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Silk for the Feed Dogs
Some will do anything to see her fall… Kat Connelly, innovative designer and introspective daughter of an Irish farmer, is disappointed with her first job in fashion. She copies catwalk looks for the enigmatic Lynda Wynter, who runs a small label in London and relies on two things to self-medication and cheap Chinese production. Kat feels the lure of a higher aesthetic beckoning and escapes to Milan. As Italy's imminent smoking ban looms darkly over the land, Kat's personal world lights design and beauty are all around, dazzling and seducing, not to mention the overwhelming Italian male libido. She has claimed her slice of the bella vita and with it a sense of belonging she has yearned for since childhood. Of course, the bella vita comes at a price. When Kat is invited into the impenetrable House of Adriani to design their high-profile collection, she throws a cast-iron hierarchy into turmoil…
392 pages, Paperback
First published September 12, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 21, 2013
A compelling and humorous look at the world of fashion, Italian culture and the expatriate life.
Kat Connelly is an Irish farmer’s daughter, who through talent and desire, launches off to the famous fashion school, Central St. Martin’s, in London. Her graduation from St. Martin’s is not all that Kat had hoped but, after a brief interlude with a tyrannical knock-off designer, she finds herself at the pinnacle of it all in Milan. It’s here that Kat begins to make her mark as she navigates the uncharted territories of Italian culture, romance, friendship, office politics and, eventually, the venerable House of Adriani – all while never losing her rural Irish sensibilities, which are sometimes quite at odds with fashion-forward Milan.
The author’s considerable descriptive abilities, her humor and her knack for sharp characterizations made this a thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish. It’s exciting, fun and interesting to follow Kat on all her adventures, and Mallon is an extremely talented author. I can’t wait to read more from her and highly recommend this book.
Kat Connelly is an Irish farmer’s daughter, who through talent and desire, launches off to the famous fashion school, Central St. Martin’s, in London. Her graduation from St. Martin’s is not all that Kat had hoped but, after a brief interlude with a tyrannical knock-off designer, she finds herself at the pinnacle of it all in Milan. It’s here that Kat begins to make her mark as she navigates the uncharted territories of Italian culture, romance, friendship, office politics and, eventually, the venerable House of Adriani – all while never losing her rural Irish sensibilities, which are sometimes quite at odds with fashion-forward Milan.
The author’s considerable descriptive abilities, her humor and her knack for sharp characterizations made this a thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish. It’s exciting, fun and interesting to follow Kat on all her adventures, and Mallon is an extremely talented author. I can’t wait to read more from her and highly recommend this book.
May 15, 2016
This debut novel by Jackie Mallon is a wonderful series of escapades by Kat Connelly, the daughter of an Irish dairy farmer, who hopes to make a name for herself in the fashion world. She starts in London with a crazy designer who essentially steals other people's designs and finds her way to Milan to eventually work at the top fashion house, the House of Adriani. Along the way, her gay friend Edward provides much support and contributes to as many antics as he can, and Kat finds herself being seduced by and seducing swoon-worthy young Italian men. Although the novel carries a fast pace, Mallon doesn't gloss over her characters. Kat is a keen observer, knowing that the best way to learn is from observing others' mistakes. But she is also empathetic. She doesn't set out to make enemies, but she understands the motives of those who choose to be her enemy. The fashion industry comes across as a rather back-stabbing environment: the friend you have today may be your enemy tomorrow if it helps her to climb the ladder. You have to admire Kat for keeping her wits about her (at least for the most part). Mallon also has a very wonderful, descriptive writing style. While she details the unsightly bulges of a woman wearing much too tight clothing, she draws that image with sympathy, revealing more about the woman than one could learn in a conversation. She likens farming fields to cashmere and the particular cut of a particular designer. It doesn't matter who. The words alone are evocative. I really enjoyed this novel and I hope Mallon has more in store for her readers.
October 20, 2013
Sharp humour and intelligent fun in an insider's view of the fashion world, especially in Milan.
