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How to Dress a Dummy
‘Cassie Lane is a bold new voice. This darkly comic take on life in the fashion industry will leave you howling with both laughter and tears.’
CLEMENTINE FORD
How to Dress a Dummy casts an unwavering eye at the myriad ways in which women are taught that they’re not enough. Smart, frank and very, very funny, Cassie’s is a bold new feminist voice.
For as long as she could remember, Cassie Lane yearned to be somebody else. Not only was she socially awkward, she was odd-looking and her dysfunctional family were the type of people who bonded over stealing their Christmas tree every year.
Miraculously, at sixteen, Cassie’s prayers were answered and she got boobs – big ones! Suddenly the centre of attention, she went from gawky bogan to international model, strutting catwalks from Milan to LA. But beneath the gloss she discovered a world of exploitation, where living off your looks can attract as much scorn as admiration. Her search for a version of herself she could actually like took her from Hollywood parties, to an island ashram, and reluctantly back into the spotlight as an AFL ‘WAG’, a position where one wrong step can get you labelled a ‘slut’, ‘skank’ and ‘stripper’.
In time the gawky bogan came full circle, and Cassie grew to understand that beauty is not about high cheekbones or a 24-inch waist. True beauty is found in the imperfect and vulnerable.
CLEMENTINE FORD
How to Dress a Dummy casts an unwavering eye at the myriad ways in which women are taught that they’re not enough. Smart, frank and very, very funny, Cassie’s is a bold new feminist voice.
For as long as she could remember, Cassie Lane yearned to be somebody else. Not only was she socially awkward, she was odd-looking and her dysfunctional family were the type of people who bonded over stealing their Christmas tree every year.
Miraculously, at sixteen, Cassie’s prayers were answered and she got boobs – big ones! Suddenly the centre of attention, she went from gawky bogan to international model, strutting catwalks from Milan to LA. But beneath the gloss she discovered a world of exploitation, where living off your looks can attract as much scorn as admiration. Her search for a version of herself she could actually like took her from Hollywood parties, to an island ashram, and reluctantly back into the spotlight as an AFL ‘WAG’, a position where one wrong step can get you labelled a ‘slut’, ‘skank’ and ‘stripper’.
In time the gawky bogan came full circle, and Cassie grew to understand that beauty is not about high cheekbones or a 24-inch waist. True beauty is found in the imperfect and vulnerable.
- GenresNonfiction
274 pages, Paperback
First published June 17, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
October 25, 2017
I loved this book so much that I actually had to force myself to only read 20-30 pages a night, so I could have something to look forward to read in bed for as long as possible.
The insights about footballers' wives, the modelling industry and especially the 1% in LA were so interesting.
BUY!
The insights about footballers' wives, the modelling industry and especially the 1% in LA were so interesting.
BUY!
October 15, 2017
‘I was a weird kid.’
I wasn’t sure quite what to expect when I picked up this book. While I vaguely remembered hearing Cassie Lane’s name, I certainly had no detailed recollections. But I was intrigued by this sub-heading on the cover:
‘From international model to worst dressed at the Brownlow. How I learned to love imperfection.’
So who is Cassie Lane? She was an international model, an ex-girlfriend of Collingwood AFL player Alan Didak, and has completed degrees in Creative Writing and Editing, and in Communications and Psychology. This book is both memoir and exploration of image. Cassie explores both her own self-image, as well as her projected public image.
As so many of us do, Cassie grew up feeling like she didn’t fit in. She describes, often with self-deprecating humour, various mishaps as a child and as an adolescent. And then, at age 16, Cassie developed large breasts. She was tall and otherwise slender. A career as a model, with work overseas, beckons.
In this book, Cassie writes of the unreal (and unrealistic) world models so frequently inhabit. She writes of the (seemingly) endless partying, of the pressure, of the drugs. She also writes of the vulnerability, of living only in the moment, of surviving some pretty bad lifestyle choices. I began to think that Cassie must be invincible, but decided instead that she was very fortunate to survive.
And that’s the key to this memoir. Cassie is reminded, brutally at times, that modelling is work for young women. I felt uncomfortable at times while reading this book. My inner judgemental parent wanted Cassie to make different choices earlier. My inner awkward teenaged self could relate to not fitting in, to a certain herd instinct and wanting to belong. You are smart, I wanted to say, you have other choices. You are a valuable person, not a saleable product. And I’m not going to mention the hazards of pubic shaving with a rusty razor, or bedbugs.
By the end of the book, I was cheering for Cassie. She’d survived the rampant sexism and objectification of the modelling industry, the very public life which is part of being the girlfriend of an AFL star, and acquired insight along the way.
I closed this book, happy that I’d read it and pleased that Cassie Lane had made a new life for herself. I enjoyed her humour and could relate to more aspects of her journey than I would have thought possible at the beginning. Congratulations, Cassie! I hope to read more of your work in future.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
I wasn’t sure quite what to expect when I picked up this book. While I vaguely remembered hearing Cassie Lane’s name, I certainly had no detailed recollections. But I was intrigued by this sub-heading on the cover:
‘From international model to worst dressed at the Brownlow. How I learned to love imperfection.’
So who is Cassie Lane? She was an international model, an ex-girlfriend of Collingwood AFL player Alan Didak, and has completed degrees in Creative Writing and Editing, and in Communications and Psychology. This book is both memoir and exploration of image. Cassie explores both her own self-image, as well as her projected public image.
As so many of us do, Cassie grew up feeling like she didn’t fit in. She describes, often with self-deprecating humour, various mishaps as a child and as an adolescent. And then, at age 16, Cassie developed large breasts. She was tall and otherwise slender. A career as a model, with work overseas, beckons.
In this book, Cassie writes of the unreal (and unrealistic) world models so frequently inhabit. She writes of the (seemingly) endless partying, of the pressure, of the drugs. She also writes of the vulnerability, of living only in the moment, of surviving some pretty bad lifestyle choices. I began to think that Cassie must be invincible, but decided instead that she was very fortunate to survive.
And that’s the key to this memoir. Cassie is reminded, brutally at times, that modelling is work for young women. I felt uncomfortable at times while reading this book. My inner judgemental parent wanted Cassie to make different choices earlier. My inner awkward teenaged self could relate to not fitting in, to a certain herd instinct and wanting to belong. You are smart, I wanted to say, you have other choices. You are a valuable person, not a saleable product. And I’m not going to mention the hazards of pubic shaving with a rusty razor, or bedbugs.
By the end of the book, I was cheering for Cassie. She’d survived the rampant sexism and objectification of the modelling industry, the very public life which is part of being the girlfriend of an AFL star, and acquired insight along the way.
I closed this book, happy that I’d read it and pleased that Cassie Lane had made a new life for herself. I enjoyed her humour and could relate to more aspects of her journey than I would have thought possible at the beginning. Congratulations, Cassie! I hope to read more of your work in future.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
February 12, 2018
Never have I been so happy to be average looking!!! I really enjoyed this book, it’s well written and honest.
June 28, 2017
Could not put this down from the first page... Relatable and downright hilarious from the word go, this book provides fascinating insight into elite social cultures all around the globe whilst also managing to convey some really important messages about the many ways we women internalise sexism, often without even realising it. Expect a whole lot of profanity and laugh-out-loud stories as you're taken on Cassie Lane's journey from a gawky young girl to a beautiful, accomplished model/writer.
July 29, 2017
Ironically, I absolutely (mis) judged this book by its cover. This book is written in a way that is articulate, insightful and hilarious. Some very scary observations about our society.
July 12, 2017
I read this from cover to cover in one sitting. Laugh out loud funny, 'How to Dress a Dummy' not only offers a hilarious insight into the world of international modelling but Cassie’s life story is one which many women will relate to. Her journey of self-discovery highlights the struggle loads of young women face throughout their 20’s and 30’s as we endeavour to set and enforce our own boundaries and discover who we are and what values are really important to us. Sometimes its wild and sometimes it’s sad; but there’s definitely never a dull moment!
July 29, 2017
This was a really enjoyable debut! It's a memoir, it's about the modelling industry, society's beauty standards, WAG/AFL culture and feminism. Cassie Lane has a great voice and is clearly a good writer. A lot of publicity for this book has been about the chapters where she talks about her relationship with a high-profile football player -but this section doesn't appear in the book until the second last chapter, so the book is about so much more than football. Having said that, the football chapters were some of my favourite and most fascinating/outrageous chapters in the book. I wish she had dedicated a few more chapters and removed a couple of modelling chapters because Cassie has a lot of great things to say about a highly misogynistic culture.
August 13, 2017
Brilliantly honest, unapologetically bold and fascinating. My respect for Cassie and everything she, and all women go through, is exponential.
March 13, 2018
" ‘Time is finite for pretty girls,’ the man said, as if he were an oracle handing out wisdom for free. ‘You should grab the opportunity while it’s available. If you get what I’m saying?’ He winked like we were sharing a dirty secret.
At first his words filled me with dread. Was he right? Was it only a matter of time before I would become invisible? But then, as this man continued to talk, eyes flicking towards my chest, I shone an empirical light on the things he was saying and I realised that they were utter bullshit. From far away, a ghost may seem scary, but when you examine it up close, it’s just your dead grandpa in an old bed sheet. (220)"
Don’t let your daughter be a model, even if, like Cassie Lane, she has loads of brains and magical healing powers. I’ll never look at a dewy-eyed model in a field of wildflowers again without thinking of cocaine and Xanax, anorexia and bulimia, castings like racehorse sales and the sort of men who infest bars where models go with their free-drink cards. With her dishevelled blonde beauty and large breasts Cassie tended to work the sexier end of the market, but even the top-end catwalk models live in a world ruled by the fear of getting “fat” (normal weight) and swarming with human sharks of all kinds.
This is a funny, savage account of life in the modelling fast lane and the vacuous star-world of Los Angeles. For Australian readers, there’s extra interest in the fact that Lane, when she returned to Australia, was the girlfriend of a well-known footballer. We get the inside story of this hyper-macho world and the enabling role of the WAGS (Wives And Girlfriends). When Cassie’s boyfriend gets drunk and abusive in public, accusing her of being a slut because she’s talking to another man, the anger of the club and WAGS is directed at Cassie because she, somehow, has created the situation.
"…It wasn’t dismay at Alan’s behaviour that turned their eyes to slits and made them shake their heads. It was condemnation because I couldn’t keep my man calm. And disbelief that I was still there antagonising him. Alan had been fine until I’d arrived. If I left, he’d revert to his boys-will-be-boys antics. One WAG gasped loudly and turned to her friend, shaking her head." (237)
In this world, women are either WAG material or sluts. They have to bare enough to be desirable, so bringing kudos to their men, but not enough to be a whore. They have to smile through any kind of gross behaviour from their men because “they’re under such pressure.”
"Things would be going well between us and then Alan would go back to training. By the end of each day, his attitude would change. I was writing an essay on schizophrenia at the time and I empathised with psychiatrists from my case studies. I too was attempting to sway an individual who initially listened to me, only to go away and heed other voices, returning inculcated and certain that I was the devil." (238)
Don’t let your sons be big-league footballers, either. This is the sort of man they learn to be, and in the end, like the models, they’re expendable. How do they get to be human beings again?
There’s a lot to think about in this book, not only the pernicious effect on women of our appearance-obsessed culture, and the deep vulnerability of sexually-attractive women, but also the effect on men of groups built around the physicality of maleness.
Cassie was smart enough, gritty enough, and bolshie enough to make a new life where she uses her brains rather than her body. Not everyone has that. The book is full of stories of beautiful girls who fell by the wayside. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s very serious.
At first his words filled me with dread. Was he right? Was it only a matter of time before I would become invisible? But then, as this man continued to talk, eyes flicking towards my chest, I shone an empirical light on the things he was saying and I realised that they were utter bullshit. From far away, a ghost may seem scary, but when you examine it up close, it’s just your dead grandpa in an old bed sheet. (220)"
Don’t let your daughter be a model, even if, like Cassie Lane, she has loads of brains and magical healing powers. I’ll never look at a dewy-eyed model in a field of wildflowers again without thinking of cocaine and Xanax, anorexia and bulimia, castings like racehorse sales and the sort of men who infest bars where models go with their free-drink cards. With her dishevelled blonde beauty and large breasts Cassie tended to work the sexier end of the market, but even the top-end catwalk models live in a world ruled by the fear of getting “fat” (normal weight) and swarming with human sharks of all kinds.
This is a funny, savage account of life in the modelling fast lane and the vacuous star-world of Los Angeles. For Australian readers, there’s extra interest in the fact that Lane, when she returned to Australia, was the girlfriend of a well-known footballer. We get the inside story of this hyper-macho world and the enabling role of the WAGS (Wives And Girlfriends). When Cassie’s boyfriend gets drunk and abusive in public, accusing her of being a slut because she’s talking to another man, the anger of the club and WAGS is directed at Cassie because she, somehow, has created the situation.
"…It wasn’t dismay at Alan’s behaviour that turned their eyes to slits and made them shake their heads. It was condemnation because I couldn’t keep my man calm. And disbelief that I was still there antagonising him. Alan had been fine until I’d arrived. If I left, he’d revert to his boys-will-be-boys antics. One WAG gasped loudly and turned to her friend, shaking her head." (237)
In this world, women are either WAG material or sluts. They have to bare enough to be desirable, so bringing kudos to their men, but not enough to be a whore. They have to smile through any kind of gross behaviour from their men because “they’re under such pressure.”
"Things would be going well between us and then Alan would go back to training. By the end of each day, his attitude would change. I was writing an essay on schizophrenia at the time and I empathised with psychiatrists from my case studies. I too was attempting to sway an individual who initially listened to me, only to go away and heed other voices, returning inculcated and certain that I was the devil." (238)
Don’t let your sons be big-league footballers, either. This is the sort of man they learn to be, and in the end, like the models, they’re expendable. How do they get to be human beings again?
There’s a lot to think about in this book, not only the pernicious effect on women of our appearance-obsessed culture, and the deep vulnerability of sexually-attractive women, but also the effect on men of groups built around the physicality of maleness.
Cassie was smart enough, gritty enough, and bolshie enough to make a new life where she uses her brains rather than her body. Not everyone has that. The book is full of stories of beautiful girls who fell by the wayside. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s very serious.
August 29, 2017
The reason I purchased this book was the line above the heading.
As I am currently going through my own “body image” issues, I thought that this would be something I could relate to. Well the book didn’t really go into the detail as I thought it would but it still was quite a good read.
What this book does go into, is the life of an international model and the extraordinary and sometimes dangerous expectations that are placed on them. Through Cassie you learn that a model’s life is a hard one, one that I wouldn’t want to go through.
The book starts off with Cassie and her family life. Her parents split up and her Mum becomes a single mum bringing up 3 children in Mulgrave, Victoria. Um, life is quite interesting to say the least! Cassie doesn’t hold back and there were quite a few laugh out loud moments for me as she describes what this part of her life was like.
Like her family stealing Christmas Trees and swearing and calling each other names. She also describes her life as growing up as not being “popular” at school (this I can relate to) and how her brother and her got into drugs and alcohol at a young age. This was also the time she started to change from a gangly kid to a teenager with an “E” size bust.
From here she was discovered and got into modelling. From here, Cassie goes on to describe how hard life is being a (catalogue) model. The ridiculous weight the agencies want the models to be and the insecurities of everyone. You find what life is like as she tells you stories of meeting the rich and famous and the parties that she goes to. In saying that, there was a lot of this in the story, drugs/drink/party/drugs/drink/party. It did get a bit repetitive and I tended to skip over a few of these parts of the book.
I would have liked her to go a bit more in depth with the modelling world itself and not what happens on the periphery of it. But there were some interesting peeks into it, but not as much as I would have liked.
This book is a raw and what I believe to be a truthful and heartfelt story of her life. She opens up and tells you how much drugs and drinking that goes on, she tells you about her life with an AFL footballer and how badly she was treated by him. She talks about her own insecurities and how finally she came to accept herself for herself.
I really did enjoy this book and had some good chuckles whilst reading it. Towards the end I found that I couldn’t wait to open it whilst on the train to and from work. It is full of profanities, so bear that in mind if you don’t like swearing, but overall I really liked it.
I give this a 4 out 5 stars.
From international model to worst dressed at the Brownlow, how I learned to love imprefection.
As I am currently going through my own “body image” issues, I thought that this would be something I could relate to. Well the book didn’t really go into the detail as I thought it would but it still was quite a good read.
What this book does go into, is the life of an international model and the extraordinary and sometimes dangerous expectations that are placed on them. Through Cassie you learn that a model’s life is a hard one, one that I wouldn’t want to go through.
The book starts off with Cassie and her family life. Her parents split up and her Mum becomes a single mum bringing up 3 children in Mulgrave, Victoria. Um, life is quite interesting to say the least! Cassie doesn’t hold back and there were quite a few laugh out loud moments for me as she describes what this part of her life was like.
Like her family stealing Christmas Trees and swearing and calling each other names. She also describes her life as growing up as not being “popular” at school (this I can relate to) and how her brother and her got into drugs and alcohol at a young age. This was also the time she started to change from a gangly kid to a teenager with an “E” size bust.
From here she was discovered and got into modelling. From here, Cassie goes on to describe how hard life is being a (catalogue) model. The ridiculous weight the agencies want the models to be and the insecurities of everyone. You find what life is like as she tells you stories of meeting the rich and famous and the parties that she goes to. In saying that, there was a lot of this in the story, drugs/drink/party/drugs/drink/party. It did get a bit repetitive and I tended to skip over a few of these parts of the book.
I would have liked her to go a bit more in depth with the modelling world itself and not what happens on the periphery of it. But there were some interesting peeks into it, but not as much as I would have liked.
This book is a raw and what I believe to be a truthful and heartfelt story of her life. She opens up and tells you how much drugs and drinking that goes on, she tells you about her life with an AFL footballer and how badly she was treated by him. She talks about her own insecurities and how finally she came to accept herself for herself.
I really did enjoy this book and had some good chuckles whilst reading it. Towards the end I found that I couldn’t wait to open it whilst on the train to and from work. It is full of profanities, so bear that in mind if you don’t like swearing, but overall I really liked it.
I give this a 4 out 5 stars.
January 2, 2019
The thing I loved the most about this book is Cassie’s vulnerability. I’ve recently read Gisele Bundchen book and found it lack substance. This book unashamedly
delves into the not so glamorous side of modelling and the journey the author went through as a result of her experiences. She has scars like the rest of us do and hers are no different- she embraces them rather than runs away from them (something we could all learn to do!).
I couldn’t put it down which for me is a great sign of a good book
delves into the not so glamorous side of modelling and the journey the author went through as a result of her experiences. She has scars like the rest of us do and hers are no different- she embraces them rather than runs away from them (something we could all learn to do!).
I couldn’t put it down which for me is a great sign of a good book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2019
From page one, it is clear that Cassie Lane is no dummy. With humour, insight and colourful language, she leads the reader through her gawky adolescence, her not-so-glamorous life as an international model and her return to Australia.
Cassie never pretends that a model’s life is a fairy tale. She offsets parties with the hangover, lovers with the lovers’ quarrels, glamour with the overgrown bikini line. She remains likeable despite, or perhaps because of her failings. Whether she knew it at the time or not, in the writing, she acknowledges when her behaviour is selfish, unfaithful or bitchy, which kept me onside throughout. I longed for her to come out the other side of her growing pains.
Cassie shines a light on the beauty industry, revealing how it exploits women, particularly those with low self-esteem. She shows how a young girl longing to be loved can interpret any attention as making her worthy – being asked for an autograph by adoring fans, appearing on a magazine cover or being selected for a reality TV show. If nothing else, she’s no longer invisible. Never mind that she has to starve herself to stay rail thin, so she smokes several packs of cigarettes to stave off the hunger. She takes cocaine to fit into the party scene and Zanex to dull the edges of the come down after the high. And then there’s the cosmetic surgery that leaves lifelong scars. A cautionary tale for sure.
It takes several epiphanies before Cassie finally hangs up her stilettos, only to fall into life as a WAG (wives and girlfriends of Australian Rules football player.)
After completing a Masters in Creative Writing, she now works in a different realm. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.
Cassie never pretends that a model’s life is a fairy tale. She offsets parties with the hangover, lovers with the lovers’ quarrels, glamour with the overgrown bikini line. She remains likeable despite, or perhaps because of her failings. Whether she knew it at the time or not, in the writing, she acknowledges when her behaviour is selfish, unfaithful or bitchy, which kept me onside throughout. I longed for her to come out the other side of her growing pains.
Cassie shines a light on the beauty industry, revealing how it exploits women, particularly those with low self-esteem. She shows how a young girl longing to be loved can interpret any attention as making her worthy – being asked for an autograph by adoring fans, appearing on a magazine cover or being selected for a reality TV show. If nothing else, she’s no longer invisible. Never mind that she has to starve herself to stay rail thin, so she smokes several packs of cigarettes to stave off the hunger. She takes cocaine to fit into the party scene and Zanex to dull the edges of the come down after the high. And then there’s the cosmetic surgery that leaves lifelong scars. A cautionary tale for sure.
It takes several epiphanies before Cassie finally hangs up her stilettos, only to fall into life as a WAG (wives and girlfriends of Australian Rules football player.)
After completing a Masters in Creative Writing, she now works in a different realm. I can’t wait to see what she writes next.
August 28, 2017
I'm a big fan of memoirs and this one was much better than I expected, funny and very well written. Nice easy read and found her insight into what the modeling industry is really like to be very interesting.
July 26, 2017
This book is written by an ex-WAG (girlfriend of an AFL player) and former international model (although not editorial due to her having large breasts, so she does swimwear, commercials and men's magazines). The promotion on the cover claims the author is a bold new feminist voice and that true beauty is found in the imperfect and vulnerable - but I didn't find that theme in this book. It was rather, Cassie's memoir, rather than a reflection on beauty. At 16 she grows boobs on her stick-thin body and suddenly is travelling the world as a model but I found it repetitive....Cassie's world of partying, drugs, and more partying and drugs. I didn't think it provided true insight or depth into the beauty or the modelling industry.
I would have like to heard more about her experience as a WAG which I found the best part of the book and the most insightful into high powered male cultures where men are worshipped and women are in the background as support (although still must a status symbol by their beauty as that is what women are valued for). I did find her funny though and she kept me reading so I give it 3 out of 5.
I would have like to heard more about her experience as a WAG which I found the best part of the book and the most insightful into high powered male cultures where men are worshipped and women are in the background as support (although still must a status symbol by their beauty as that is what women are valued for). I did find her funny though and she kept me reading so I give it 3 out of 5.
November 2, 2017
The thing I enjoyed about this book was getting a glimpse of what models have to go through with their jobs, As I have never experienced that side of life before. I read an article in the Herald Sun as there was a story about WAGS in the AFL. Well i was expecting there to be more than 1 or 2 pages in her book about this. I didn't find much else to like about the book. I'm curious as to why Cassie got drunk and took drugs heavily in her modelling career but criticized others for doing this, that's just the feel I got from the book. Also, she hated how people were criticizing her and her friends about their weight, but she was also looking at others and thinking that they could improve by losing weight.... So i'm not sure what all that was about.
June 3, 2023
“Did these girls feel, like often did l, that they were drowning? Were they trying to keep their heads above the rising tide? By grabbing hold of things they thought would be there. Sometimes I felt I was so close to clutching it. But it would be too slippery and I’d slide back into the darkness. Because what I was trying to grab wasn’t real. It was an illusion.”
I didn’t think I would necessarily relate to a book about the beauty industry, but I found the dazzling international model parts of the story entertaining, so different from my lifestyle and by the time I came to this quote I felt that anyone could relate.
It is about self worth and how both the world we live in and our own perceptions can diminish it.
Such an entertaining, humorous truthful and heartfelt memoir.
I didn’t think I would necessarily relate to a book about the beauty industry, but I found the dazzling international model parts of the story entertaining, so different from my lifestyle and by the time I came to this quote I felt that anyone could relate.
It is about self worth and how both the world we live in and our own perceptions can diminish it.
Such an entertaining, humorous truthful and heartfelt memoir.
July 30, 2018
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. I wasn't really sure what to expect as, yes there is a blurb, but the stereotypes of models and the stereotypes of writers generally don't match up. It was brutally honest and there are definitely serious moments, but it is often very funny with quite a dark humour. As it's written as an autobiography you follow the author as she finds herself needing to get away from the crazy fashion world (and LA), and as she realises just how unrealistic expectations for women's bodies and behaviour are. Worth the read.
December 10, 2021
A Hell of a book! Literally and, in a good way, metaphorically. Lane is a WRITER. She's writing about a train wreck of a life with an honesty that is at once confronting yet accessible. It's shocking and painful to read, yet she induces such empathy that the reader's hope is never extinguished. And finally, that hope is rewarded with a maturing awareness of her real self. On top of that, she's self-deprecating and frequently hilarious. Spoiler alert: the AFL doesn't get a good rap.
January 16, 2018
It was hard not to feel an overwhelming sense of #firstworldproblems from Lane whose apparent life lowpoint was being labelled worst dressed at the Brownlow. Quelle horreur. I found greater insight in her own ironic musings, "As a general rule, people don't like me when they first me. I'm not sure why exactly. Something about my aura, I guess." Maybe.
January 24, 2018
What a great read! Funny honest and well written. Highly recommend it was a great holiday read putting the spotlight on the modeling world and how cruel it can be to young women. Congratulations Cassie for making it through the other side and looking forward to your next book!
May 28, 2019
3+ stars. Brave, funny and scary. Never go into modelling - what an awful industry. Very strong critique of AFL culture. This was a journey into very different worlds for me and I admire Cassie's courage in this memoir.
April 15, 2023
One of the best memoirs I've read in a long time- I couldn't put it down. Cassie is so hilarious, authentic and intelligent, it's impossible not to love her character. The book has a beautiful message about self acceptance without being overly sentimental. I hope she writes another book!
October 25, 2017
A refreshingly honest, compelling and hilarious read- didn't want it to end!
September 27, 2018
An enjoyable, speedy read. Interesting to see someone's perspective and epiphanies from the inside of a repellant (to me; both fashion and AFL, actually) industry.
May 17, 2022
A story that alternates from tears, laughs and howls of rage.
Loved the name dropping.
Loved the name dropping.
December 26, 2025
Unputdownable! Fascinating and brutally honest look at the superficial expectations placed on women, mostly by fat, ugly, or insecure men....
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews