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Babylon Confessions #3
FASHION BABYLON
What is fashion? What is fashionable? Who decides what's in and what's out? Why is it green one year and blue the next? Why is one little black dress worth five thousand dollars and another worth fifty? Is the catwalk really that catty? What makes a supermodel so super?
And a designer too hot to touch? Who is making money? Who owns whom? Who hates whom? And who's in each other's pockets? The answers are all to be found in Fashion Babylon.
Taking the reader through six months in a designer's life, it explains how a collection is put together -- from the objects of inspiration to the catwalk, into the shops and, hopefully, onto the cover of a magazine. It examines who goes to the shows and where they sit...and whose backside they have to kiss to get there. Narrated from the point of view of an anonymous A-list British fashion designer looking to break out across the pond and structured around three of the annual "must" industry events in London, Paris and New York, this irresistible work of reportage goes inside the well-cut seams of the fashion world, where women are paid tens of thousands of dollars for simply getting dressed and where a wrong skirt length can cost you your career.
Fashion Babylon decodes the markups and the comedowns, the fabulous extremes and the shoddy shortcuts behind one of the most lucrative and secretive businesses in the world. Witty, naughty and packed with celebrity gossip, this book will forever change the way you peruse the racks at Bergdorf's or flip through the pages of Vogue.
And a designer too hot to touch? Who is making money? Who owns whom? Who hates whom? And who's in each other's pockets? The answers are all to be found in Fashion Babylon.
Taking the reader through six months in a designer's life, it explains how a collection is put together -- from the objects of inspiration to the catwalk, into the shops and, hopefully, onto the cover of a magazine. It examines who goes to the shows and where they sit...and whose backside they have to kiss to get there. Narrated from the point of view of an anonymous A-list British fashion designer looking to break out across the pond and structured around three of the annual "must" industry events in London, Paris and New York, this irresistible work of reportage goes inside the well-cut seams of the fashion world, where women are paid tens of thousands of dollars for simply getting dressed and where a wrong skirt length can cost you your career.
Fashion Babylon decodes the markups and the comedowns, the fabulous extremes and the shoddy shortcuts behind one of the most lucrative and secretive businesses in the world. Witty, naughty and packed with celebrity gossip, this book will forever change the way you peruse the racks at Bergdorf's or flip through the pages of Vogue.
379 pages, Paperback
First published July 4, 2006
47 people are currently reading
973 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
September 18, 2015
This definitely reads as your trashy beach book. That is what makes it fun. But it also provides real insight into how the fashion industry actually works. Fashion is a cutthroat industry and not for the faint of heart, and this does a good job illustrating all of it. You'll find it all here - drugs, sex, booze, laxatives, celebrity gossip, and he reality that our trends are more dominated by financial backings by major players and who wears what than actual talent. Hypocrisy is also shown throughout the pages. In some parts, we see the nameless designer talk about blatantly ripping off other designs or even going as far as taking someone else's work, tearing off the tag and replacing it with her own - and that these are common practices. But in other parts, we see her complaining about this very practice when it comes to shops like Topshop and Miss Selfridge doing the same with her work. Personally I don't really think anyone really has the right to complain at this point since ALL trends are reused (the book describes a 20 year cycle) and there really aren't any truly new ideas anymore.
I would encourage anyone who is interested in getting into this industry to read this book. Are you willing to put up with everything it entails? Because even though this is a work of fiction, there is so much truth and reality in its pages. Which makes sense, since "Anonymous," a collection of fashion insiders, provided all the actual stories that made it into these pages.
I would encourage anyone who is interested in getting into this industry to read this book. Are you willing to put up with everything it entails? Because even though this is a work of fiction, there is so much truth and reality in its pages. Which makes sense, since "Anonymous," a collection of fashion insiders, provided all the actual stories that made it into these pages.
February 1, 2018
Well written and surprisingly engaging, endearing almost despite for me not really caring much for fashion types and those that put on airs and do drugs etc.
Suggested this book to a designer and was dismissed, 'No not interested', 'But it's not gossipy, well it sort of is but it's still a good read, the author is quite good' hmmp! 'No it's just not for me' or something like that. Oh well maybe it's too close or just a personality trait that repels them from reading about fashion and gossipy stuff and that's cool.
So it's hard to tell whether others like me or the designer would enjoy it. Perhaps if you already know fashion you won't learn much. I had read The End of Fashion: How Marketing Changed the Clothing Business Forever an interesting book by Teri Agins and found it eye-opening. I've read a few other similar books and have thought a lot about the business and marketing of fashion, plus on my bookshelf there is a copy of Genuine Authentic: The Real Life of Ralph Lauren by Michael Gross.
Based in the UK, so it will require some basic Pommy slang.
I have wanted to read all the other books by the author Imogen Edwards-Jones and will definitely get them now, though I wonder if there is a political one, say the UN HQ in NYC or the Beltway scene in Washington, D.C. that would be wild. The hotel and cruise ship ones will most anticipated. Though I might read then in chronological order.
*Oops turns out I assumed there was a cruise ship one due to a plethora of them here (so maybe 10 wouldn't constitute a proliferation but given how they were lowly-rated and self-published because they just seemed to be about sex and how seedy it is) oh well, there is the airline one, which is the second one (2005, a year after the hotel one). There is a restaurant one which should be interesting given that I liked Sirio: The Story of My Life and Le Cirque (even though it's a vastly overrated restaurant with a snobbish attitude where you're given smaller servings and less attention unless you're a celeb or a billionaire with some fame/power). Kitchen Con: Writing on the Restaurant Racket by Trevor White is an underrated book that will help you lose or lower your respect for the ubiquitous Zagat guides and the restaurant business in general.
Suggested this book to a designer and was dismissed, 'No not interested', 'But it's not gossipy, well it sort of is but it's still a good read, the author is quite good' hmmp! 'No it's just not for me' or something like that. Oh well maybe it's too close or just a personality trait that repels them from reading about fashion and gossipy stuff and that's cool.
So it's hard to tell whether others like me or the designer would enjoy it. Perhaps if you already know fashion you won't learn much. I had read The End of Fashion: How Marketing Changed the Clothing Business Forever an interesting book by Teri Agins and found it eye-opening. I've read a few other similar books and have thought a lot about the business and marketing of fashion, plus on my bookshelf there is a copy of Genuine Authentic: The Real Life of Ralph Lauren by Michael Gross.
Based in the UK, so it will require some basic Pommy slang.
I have wanted to read all the other books by the author Imogen Edwards-Jones and will definitely get them now, though I wonder if there is a political one, say the UN HQ in NYC or the Beltway scene in Washington, D.C. that would be wild. The hotel and cruise ship ones will most anticipated. Though I might read then in chronological order.
*Oops turns out I assumed there was a cruise ship one due to a plethora of them here (so maybe 10 wouldn't constitute a proliferation but given how they were lowly-rated and self-published because they just seemed to be about sex and how seedy it is) oh well, there is the airline one, which is the second one (2005, a year after the hotel one). There is a restaurant one which should be interesting given that I liked Sirio: The Story of My Life and Le Cirque (even though it's a vastly overrated restaurant with a snobbish attitude where you're given smaller servings and less attention unless you're a celeb or a billionaire with some fame/power). Kitchen Con: Writing on the Restaurant Racket by Trevor White is an underrated book that will help you lose or lower your respect for the ubiquitous Zagat guides and the restaurant business in general.
March 17, 2013
I justified this trashy tale by saying to myself, "It's relevant to your research!" But basically I just really enjoyed hearing the gossipy tidbits passed on to Imogen Edwards-Jones by loads of anonymous fashion-industry insiders.
Having never read any of her 'Babylon' series before, I was surprised to find that Edwards-Jones weaves the gossip into a fictional narrative of a year in the life of a small independent British fashion label. I found myself rooting for them to succeed and eagerly following their marketing decisions.
Perhaps a fashion insider would find this both more illuminating and more infuriating than I did. I didn't really hold it to high literary standards, and lots of the information in it wasn't surprising. Wow, photographers can be sleazy dicks to models! Magazine editors are fickle bitches! Everyone takes lots of drugs!
However, I enjoyed some of the behind-the-scenes hypocrisies depicted, such as sending a model down the runway in a Marks and Spencer shirt that they then have to actually produce themselves because buyers put in orders for it, or the way that designers haunt vintage stores to get 'inspiration' for their next collection, and then burn the beautiful vintage garments so there's no evidence of their unoriginality.
Having never read any of her 'Babylon' series before, I was surprised to find that Edwards-Jones weaves the gossip into a fictional narrative of a year in the life of a small independent British fashion label. I found myself rooting for them to succeed and eagerly following their marketing decisions.
Perhaps a fashion insider would find this both more illuminating and more infuriating than I did. I didn't really hold it to high literary standards, and lots of the information in it wasn't surprising. Wow, photographers can be sleazy dicks to models! Magazine editors are fickle bitches! Everyone takes lots of drugs!
However, I enjoyed some of the behind-the-scenes hypocrisies depicted, such as sending a model down the runway in a Marks and Spencer shirt that they then have to actually produce themselves because buyers put in orders for it, or the way that designers haunt vintage stores to get 'inspiration' for their next collection, and then burn the beautiful vintage garments so there's no evidence of their unoriginality.
January 23, 2008
Fashion Babylon
by Imogen Edwards-Jones
I love this book.
Surely give me total and insight scoop of the wickedness of the fashion industry. The author admitted in her prologue that everything in the story was true. The “Anonymous” in the story were a bunch of grapevines in the industry who told her all the juicy gossips. The “I” –the female designer character—was however fiction. But again she assured that all the following stories were true, only some identities had been changed to protect the guilty.
It’s the story in 6-months-time of one female designer life in UK. She’s independent designer, meaning none of the mother of all brand nor major big daddy company like Gucci or LVMH, owned her.
Some interesting stuffs you’ll find out along the way reading the book:
- of course you’ve already known that designer’s clothes and bags are definitely expensive and overprice because somehow you’ll end up buying the image/pride/ego-booster, rather than buying the thing itself. but you’ll be surprise to know that the mark up is actually larger than you’d think of, especially for the bags
- they use some kind of bloody butt-cream to handle big-puffy eyes or dark circle. Perhaps I think it’s a cream for “wasir” hehehe
- how many significant people in UK’s fashion industry loathe Posh Spice and think that she is absolutely not fashion or so whatever
- even though Kate Moss is a total junkie she still is a diva model, respected, adored by entire British’s fashion community
- there’s a reason why most designers, especially the gay one, hate boobs so much and how they adore flat-chested models. The flatter the better. It’s the closest things they have to their original design on a piece of paper… and how volume sometimes just ruin the beauty of it
- how food comes like rain drop in every single fashion event including photo session, press gathering, etc—and surely we’re talking about high end delicacies in amount that can feed the entire platoon, but sadly, for them it’s just some what decoration, meaning, no one actually eat those foods.
- for them, we, people out of the fashion industry are considered “real people” and you’ll know why we are real and they’re not
It’s hilarious, weird, and full of wickedness. It’s “Babylon” indeed.
Love it. It’s bloody fabs…
by Imogen Edwards-Jones
I love this book.
Surely give me total and insight scoop of the wickedness of the fashion industry. The author admitted in her prologue that everything in the story was true. The “Anonymous” in the story were a bunch of grapevines in the industry who told her all the juicy gossips. The “I” –the female designer character—was however fiction. But again she assured that all the following stories were true, only some identities had been changed to protect the guilty.
It’s the story in 6-months-time of one female designer life in UK. She’s independent designer, meaning none of the mother of all brand nor major big daddy company like Gucci or LVMH, owned her.
Some interesting stuffs you’ll find out along the way reading the book:
- of course you’ve already known that designer’s clothes and bags are definitely expensive and overprice because somehow you’ll end up buying the image/pride/ego-booster, rather than buying the thing itself. but you’ll be surprise to know that the mark up is actually larger than you’d think of, especially for the bags
- they use some kind of bloody butt-cream to handle big-puffy eyes or dark circle. Perhaps I think it’s a cream for “wasir” hehehe
- how many significant people in UK’s fashion industry loathe Posh Spice and think that she is absolutely not fashion or so whatever
- even though Kate Moss is a total junkie she still is a diva model, respected, adored by entire British’s fashion community
- there’s a reason why most designers, especially the gay one, hate boobs so much and how they adore flat-chested models. The flatter the better. It’s the closest things they have to their original design on a piece of paper… and how volume sometimes just ruin the beauty of it
- how food comes like rain drop in every single fashion event including photo session, press gathering, etc—and surely we’re talking about high end delicacies in amount that can feed the entire platoon, but sadly, for them it’s just some what decoration, meaning, no one actually eat those foods.
- for them, we, people out of the fashion industry are considered “real people” and you’ll know why we are real and they’re not
It’s hilarious, weird, and full of wickedness. It’s “Babylon” indeed.
Love it. It’s bloody fabs…
February 29, 2008
This is not exactly what I was looking for or expected. But I ended up enjoying it anyway. It reads like a piece of fiction, filled with celebrity gossip! According to the author, the only piece of fiction is the main character, the designer. The author claims all anecdotes are true, as told by people in the industry. I am not sure how accurate that is, although I can believe it (Isn’t gossip just rumors? But aren’t rumors started with some truth???). The book follows an up-and-coming, young, independent designer between one season’s London Fashion Week, and the next season’s New York Fashion Week, with parties, photo shoots, bad reviews, great Red Carpet moments, etc… in between. It was an entertaining book, easy to read, giving you a glimpse of fashion’s backstage and the lifestyle of those in the industry. The not-always-so-glamorous everyday life of the elite (although, it is pretty glamorous, I can’t lie), cocaine-covered money, kinky hotel sex, clothes with price tags including many zeros, laxatives-popping models, eccentric personalities, etc… They’re all there. A fun read!
August 30, 2011
Really fascinating read and insight into the fashion industry, glad I'm a magazine designer and not a fashion designer, far too much pressure!! Some funny moments throughout and are models really that dippy?
The passage that stick in my mind is this one which is a theory of one of the characters - "The year you become famous is the year you stop growing as a person. Like, Michael Jackson became famous at five. He wants to play children's games, hang out with kids, build a fun fair in his backyard and eat sweeties. Robbie Williams was sixteen, which is why he is always shagging girls and behaving like a teenager. George Clooney, on the other hand, was nearly forty, which is why he is such a delightful, well-rounded individual."
The passage that stick in my mind is this one which is a theory of one of the characters - "The year you become famous is the year you stop growing as a person. Like, Michael Jackson became famous at five. He wants to play children's games, hang out with kids, build a fun fair in his backyard and eat sweeties. Robbie Williams was sixteen, which is why he is always shagging girls and behaving like a teenager. George Clooney, on the other hand, was nearly forty, which is why he is such a delightful, well-rounded individual."
February 18, 2013
I loved this book, not due to any of the reasons it was touted for, as being an insiders look at all the dirt and gossip, but because it's a really detailed and interesting look at the business of fashion. The complications of creating, developing and presenting a new look from start to finish. The difficulties of staying fashionable in a world where trends dissolve almost from the moment they're created. The demands and difficulties of the industry are outlined in detail. It's a surprisingly unglamorous look at the world of fashion and good reading, I would think, for anyone considering a career in the field.
June 12, 2007
So badly written! I thought this book would be a fun, trashy read, if only for the fashion gossip, but it was a big disappointment.
September 15, 2013
A decent trashy read. Interesting to read six years after publication as everything that was on trend, current and relevant in 2006 seems so outdated!
July 16, 2016
This is a very odd book with a very misleading cover. Everything about the book's presentation suggests it is non-fiction - the photographic cover, the subtitle, the Candace Bushnell blurb. Even the addition of the co-author Anonymous suggests a tell-all. But it is not. It s a fictionalized story of a fictional designer who doesn't do much but sit around expounding on gossip the author has clearly picked up from others. The narrative frequently grinds to a halt so that Edwards-Jones can give a lesson on how mark-ups work or why sizing is done the way it is. The muddy, dull result is a book that is terrible fiction - all tell, no show - and not the least bit credible as non-fiction. It is just disingenuous to suggest that "Anonymous" deserves author's credit. At best, a few fashion people agreed to talk to the author and she is trading on that to give herself credibility.
The writing is pedantic and there is little story to speak of. It is all just in service of delivering dull gossip and warmed over fashion how-to advice. What a very strange book.
The writing is pedantic and there is little story to speak of. It is all just in service of delivering dull gossip and warmed over fashion how-to advice. What a very strange book.
August 21, 2007
It was insightful...but I could put it down...so a good read. (medium)
February 27, 2018
En prologue au roman, l’auteure précise que tout est vrai, les anecdotes et les personnes dont les noms ont été modifiés. Seule l’héroïne principale serait le fruit de son imagination. Eh bien ça déménage dans la haute couture ; un secteur rythmé par les ragots, les scandales, les coups tordus, l’alcool et la drogue (et accessoirement les 2 collections annuelles à créer). Un monde sans pitié où il faut se battre bec et ongles pour se faire une place et, surtout, la garder !
Ce roman se lit un peu comme un magazine people, une lecture idéale pour un weekend farniente à la plage ou cocooning à la maison. Les personnages sont très colorés, le rythme de la narration plutôt uniforme et la fin très feel-good. Ce n’est certes pas de la grande littérature, mais ce n’est pas ce qu’on lui demande.
Fashion circus, c’est un livre pétillant et mordant qui vous convaincra qu’acheter des pièces de créateur peut parfois être une grosse arnaque (cf. anecdote sur les vêtements vendus hors de prix qui proviennent parfois d’une boutique vintage de Notting Hill et qui n’ont pas toujours subi des modifications, si ce n’est la couture d’une nouvelle étiquette !).
Le livre est rempli d’explications sur les rouages qui se cachent derrière les paillettes et le glamour, notamment sur le plan du circuit de production et de vente, mais également de la stratégie commerciale pour gagner de l’argent dans un secteur où le prêt-à-porter rapporte très peu en réalité. On suit donc l’héroïne dans ses tribulations, elle qui envisage même de percer dans les « dérivés » (sac, parfum…).
J’ai beaucoup aimé apprendre comment se déroulait l’organisation d’un défilé lors de la Fashion Week — toutes les parties prenantes, les rémunérations astronomiques, les relations publiques (et diplomatiques avec les « scribouillardes », comprenez les rédactrices mode), ainsi que les relations avec les mannequins (une population très particulière), sans oublier les actrices.
Bref, une lecture éclairante et divertissante.
4 raisons de lire Fashion Circus :
> Découverte des coulisses franchement pas reluisantes de la haute couture
> Les innombrables anecdotes qui seraient véridiques
> Le quotidien difficile d’une jeune créatrice dans un secteur impitoyable
> Le ton piquant de la narration
Ce roman se lit un peu comme un magazine people, une lecture idéale pour un weekend farniente à la plage ou cocooning à la maison. Les personnages sont très colorés, le rythme de la narration plutôt uniforme et la fin très feel-good. Ce n’est certes pas de la grande littérature, mais ce n’est pas ce qu’on lui demande.
Fashion circus, c’est un livre pétillant et mordant qui vous convaincra qu’acheter des pièces de créateur peut parfois être une grosse arnaque (cf. anecdote sur les vêtements vendus hors de prix qui proviennent parfois d’une boutique vintage de Notting Hill et qui n’ont pas toujours subi des modifications, si ce n’est la couture d’une nouvelle étiquette !).
Le livre est rempli d’explications sur les rouages qui se cachent derrière les paillettes et le glamour, notamment sur le plan du circuit de production et de vente, mais également de la stratégie commerciale pour gagner de l’argent dans un secteur où le prêt-à-porter rapporte très peu en réalité. On suit donc l’héroïne dans ses tribulations, elle qui envisage même de percer dans les « dérivés » (sac, parfum…).
J’ai beaucoup aimé apprendre comment se déroulait l’organisation d’un défilé lors de la Fashion Week — toutes les parties prenantes, les rémunérations astronomiques, les relations publiques (et diplomatiques avec les « scribouillardes », comprenez les rédactrices mode), ainsi que les relations avec les mannequins (une population très particulière), sans oublier les actrices.
Bref, une lecture éclairante et divertissante.
4 raisons de lire Fashion Circus :
> Découverte des coulisses franchement pas reluisantes de la haute couture
> Les innombrables anecdotes qui seraient véridiques
> Le quotidien difficile d’une jeune créatrice dans un secteur impitoyable
> Le ton piquant de la narration
January 30, 2020
This book was an interesting read from the perspective that it is both fiction and non-fiction. The author focuses on tales from genuine fashion industry insiders to bring her fictional designer character to life, it was interesting to note that we never learnt her name throughout the whole story. The time spent with our designer takes us from a collection's beginnings to its time in the tents at a New York Fashion Week. It's a light read which is what I was after and more interesting because a lot it is true. I would recommend it to people interested in being part of the fashion design industry for a quick view of what life is like, the fun, the stress, the inspiration, the style and an insight for what its like at medium level success, what goes on behind the scenes with models and designers, as real life gossip is woven into the storyline.
December 25, 2023
1,5
Autorka nie mogła się zdecydować czy pisze reportażowe przedstawienie kulis świata mody czy gównianą, ale całkiem przyjemną trashy powieść z pikatnymi pudelkowymi anegdotkami. Wyszło coś mocno niekonsekwentnego. Narracja musiała non stop zatrzymywać się by przekazać czytelnikowi na przykład dane liczbowe albo fakty dotyczące tkanin. Samo w sobie nie byłoby to złe, to są nawet interesujące rzeczy, ale sam warsztat pisarski oraz to niezdecydowanie na to czym ta książka ma być bardzo szkodzą. Fabuła kuleje, wiele wątków jest niedokończonych, a reportażowe fragmenty są w bardzo rażący sposób zupełnie od czapy.
Autorka nie mogła się zdecydować czy pisze reportażowe przedstawienie kulis świata mody czy gównianą, ale całkiem przyjemną trashy powieść z pikatnymi pudelkowymi anegdotkami. Wyszło coś mocno niekonsekwentnego. Narracja musiała non stop zatrzymywać się by przekazać czytelnikowi na przykład dane liczbowe albo fakty dotyczące tkanin. Samo w sobie nie byłoby to złe, to są nawet interesujące rzeczy, ale sam warsztat pisarski oraz to niezdecydowanie na to czym ta książka ma być bardzo szkodzą. Fabuła kuleje, wiele wątków jest niedokończonych, a reportażowe fragmenty są w bardzo rażący sposób zupełnie od czapy.
June 29, 2022
I fancied something much lighter after a few murder / thrillers so turned to this book on the bookshelf. And I wasnt disappointed. This book couldnt have been more different. A light and frothy look at how fashion designers and their associated entourage go about launching a new line, live life, live the dream! Very easy reading with lots of name dropping and salacious gossip - whats not to like. Whizzed through this in a couple of days and didnt regret any minute of it!
May 3, 2025
This book is the book that got me into reading again, found it in a charity shop and it caught my eye so I gave it a chance and it allowed me to rediscover my love for reading.
This book gives you an insight into the intense, exciting, trashy world of fashion, where sleep fears you, you’re living off of coffee and cigarettes, attending dinner parties where no one eats anything and you can pretty much guarantee everyone’s on coke!
This book gives you an insight into the intense, exciting, trashy world of fashion, where sleep fears you, you’re living off of coffee and cigarettes, attending dinner parties where no one eats anything and you can pretty much guarantee everyone’s on coke!
March 30, 2020
Not my favourite of the Babylon books, (that was Hotel), probably because I've never had any overlap with the world of fashion. I like the fact that everything within the novel is based on real life events, just adapted to fall within one story. Enjoyable but can't see myself rereading it any time soon.
June 11, 2024
Edwards-Jones has a marvelous way of collapsing, colliding and colluding as she assembles scuttlebutt into a single pov narrative. I've really appreciated her Hotel Babylon and Restaurant Babylon but it was Project Runway that reminded me of Fashion Babylon, on my tbr for 10 or 15 years. And now Fashion Babylon is a film, must see.
March 26, 2018
I didn't think this was as good as Air Babylon, or Hospital Babylon. I think because I'm not much into fashion, a lot of the designer and model references went over my head. I have Restaurant Babylon to read next, and I think I'll enjoy that much more.
November 7, 2022
Really enjoyed this book, it 100% gave me The Devil Wear Prada vibes & it had me guessing which brands the stories are based on the entire time. It was Gossip Girl meets fashion week in NYC and London!
August 9, 2025
3.5 ⭐ A cool insight into life inside the fashion industry! If this was pure fiction I would have wanted more from the story but knowing it was written in collaboration with anonymous fashion insiders gave it a tell-all/exposé element which made up for it.
April 5, 2018
Every fashionista should read this book. It gives you an exclusive look into the world of fashion. A great novel.
December 29, 2019
Quick, easy and a fun read!
Did not expect it to have a lot of humor in it which was nice, would actually read it again just for the laughs.
Did not expect it to have a lot of humor in it which was nice, would actually read it again just for the laughs.
January 25, 2020
Silly fun
December 4, 2021
Fun beach read. Cannot wait to read some of the other books from this author.
January 3, 2018
I have read quite a few of Edwards-jones' books and I felt that this one wasn't as strong as the others. Maybe it's because I'm not as interested in the secrets of the fashion industry, or maybe the 'secrets' revealed didn't really feel like secrets to me.
It's still interesting, but it might be a better read for someone who actually follows fashion.
It's still interesting, but it might be a better read for someone who actually follows fashion.
February 5, 2014
Fiction novel that provides a look inside the “glamorous” life of a fashion designer over the course of one season. I was hit with all the degradation, grittiness and unpleasantness that surrounds the fashion industry... sex, drugs, swearing, and alcohol abuse are all on full display. Lots of rumors rehashed, so everyone appears damaged in some way. Models especially are treated like cattle, but everyone is really being used by someone else.
That said, it was interesting to see the ins & outs of life on the inside of the fashion world. I gained insight into why things happen the way they do. This book was definitely worth reading for the insider’s view. For example, I was surprised that designers openly attend each other’s shows and purposely try to copy looks & themes. It seemed very much like high school with people trying to associate or disassociate themselves with others in an attempt to be cool and hip. I was also surprised to discover it was an open secret that designers “borrowed” from chain stores, markets and vintage shops, just swopping out their labels before sending things down the runway. It was also interesting to see the stylists, models, makeup people, dressers, seamstresses and other numerous support roles that have a hand in creating looks.
It was written in 2006, so it is a bit dated. There were several pointed Carrie Bradshaw references. It made me think that the name was purposely inserted as part of a contractual agreement - it felt like product placement. Victoria Beckham was also negatively named as a fashionista want-to-be several times. I wonder if the book was written when she was still trying to establish herself as a fashionista, if designers really don’t like her or if the author just didn’t like her.
Wished the dress on the book cover had been one of the major dresses mentioned in the book - like the silver & white dress.
Overall - A bit depressing, but interesting read.
That said, it was interesting to see the ins & outs of life on the inside of the fashion world. I gained insight into why things happen the way they do. This book was definitely worth reading for the insider’s view. For example, I was surprised that designers openly attend each other’s shows and purposely try to copy looks & themes. It seemed very much like high school with people trying to associate or disassociate themselves with others in an attempt to be cool and hip. I was also surprised to discover it was an open secret that designers “borrowed” from chain stores, markets and vintage shops, just swopping out their labels before sending things down the runway. It was also interesting to see the stylists, models, makeup people, dressers, seamstresses and other numerous support roles that have a hand in creating looks.
It was written in 2006, so it is a bit dated. There were several pointed Carrie Bradshaw references. It made me think that the name was purposely inserted as part of a contractual agreement - it felt like product placement. Victoria Beckham was also negatively named as a fashionista want-to-be several times. I wonder if the book was written when she was still trying to establish herself as a fashionista, if designers really don’t like her or if the author just didn’t like her.
Wished the dress on the book cover had been one of the major dresses mentioned in the book - like the silver & white dress.
Overall - A bit depressing, but interesting read.
July 26, 2011
For my full review please visit my blog: Material Girl review @ From the Shadows I Review
I found this book to be strangely addictive. No matter how much I wanted to I just couldn't put the book down, I was afraid that my mum was going to have to prise it from my cold, sleeping self. I'm not sure I believe the stories even though it says that they are based on truth but it was interesting to see what a designer has to do in the run up to showing off their collection. I felt that the overall standard of the writing was good but a few of the author's habits started to annoy me a bit towards the end of the book.
As far as characters go I'm not entirely sure that they matter because this book is more about the process of creating a runway collection and not the people that it involves. Saying that though I feel as though I should point out that I found the characters to be very forgettable. I finished the book mere hours ago and I can't tell you anything about them. That's probably the least complimentary thing I can say but unfortunately it's true.
Overall this is probably a great reader for women (and men) who have dreams of breaking into the fashion industry or even if they're just curious as to what goes on behind closed doors. I personally didn't like the chapter lengths, I felt that they were too long and my attention would dwindle in the middle of them. I still enjoyed the book even though it's completely different to what I normally read.
I found this book to be strangely addictive. No matter how much I wanted to I just couldn't put the book down, I was afraid that my mum was going to have to prise it from my cold, sleeping self. I'm not sure I believe the stories even though it says that they are based on truth but it was interesting to see what a designer has to do in the run up to showing off their collection. I felt that the overall standard of the writing was good but a few of the author's habits started to annoy me a bit towards the end of the book.
As far as characters go I'm not entirely sure that they matter because this book is more about the process of creating a runway collection and not the people that it involves. Saying that though I feel as though I should point out that I found the characters to be very forgettable. I finished the book mere hours ago and I can't tell you anything about them. That's probably the least complimentary thing I can say but unfortunately it's true.
Overall this is probably a great reader for women (and men) who have dreams of breaking into the fashion industry or even if they're just curious as to what goes on behind closed doors. I personally didn't like the chapter lengths, I felt that they were too long and my attention would dwindle in the middle of them. I still enjoyed the book even though it's completely different to what I normally read.
July 20, 2010
I haven't read fiction for a while and this is kind of non-fiction wrapped in fiction. Since I am going into the high-end retail line soon (albeit as an IT person), I thought I better start reading a little to understand about the business. I always think you have to know those people better to understand their context and their user requirements!
Every reviewer seems to say the book is stating the truth which then makes it a fairly decent book for a guy who's not that into fashion. We all know about the drug issues and the weight issues but it does not really harm me repeating them in the context of this book. The harshest critics seem to be focused on the book repeating what's already known.
I thought it's quite useful to know about the players and the personalities behind them. Things like knowing there are only a few buyers from the Asia-Pacific region helps give me some context of which high-end retail work out from our region. The business split of LV was highly informative and useful and knowing Moet sponsors fashion parties after the shows is good information. Very highly recommended for IT geeks like me entering this industry but I won't place that much trust in those numbers. Anonymous and the authors are probably hearing the numbers through hear-says rather than being anal about checking the accuracies because the majority of the audience are not reading the book to join the high-end retail industry as an IT person.
Every reviewer seems to say the book is stating the truth which then makes it a fairly decent book for a guy who's not that into fashion. We all know about the drug issues and the weight issues but it does not really harm me repeating them in the context of this book. The harshest critics seem to be focused on the book repeating what's already known.
I thought it's quite useful to know about the players and the personalities behind them. Things like knowing there are only a few buyers from the Asia-Pacific region helps give me some context of which high-end retail work out from our region. The business split of LV was highly informative and useful and knowing Moet sponsors fashion parties after the shows is good information. Very highly recommended for IT geeks like me entering this industry but I won't place that much trust in those numbers. Anonymous and the authors are probably hearing the numbers through hear-says rather than being anal about checking the accuracies because the majority of the audience are not reading the book to join the high-end retail industry as an IT person.
April 15, 2010
Fashion Babylon is one of those books where you go into it thinking that it's a documentary, but it reads like a scandalous tell-all. It's supposed to be a story of an up and coming fashion designer who has to work in the trials and tribulations of the industry. The events are said to be true, but the fashion designer herself is fictionalized.
I'll say it straight out - I didn't like the diction of the work, after finishing the book in its entirety. For the first several chapters, I could handle it, but to realize that most of the book is written that way, I found it jarring to read (though the narrator of the audiobook seemed to work with it fine).
It was fairly repetitive in spurts with some of the same issues addressed (drunkeness and drug usage, anyone?). I would have liked it more if the discussion focused the actual building of the fashion career and connectivity rather than meandering between scandal, industry, and then long winded predictable tangents before repeating that cycle.
I would just give it two stars - I did learn a few things from this book, but if you're looking for a more suitable documentary book on the fashion industry - this isn't something I would recommend.
I'll say it straight out - I didn't like the diction of the work, after finishing the book in its entirety. For the first several chapters, I could handle it, but to realize that most of the book is written that way, I found it jarring to read (though the narrator of the audiobook seemed to work with it fine).
It was fairly repetitive in spurts with some of the same issues addressed (drunkeness and drug usage, anyone?). I would have liked it more if the discussion focused the actual building of the fashion career and connectivity rather than meandering between scandal, industry, and then long winded predictable tangents before repeating that cycle.
I would just give it two stars - I did learn a few things from this book, but if you're looking for a more suitable documentary book on the fashion industry - this isn't something I would recommend.
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