the official American photographer was drafted to help out backstage and was not able to take as many photographs as he could have. And finally, Liza Minelli was the celebrity performer for the Americans and her contract stipulated no film.
Since the author could do a romance novelist proud in her breathless descriptions of the looks of the models and the clothes, I found myself relentlessly googling images of people just to see what they looked like. Additionally I decided to watch the Versailles '73 documentary done by Deborah Riley Draper as a companion piece to the book. This proved go be a great decision as the documentary had some images and even some filmed snippets and many of the personal reminiscence of the models and others who were there affirmed much of what was written in the book.
All in all this was a hugely entertaining foray into fashion history.
taylakaye's review against another edition
5.0
First, should disclose I think Robin is brilliant. I've had the chance to work with her a few times and she's a lovely person. Her ability to draw clear connections between the fashion world and the broader cultural and historic significance of what's happening is unparalleled. That skill is on display here as she connects the cultural history of French fashion to the post-War and Civil Rights era US in the run-up to the Battle of Versailles.
This is, however, not a book for everyone to dive straight into. If you already love and have some basic knowledge of the fashion world, dive right in. If you scoff at fashion, don't start here. Start instead with Robin's columns in the Washington Post (she's the only person who has won a Pulitzer for fashion criticism) and the work of her brethren at the Wall Street Journal for style coverage that is smart and relevant to all now. Then ease on in to this. It's worth the groundwork.
This is, however, not a book for everyone to dive straight into. If you already love and have some basic knowledge of the fashion world, dive right in. If you scoff at fashion, don't start here. Start instead with Robin's columns in the Washington Post (she's the only person who has won a Pulitzer for fashion criticism) and the work of her brethren at the Wall Street Journal for style coverage that is smart and relevant to all now. Then ease on in to this. It's worth the groundwork.
sarabosworth's review against another edition
every paragraph of this is PACKED with thrilling tidbits—gossip, history, art, all that good stuff
simraannk's review against another edition
4.0
One of my first fashion books that I read, I really enjoyed the critique and learning about fashion history from this! Very educational and funny too