No One Has Seen It All: Lessons for Living Well from Nearly a Century of Good Taste

by Betty Halbreich

From the 96-year-old New York City legend, bestselling author, and iconic stylist Betty Halbreich comes this wise and witty collection of guidance to help people of all ages look, feel, and live their best.

For half a century, Betty Halbreich has been curating wardrobes and bearing witness to the vicissitudes of life as Bergdorf Goodman’s original personal shopper. Of course, visitors to the store are awed by a 96-year-old woman who still holds down a nine-to-five, let alone one in the youth-obsessed industry of fashion.

But age is only half the Betty has built this career by giving encouraging yet deeply honest advice. Much of it has been about what to wear, but her insight is by no means relegated only to matters of the closet. She is known for her good taste on many levels, from her immaculate Park Avenue apartment of 70-plus years to the fashion stars she’s helped discover and the looks she’s styled for iconic series like Sex and the City and Gossip Girl.

In short, Betty is in the unique position to dispense useful prescriptions on how to look good and live well at any age. In No One Has Seen It All, she collects her signature firm and frank guidance on relationships, careers, style, etiquette, and keeping house, as well as eloquent reflections on aging, solitude, and modern life. The result is a definitive dispatch from a powerful woman who still holds her head up high and wants you to do the same.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Fashion

208 pages, Hardcover

Published April 8, 2025

About the author

Betty Halbreich was an American personal shopper, stylist, and author known for her career at the New York luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman, where she served as Director of Solutions. Her 2015 memoir, titled I'll Drink to That: A Life in Style, with a Twist, was featured on The New York Times Best Seller list.

Reviews

[Toby Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.589658 stars rounded up
What a cute book to remind you of simpler times. There are some good nuggets of wisdom in here.

[Donna C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute read - I felt like it was kind of an advice column in book form. Betty Halbreich was a NY stylist who found her career in midlife, after raising her kids and losing her husband but she was iconic in her field. She wrote this book in the last 5 years of her life, and yes, this woman wrote a book in her 90s!

This book does have some fashion advice woven throughout the pages, but there’s a lot of other great tips too or guidance on living a good life.

A couple of notable thoughts I wrote down include:
“A smile makes anyone look wonderful”
“Books make the best decor”
“Give away your things before you’re dead”

Sadly she passed at 96 but this woman worked in her career until the end and she certainly lived a full life!

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think anything that a 96-year-old, especially one who still works, says is worth listening to. I found the insights into her upbringing, rituals, lifestyle, etc absolutely fascinating. Her motivation and thirst for life and living are inspirational and contagious. There were a fair amount of musings that weren't as inspiring to me but I did enjoy the book and would be interesting in reading her others via the library.
I was given a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Joni Greenwell Bycroft · Rating 1 out of 5]

Betty Halbreich lived a pretty organized, dust free life among her mothers very good linen. She lived in the same NY aprtment for over 70 years, and held on to fine clothing, got to work early and didnt appreciate people picking up their cell phones when they were with her. That was living well for her. So yeah. My life has dust. It's interesting dust. Because it keeps changing. The beauty is - we all get to live well - for ourselves.

[Tiger Mom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasnt sure what to expect on this - this was the sometimes painfully honest/ sometimes obviously guarded musings of a 96 yo woman who invented the concept of a “personal shopper”. I had hoped ( due to her age) to find more nuggets of wisdom than I did. She seemed like a kind but lonely person, trapped by self-imposed rules of decorum/ propriety ? She said she hoped to come back in her next life as a farmer and I hope this for her also.

[Marci M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a review copy. The chapter "On Dressing" is especially interesting and useful advice. The rest of the book is also well written but for a young reader. Older readers will probably find, as I did, that the advice has already been learned.

[Emily Tapio · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays, and I prefer a continuous narrative. Also not as entertaining as Betty’s memoirs. Still, a professionally successful woman who lived and worked to age 96 is bound to have some worthwhile things to say, and of course she does.

[Martin Ekeroth · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5, Betty verkar superklok och bra och intelligent och allt sånt, men den här boken blev mest som att lyssna på en gamling som ”reminiscar” om gamla minnen och inte riktigt fattar när det slutar vara intressant. Men kredd att fortsätta gå till jobbet som 96-åring!

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous as usual.

[Mrs Fieldmouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Betty's wit and wisdom shine through this short publication which might have been better suited to a weekly column, but is still a nice lens on life.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title says it all.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[fish_fin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating to read the perspective of a 96 year old on life.