My idea of fashion is to take off my gardening clothes and put on the 'tidy' ones I threw on the chair the day before, so if I like a novel set among designer collections, it's because it's entertaining and well-written. I found the book on a guest blog by the author, started reading and was hooked by the quality of the opening. I was also intrigued as to how the Irish farmer's daughter ended up with a top fashion house (fictional of course) and the story was very entertaining. The main characters were likeable, the fashion-house villains were satirized with enough imagination to keep the descriptions from becoming mere stereotypes and the incidental Irishisms from the heroine's background were so true to life. When times are hard, Kat's mother nags her to come home from Milan and get a safe job with the mobile hairdresser. Anyone with a creative occupation has faced that sort of suggestion!
Underlying the ephemera of trends and young beauty, is a craft I'd forgotten about. Although touched on lightly, details of design and sewing abound and 'the feed dogs' of the title do bite. When I was a girl in the 60s I used to make my own clothes and this novel brought back the pleasure of fabrics and fitting, pins and individuality. Despite myself, I came away from it with more respect for clothes and the people who design them, in addition to the pleasure of a fun read.
My idea of fashion is to take off my gardening clothes and put on the 'tidy' ones I threw on the chair the day before, so if I like a novel set among designer collections, it's because it's entertaining and well-written. I found the book on a guest blog by the author, started reading and was hooked by the quality of the opening. I was also intrigued as to how the Irish farmer's daughter ended up with a top fashion house (fictional of course) and the story was very entertaining. The main characters were likeable, the fashion-house villains were satirized with enough imagination to keep the descriptions from becoming mere stereotypes and the incidental Irishisms from the heroine's background were so true to life. When times are hard, Kat's mother nags her to come home from Milan and get a safe job with the mobile hairdresser. Anyone with a creative occupation has faced that sort of suggestion!
Underlying the ephemera of trends and young beauty, is a craft I'd forgotten about. Although touched on lightly, details of design and sewing abound and 'the feed dogs' of the title do bite. When I was a girl in the 60s I used to make my own clothes and this novel brought back the pleasure of fabrics and fitting, pins and individuality. Despite myself, I came away from it with more respect for clothes and the people who design them, in addition to the pleasure of a fun read.
December 16, 2019
Irish fashion graduate samples Milan
Feed dogs are the metal teeth that draws the fabric under the needle so the thread can be pushed into the material. Okay, when it's linen or most cottons, but silk is a delicate material which occasionally the combination of the force of the needle and the continuing pull of the feed dogs results in the fabric being pulled into the machine. One trick, to prevent this, is to put white tissue paper between the fabric and the dogs. It gets sewn onto the silk but can be removed and this can make it take longer to complete a garment.
Kat is creative, impulsive and strong-minded, although fictional I feel the author is probably similar to Kat. After graduating, from the prestigious St. Martins College, Kat finds herself working in London at the lower end of fashion; designing and creating cheap copies of designer trends for the mass market in a company owned by a want-to-be fashion entrepreneur. Meanwhile, her best friend, Edward, has secured a job with a fashion house in Milan. Before long Kat joins him in Milan. The book gives the reader an irreverent inside view of; the city, the locals, and its fashion industry.
Feed dogs are the metal teeth that draws the fabric under the needle so the thread can be pushed into the material. Okay, when it's linen or most cottons, but silk is a delicate material which occasionally the combination of the force of the needle and the continuing pull of the feed dogs results in the fabric being pulled into the machine. One trick, to prevent this, is to put white tissue paper between the fabric and the dogs. It gets sewn onto the silk but can be removed and this can make it take longer to complete a garment.
Kat is creative, impulsive and strong-minded, although fictional I feel the author is probably similar to Kat. After graduating, from the prestigious St. Martins College, Kat finds herself working in London at the lower end of fashion; designing and creating cheap copies of designer trends for the mass market in a company owned by a want-to-be fashion entrepreneur. Meanwhile, her best friend, Edward, has secured a job with a fashion house in Milan. Before long Kat joins him in Milan. The book gives the reader an irreverent inside view of; the city, the locals, and its fashion industry.
June 26, 2018
This book feels more like a series of vignettes rather than a cohesive novel. It is an interesting look into the fashion world of Milan, but never quite hooked me as one event just tumbled into another without any real character growth
August 12, 2014
Disclaimer: received copy in exchange for honest review
I really liked this, more than I expected to. It opens a window into the world of fashion, a world with which I'm very unfamiliar. I like books that talk about people in jobs other than "writer" or "second-hand bookshop worker". (I swear to God, that trope is wearing very thin with me.) The writing is sharp and humorous. Mallon is a very observant author and her heroine Kat negotiates her way through a world it's clear her creator knows a lot about. In particular the passages in Italy made me feel as if I were there myself, without having to get on the plane to go there.
Kat is an Irish girl who studies fashion in an elite academy in London, then secures a job with the nightmarish Lynda Winter who is permanently off her face on a combination of medications. When this goes horribly wrong, she follows her friend Edward to Milan. The stories of Kat's various employers are hilarious, particularly the poker-up-the-fundament House of Adriani and its eponymous, psychotic leader, Signor Adriani himself. Her colleagues, acolytes of Signor Adriani dubbed "the Adroids", engage in so much back-stabbing and scheming it's hard to figure out when they get the time to design any clothes. Can Kat watch her own back and evade the plotting of the evil Arturo? Read more to find out...
Kat and Edward meet a lot of characters along the way, and this leads to my one quibble with the novel; I would have liked a more novelistic, dramatic form whereas this seems more like episodes, albeit very entertaining ones. People go in and out like...well...models on a runway. I also would have liked more about Kat's background - she seems attached to her father and yet her feelings about his death are a little glossed over. I do like that Kat and Edward's friendship is the mainstay of the book.
I really liked this, more than I expected to. It opens a window into the world of fashion, a world with which I'm very unfamiliar. I like books that talk about people in jobs other than "writer" or "second-hand bookshop worker". (I swear to God, that trope is wearing very thin with me.) The writing is sharp and humorous. Mallon is a very observant author and her heroine Kat negotiates her way through a world it's clear her creator knows a lot about. In particular the passages in Italy made me feel as if I were there myself, without having to get on the plane to go there.
Kat is an Irish girl who studies fashion in an elite academy in London, then secures a job with the nightmarish Lynda Winter who is permanently off her face on a combination of medications. When this goes horribly wrong, she follows her friend Edward to Milan. The stories of Kat's various employers are hilarious, particularly the poker-up-the-fundament House of Adriani and its eponymous, psychotic leader, Signor Adriani himself. Her colleagues, acolytes of Signor Adriani dubbed "the Adroids", engage in so much back-stabbing and scheming it's hard to figure out when they get the time to design any clothes. Can Kat watch her own back and evade the plotting of the evil Arturo? Read more to find out...
Kat and Edward meet a lot of characters along the way, and this leads to my one quibble with the novel; I would have liked a more novelistic, dramatic form whereas this seems more like episodes, albeit very entertaining ones. People go in and out like...well...models on a runway. I also would have liked more about Kat's background - she seems attached to her father and yet her feelings about his death are a little glossed over. I do like that Kat and Edward's friendship is the mainstay of the book.
August 12, 2016
I LOVE this book! Anyone who aspires to learn about style and fashion should read this, of course they should. It's an eye opening glimpse of a world that we only see through silk chiffon coloured lenses. This little book is a waft of fresh air that blows aside the curtains and lets us see what kind of dog eat dog world that the fashion industry truly is.
That said, not just those who love this industry will be drawn in. She's a brilliant writer. The plot is fascinating, the characters are well crafted and the setting...! Oh, it's as if you are there. London! Milan!
Just writing those words makes me want to run to the travel agent...
Jackie Mallon writes from experience and it shows in every page. It's not just about fashion. It's office politics, love and the lack of it, betrayal and how to face it with that stumbling grace we all share when we're young. She's crafted a fast paced, romantic novel that hooked me into it so thoroughly that as I got closer to the end, I read slower and slower. I didn't want it to END! I want more Kat!
That said, not just those who love this industry will be drawn in. She's a brilliant writer. The plot is fascinating, the characters are well crafted and the setting...! Oh, it's as if you are there. London! Milan!
Just writing those words makes me want to run to the travel agent...
Jackie Mallon writes from experience and it shows in every page. It's not just about fashion. It's office politics, love and the lack of it, betrayal and how to face it with that stumbling grace we all share when we're young. She's crafted a fast paced, romantic novel that hooked me into it so thoroughly that as I got closer to the end, I read slower and slower. I didn't want it to END! I want more Kat!
January 4, 2014
Real life insight into what working in the fashion industry is actually like. SO close to reality that I forgot i was reading fiction! Witty, charming and adventurous. I felt myself rolling my eyes at certain personalities and growing very attached to the main character. Can't wait for her next journey ;)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews