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Fashion is Spinach
Elizabeth Hawes is one of the best-known and most successful designers of smart women's clothes in America, and the undisputed leader of the small group of American designers who have challenged the style supremacy of Paris.
Miss Hawes' story is an adventure into every phase of the women's clothing industry, the second largest business in the United States. Her early struggles for recognition and her final leadership in helping to shift the center of the fashion industry from Paris to New York make a story that will appeal not only to the initiate, but to the thousands besides - and to their husbands.
"Consumers attention!" Elizabeth Hawes tells us that 'the deformed thief Fashion' steals the real value out of what we buy. She suggests a remedy. She makes a plea for functional and durable merchandise. Consumers want that too.
"Although Fashion is Spinach deals exclusively with the clothing industry it has a wider application"
Aline Davis Hays
President, League of Women Shoppers
Miss Hawes' story is an adventure into every phase of the women's clothing industry, the second largest business in the United States. Her early struggles for recognition and her final leadership in helping to shift the center of the fashion industry from Paris to New York make a story that will appeal not only to the initiate, but to the thousands besides - and to their husbands.
"Consumers attention!" Elizabeth Hawes tells us that 'the deformed thief Fashion' steals the real value out of what we buy. She suggests a remedy. She makes a plea for functional and durable merchandise. Consumers want that too.
"Although Fashion is Spinach deals exclusively with the clothing industry it has a wider application"
Aline Davis Hays
President, League of Women Shoppers
360 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1938
49 people are currently reading
1598 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Hawes
16 books18 followersElizabeth Hawes was an American clothing designer, outspoken critic of the fashion industry, and champion of ready to wear and people's right to have the clothes they desired, rather than the clothes dictated to be fashionable. In addition to her work in the fashion industry as a sketcher, copyist, stylist, and journalist, as well as a designer, she was also an author, union organizer, champion of gender equality, and political activist. She was married twice, first to Ralph Jester in 1930 (divorced 1934) and secondly to the film director Joseph Losey in 1937 (divorced 1944), the father of her son Gavrik Losey. Along with Losey, she was blacklisted in the 1940s.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
May 27, 2012
The book may be 70 years old but her views on fashion are up to date and still topical. Hawes writes about her experiences as a fashion writer, a copier of French fashion and as a designer herself. She explains how it all works and why it's ultimately all spinach. You only need to look at the fashion industry today to see it is still the same.
A real insiders view.
A real insiders view.
January 6, 2017
Other reviewers have done a good job presenting why this is a good book and worthy of your attention if clothing and style has any interest to you at all. Hawes is a witty, entertaining writer who makes a lot of valid points and explains why it can be so difficult to find well made, comfortable clothes, and I liked this book considerable. I also like many of Hawes' designs -- she's the only designer who has her own board on my Pinterest account!
That said, I'm going to gripe a bit.
I think Hawes misses something she presents in her own book. Namely, that generally young women obsess on "fashion," or at least are playing with fashion while finding their style, while older women are more likely to go for a classic style, or for comfort (which is often not very stylish). Time and again, Hawes mentions that this or that manufacturer does well by finding a good, basic design and producing good quality examples of it. She seems to think they have a "monopoly" on that particular aspect of style, and that all other producers should establish similar monopolies on some specific segment of society; find out what some significant segment of the female population wants and produce if for them. I suspect that manufacturers in her day served the older women who had settled on the classics pretty well, because that was a large enough group -- perhaps the only large enough group -- to support ongoing production in that day and age.
She also shows little awareness that fashion exists because clothes have always signified status. At many points in history, high status people wore clothes most people couldn't afford, or there were outright laws against low status people wearing the fashion of the elite. As societies became more industrialized (and, in general, richer), and as societies became more free, high status clothes were both more expensive and "in fashion" (i.e., "what they wear in Paris"). While I agree with Hawes that Fashion can be fun, but is mostly silly and a waste of time, the fact remains that it fulfills a social function that's important to a lot of people.
I think at this point the clothing market is diversifying enough, and communication between manufacturer and customer has become clear enough, that there are manufacturers and clothing stores that do cater to what multiple groups of women really want and need, by making good quality clothing in a fairly predictable style. But I also think that fashion remains a powerful force, and will continue to be one until people somehow move away from caring about signifying their status (or their wished for status). I think it's possible that society shifts into a system where signifying status via fashion is less necessary; fashion has always mattered less in communities where everyone knows everyone else and so such signifying is unnecessary, for example.
A society where computer geeks and engineers were a goodly proportion of the high status people would probably not care about fashion at all, because computer geeks and engineers tend to like comfort and/or tradition. A society where actors and other performance artists have the highest status, OTOH, will be fashion-obsessed, because performance artists like to dress up and to wear something daring or different. I'm not sure that's on Hawes' radar.
That said, I'm going to gripe a bit.
I think Hawes misses something she presents in her own book. Namely, that generally young women obsess on "fashion," or at least are playing with fashion while finding their style, while older women are more likely to go for a classic style, or for comfort (which is often not very stylish). Time and again, Hawes mentions that this or that manufacturer does well by finding a good, basic design and producing good quality examples of it. She seems to think they have a "monopoly" on that particular aspect of style, and that all other producers should establish similar monopolies on some specific segment of society; find out what some significant segment of the female population wants and produce if for them. I suspect that manufacturers in her day served the older women who had settled on the classics pretty well, because that was a large enough group -- perhaps the only large enough group -- to support ongoing production in that day and age.
She also shows little awareness that fashion exists because clothes have always signified status. At many points in history, high status people wore clothes most people couldn't afford, or there were outright laws against low status people wearing the fashion of the elite. As societies became more industrialized (and, in general, richer), and as societies became more free, high status clothes were both more expensive and "in fashion" (i.e., "what they wear in Paris"). While I agree with Hawes that Fashion can be fun, but is mostly silly and a waste of time, the fact remains that it fulfills a social function that's important to a lot of people.
I think at this point the clothing market is diversifying enough, and communication between manufacturer and customer has become clear enough, that there are manufacturers and clothing stores that do cater to what multiple groups of women really want and need, by making good quality clothing in a fairly predictable style. But I also think that fashion remains a powerful force, and will continue to be one until people somehow move away from caring about signifying their status (or their wished for status). I think it's possible that society shifts into a system where signifying status via fashion is less necessary; fashion has always mattered less in communities where everyone knows everyone else and so such signifying is unnecessary, for example.
A society where computer geeks and engineers were a goodly proportion of the high status people would probably not care about fashion at all, because computer geeks and engineers tend to like comfort and/or tradition. A society where actors and other performance artists have the highest status, OTOH, will be fashion-obsessed, because performance artists like to dress up and to wear something daring or different. I'm not sure that's on Hawes' radar.
May 27, 2012
I agree with the other reviewers: an insider critique, still current, down to earth, etc.
That said, I'll add that I much prefer reading this scanned PDF copy of the original book (2nd ed) from http://archive.org/ because the OCR ebook I bought leaves a lot to be desired. While PDF book files are quite large, to me, they give as close as possible reading experience of the bound edition as possible. I like seeing the pages intact, which include original numbering, layout, typography, and illustrations. While OCR occasionally inserts little clip art versions of original illustrations and a few of the first and last pages of the book, the illustrations become disjointed, separated from the text they were meant to enhance or support. No longer does the text envelop these little drawings. Sadly, OCR will always add words and symbols or delete whole words altogether that its digitizing process mangled. In short, many thanks to the person who added this version of Hawes marvelous book.
That said, I'll add that I much prefer reading this scanned PDF copy of the original book (2nd ed) from http://archive.org/ because the OCR ebook I bought leaves a lot to be desired. While PDF book files are quite large, to me, they give as close as possible reading experience of the bound edition as possible. I like seeing the pages intact, which include original numbering, layout, typography, and illustrations. While OCR occasionally inserts little clip art versions of original illustrations and a few of the first and last pages of the book, the illustrations become disjointed, separated from the text they were meant to enhance or support. No longer does the text envelop these little drawings. Sadly, OCR will always add words and symbols or delete whole words altogether that its digitizing process mangled. In short, many thanks to the person who added this version of Hawes marvelous book.
April 9, 2010
Elizabeth Hawes dispels the myth that all beautiful clothes are made in France and all women want them, while discussing style vs. fashion. Her insight and philosophy are inspiring. Fashion is Spinach explores design, manufacturing and sales through the 20's and the Depression, but the narrative/explanation didn't hold my attention as much as the straight-forward cut-down of fashion trends and her promotion of personal style benefited by well-fitting, well-made clothes. Nothing changes!
April 2, 2025
Very choppy and journal-esque. Some very clever phrasing scattered throughout but overall, not a writing style I can get behind with the subject matter.
May 2, 2019
This 1938 book is a combination of memoir & manifesto, which fits what I know of Hawes' life -- after this book she seems to have become increasingly more involved in working for her ideas of gender equality and labour rights, due to which her fashion career was stymied post-WW2 by McCarthyism. I have not yet read any of her other books, so I have no idea how palatable I would find her future ideas, but it does cast a certain light on her passionate stance in this one. Hawes finds the entire concept of 'fashion' -- the idea that clothes must change every six months or so and that keeping up with these changes is an important part of a woman's life -- to be infuriating; she wants well-designed, well-made clothes that suit the woman wearing them and will last a long time. She recognises that the couture style she provides is not affordable to the mass of American women and explores various options, trying to figure out how mass production work, but it is very honestly hit and miss -- much of the time she has no idea what she's doing, and she can't figure out how to deal with the obstacles that come her way. The book is a record of what she's done and why she's done it, and the problems she's run into, and her opinions about it all, and it was mostly interesting to me because I find Hawes an interesting person in herself, and because it is such an excellent reminder of how the past and future are really the same time; she unsurprisingly assumes an invioable masculine/feminine divide, but she rails against the idea that comfortable clothes, bright colours, and skirts are not masculine and even does a stint designing some men's clothes to try to expand the box of what's appropriate for men to wear. I am looking forward to reading her future books -- she did more about fashion, but also she went into factories during WW2 to report on the women working in them, and also wrote a book about racial tensions in the Virgin Islands. It will be interesting to discover what direction she took in all these things.
June 28, 2025
N.B. I don't like to read books from the Internet Archive, but when that is the only place to get a copy and the author is long dead (Hawes was born in 1903), I'll read the books there.
https://ia601306.us.archive.org/1/ite...
Oh, how things have changed in 100 years! (While this was published in 1938, Hawes started in the industry about 100 years ago.) There aren't many clothing manufacturers left in the US, and I can't say I've ever met anyone who had their clothes MADE for them. Even 40 years ago, most people bought ready made clothes, although I sewed many of my own... to save money. Not the case today.
Lots of interesting things in this book, and the style is very indicative of the memoirs of the time. It's a bit pell mell, with anecdotes strung together. I knew enough of the history of the time to understand most of the references, but I'm sure I missed many of them.
Very interesting look at a long gone time. Few people have style anymore, and fashion doesn't seem to be as relevant, other than whatever is prevailing dicates what is available for purchase.
Sigh.
https://ia601306.us.archive.org/1/ite...
Oh, how things have changed in 100 years! (While this was published in 1938, Hawes started in the industry about 100 years ago.) There aren't many clothing manufacturers left in the US, and I can't say I've ever met anyone who had their clothes MADE for them. Even 40 years ago, most people bought ready made clothes, although I sewed many of my own... to save money. Not the case today.
Lots of interesting things in this book, and the style is very indicative of the memoirs of the time. It's a bit pell mell, with anecdotes strung together. I knew enough of the history of the time to understand most of the references, but I'm sure I missed many of them.
Very interesting look at a long gone time. Few people have style anymore, and fashion doesn't seem to be as relevant, other than whatever is prevailing dicates what is available for purchase.
Sigh.
December 24, 2021
The more things change, the more they stay the same, especially in the world of fashion.
There has always been an idea (manufactured by fashion), that beauty in clothes can only be had through a select few sources (expensive, exclusive, often French), and that all women must secretly want to dress like high fashion models.
Well, Elizabeth Hawes, writing from the 1930's, is eager to dismantle this notion. Yes, there is beauty to be had in fashion, but fashion will often insist that you need things that do not suit you or or your life, and will ignore the individual style of the actual woman.
Hawes and I are of a mind that you can dress beautifully and practically, and ignore a great deal of fashion in favor of your own style. She who believes in her own style will come out smiling, even if fashion thinks she ought to frown.
Highly recommended to anyone who is interested in the history of fashion, and wants good advice on style.
There has always been an idea (manufactured by fashion), that beauty in clothes can only be had through a select few sources (expensive, exclusive, often French), and that all women must secretly want to dress like high fashion models.
Well, Elizabeth Hawes, writing from the 1930's, is eager to dismantle this notion. Yes, there is beauty to be had in fashion, but fashion will often insist that you need things that do not suit you or or your life, and will ignore the individual style of the actual woman.
Hawes and I are of a mind that you can dress beautifully and practically, and ignore a great deal of fashion in favor of your own style. She who believes in her own style will come out smiling, even if fashion thinks she ought to frown.
Highly recommended to anyone who is interested in the history of fashion, and wants good advice on style.
May 3, 2020
Fascinating memoir of an American custom women's clothing designer in the 1930's - especially so given a that the author has a kind of progressive political bent that would at first seem to be at odds with the industry (and actually is, TBH, she just thinks that women with less money should be able to find clothes that fit and wear well and that men should be able to be comfortable in their clothing). I particularly enjoyed her musings on the clothing of the future and how the finances of the industry dictate the clothing that results.
June 17, 2021
This is mostly an interesting historical account of the fashion industry in the 20's and 30's, but there are a lot of observations that still hold true. It's interesting to see the directions things were moving in a world that did not yet have the cheap global manufacturing that we're so used to today.
It's a slightly tough read in places where I lacked the context a contemporary reader would've had, but that doesn't happen often. I'd recommend this to anyone with an interest in fashion/20th century history.
It's a slightly tough read in places where I lacked the context a contemporary reader would've had, but that doesn't happen often. I'd recommend this to anyone with an interest in fashion/20th century history.
June 24, 2019
This book started well. I really enjoyed the description of her work in Paris before WWII at a small Parisian couture house. After she returns to America, however, the book bogs down in a rather dull and repetitive description of the financing difficulties of her own namesake design company. I found my interest drifting, and ultimately put it down about a quarter of the way from the end, never to pick it back up.
August 5, 2018
A surprisingly candid look into the early stages of American couture, Elizabeth Hawes is an underrated treasure for the inspiring business owner or fashion designer. Open and in-depth about finances and the need for the understanding of one's customers, Fashion is Spinach is a pleasure to read.
October 1, 2023
An engaging read for anyone interested in the history of fashion, how clothing is designed, manufactured, and priced, and for anyone who is troubled by the decline of quality and the rampant stealing of designs in today's fast-fashion market. Hawes's voice is deliciously arch and dry.
October 7, 2025
Fascinating!
Written right before WWII, Hawes was not a name I knew until reading this.
Interesting musings on the intersection between design and commerce at a time when women worried about whether their gloves should have six buttons or not.
Written right before WWII, Hawes was not a name I knew until reading this.
Interesting musings on the intersection between design and commerce at a time when women worried about whether their gloves should have six buttons or not.
July 4, 2021
I enjoyed this book so, so much. She really makes you think about clothes and what we are told is ‘in style’ vs. what YOU like and what fits you well. Super fun read.
December 19, 2021
An entertaining and clever memoir that looks back into the American fashion industry of the 1920s and 1930s by one of its ultimate (but mostly forgotten) insiders: Elizabeth Hawes.
October 3, 2022
It’s amazing that this book was written almost a century ago, but every single concept is super relevant to present day.
June 5, 2025
girls got personality thats for sure! loved hearing about how manufacturing and designing clothing used to work and how in some ways, nothing has changed.
September 18, 2012
So enjoyable! I loved her breezy writing style and the glimpse into the fashion business of the 20s and 30s. If you want to basically die of envy, please immediately google image search ELIZABETH HAWES DESIGNER, oh my god those dresses were amazing and would be completely in style today.
LOVE HER.
Here's a taste of how this book is so charming:
"I got Miss Dodge, my old classmate and the warden of Vassar, to collect a group of what she considered the best sweater girls on the campus to consider the matter of something new in sweaters with me. I traveled to Poughkeepsie to consult with them. They were a very attractive set of girls. As I looked them over, I perceived that they had all gotten themselves up in honor of the occasion.
One had on a white turtle-necked sweater. Another wore a red sweater with a small round neck. A third had on a crew-necked Brooks model. And the fourth and the fifth and the sixth had on different colors of the same models.
How do you like your sweaters?" I asked.
"We love them," they responded all at once.
"Can you think of any improvements that could be made?" I inquired.
'No" they asserted firmly.
I tried for an hour and a half to make them tell me something they would like to have in the way of a sweater, something new, something different. There wasn't a thing they wanted. They wore sweaters nine-tenths of the time and they were perfectly satisfied.
They would only concede that possibly there might be other and more exciting colors from time to time. I left them. I had discovered exactly what I feared. Sweaters were quite satisfactory."
PS you can download this as a free ebook! http://archive.org/details/fashioniss...
LOVE HER.
Here's a taste of how this book is so charming:
"I got Miss Dodge, my old classmate and the warden of Vassar, to collect a group of what she considered the best sweater girls on the campus to consider the matter of something new in sweaters with me. I traveled to Poughkeepsie to consult with them. They were a very attractive set of girls. As I looked them over, I perceived that they had all gotten themselves up in honor of the occasion.
One had on a white turtle-necked sweater. Another wore a red sweater with a small round neck. A third had on a crew-necked Brooks model. And the fourth and the fifth and the sixth had on different colors of the same models.
How do you like your sweaters?" I asked.
"We love them," they responded all at once.
"Can you think of any improvements that could be made?" I inquired.
'No" they asserted firmly.
I tried for an hour and a half to make them tell me something they would like to have in the way of a sweater, something new, something different. There wasn't a thing they wanted. They wore sweaters nine-tenths of the time and they were perfectly satisfied.
They would only concede that possibly there might be other and more exciting colors from time to time. I left them. I had discovered exactly what I feared. Sweaters were quite satisfactory."
PS you can download this as a free ebook! http://archive.org/details/fashioniss...
November 12, 2015
It is with fear and trembling that I return to the fashion industry after 25 years of expatriate housewifery, so it’s with gratitude to Elizabeth Hawes that I can march forth with laughter and snide confidence. I thoroughly appreciate her wisdom earned by hard work and best intentions. She regales us of her determination to work in the fashion houses in Paris and her first jobs as a—no! No spoilers here, except to say that her pangs of conscience saved the day. How refreshing that we can peek over her shoulder to observe the way integrity and a strong character can win out. Okay, maybe her name isn’t as well remembered as it ought, and clearly her path was never clear of doubt and frustration, but her words are a trustworthy encouragement to persevere.
Even though her words were penned more than 80 years ago, much has changed in the industry—how much clothing is manufactured in USA or Central Europe anymore? No excuse! Evidently nothing’s changed after all. Women still want to wear comfortable, well constructed, and above all, beautiful clothes. There are some of us who are committed to grace, style, and elegance. Must we really need to compete against the masses? I trust that there will always be the respectful remnant that would rather have a few pieces of better quality and lasting style rather than piles of fad rags.
In addition to those of us interested in fashion design and merchandising, Fashion is Spinach is perfect for the young woman unsure of her place in a man’s world. Nothing like a trustworthy mentor to set you on your feet!
I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Even though her words were penned more than 80 years ago, much has changed in the industry—how much clothing is manufactured in USA or Central Europe anymore? No excuse! Evidently nothing’s changed after all. Women still want to wear comfortable, well constructed, and above all, beautiful clothes. There are some of us who are committed to grace, style, and elegance. Must we really need to compete against the masses? I trust that there will always be the respectful remnant that would rather have a few pieces of better quality and lasting style rather than piles of fad rags.
In addition to those of us interested in fashion design and merchandising, Fashion is Spinach is perfect for the young woman unsure of her place in a man’s world. Nothing like a trustworthy mentor to set you on your feet!
I received a copy from netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
October 21, 2009
This is not a fashion advice book, but primarily a book on the business of fashion, which very occasionally strays into very broad fashion advice for women.
The book begins with author Elizabeth Hawes’ post WWI time in Paris, when she worked copying French fashions to be recreated for the American market. Slowly, the allure of French fashion dissipates, and Hawes begins to believe in American fashion for American woman. She returns to NYC to start her own fashion label on the cusp of the Great Depression, and keeps it going throughout on a shoe string, through wage cuts and juggling cash flow.
There are enough details to keep it interesting. One of her early 1930’s fashion collections featured dresses named after popular songs of the time, which included the future-standard, “Blue Moon.” After being involved in ‘ripping off’ (no, the term was not yet in use in 1938) French fashion, one of Hawes own early designs for a leather jacket is ripped off by a manufacturer. And when she mentions spending post collection bicycle trips in both in France and Holland, it’s tempting to imagine how beautiful that must have been before WWII.
Finally, it’s odd reading a non-fiction book like this more than 70 years after it was written. With little effort, you can learn what the future holds for Elizabeth Hawes, the author, who, at this time, comes off as an intelligent, confident, and principled woman. On a far more sinister note, you also know what became of the Mr. Hitler mentioned as advocate of German fashion. Recommended.
The book begins with author Elizabeth Hawes’ post WWI time in Paris, when she worked copying French fashions to be recreated for the American market. Slowly, the allure of French fashion dissipates, and Hawes begins to believe in American fashion for American woman. She returns to NYC to start her own fashion label on the cusp of the Great Depression, and keeps it going throughout on a shoe string, through wage cuts and juggling cash flow.
There are enough details to keep it interesting. One of her early 1930’s fashion collections featured dresses named after popular songs of the time, which included the future-standard, “Blue Moon.” After being involved in ‘ripping off’ (no, the term was not yet in use in 1938) French fashion, one of Hawes own early designs for a leather jacket is ripped off by a manufacturer. And when she mentions spending post collection bicycle trips in both in France and Holland, it’s tempting to imagine how beautiful that must have been before WWII.
Finally, it’s odd reading a non-fiction book like this more than 70 years after it was written. With little effort, you can learn what the future holds for Elizabeth Hawes, the author, who, at this time, comes off as an intelligent, confident, and principled woman. On a far more sinister note, you also know what became of the Mr. Hitler mentioned as advocate of German fashion. Recommended.
June 22, 2016
What a fun read. This is a memoir of an American dress designer, Elizabeth Hawes who with a huge amount of self confidence made a career for herself in fashion in the early 20th century, first in Paris and then in New York. The fun of this book is her candid and humorous writing style. She didn't hold back at all on her opinions and many of her views of the fashion industry were harsh. Here is a great excerpt from the very beginning on what is wrong with the whole idea of "fashion"
Fashion is that horrid little man with an evil eye who
tells you that your last winter's coat may be in perfect physi-
cal condition, but you can't wear it. You can't wear it because
it has a belt and this year "we are not showing belts."
Fashion gets up those perfectly ghastly ideas, such as ac-
cessories should match, and proceeds to give you shoes,
gloves, bag, and hat all in the same hideous shade of kelly
green which he insists is chic this season whether it turns you
yellow or not. Fashion is apt to insist one year that you are
nobody if you wear flat heels, and then turn right around
and throw thousands of them in your face.
Fashion persuades millions of women that comfort and
good lines are not all they should ask in clothes. Fashion
swings the female population this way and that through the
magic expression that "they" are wearing such and such this
season and you must do likewise or be ostracized."
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Fashion is that horrid little man with an evil eye who
tells you that your last winter's coat may be in perfect physi-
cal condition, but you can't wear it. You can't wear it because
it has a belt and this year "we are not showing belts."
Fashion gets up those perfectly ghastly ideas, such as ac-
cessories should match, and proceeds to give you shoes,
gloves, bag, and hat all in the same hideous shade of kelly
green which he insists is chic this season whether it turns you
yellow or not. Fashion is apt to insist one year that you are
nobody if you wear flat heels, and then turn right around
and throw thousands of them in your face.
Fashion persuades millions of women that comfort and
good lines are not all they should ask in clothes. Fashion
swings the female population this way and that through the
magic expression that "they" are wearing such and such this
season and you must do likewise or be ostracized."
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
October 25, 2015
Elizabeth Hawes gives the reader an insider's look at the fashion industry from the 1920's through 1970's. After graduating from Vassar College and Parsons School of Design, she worked in a Paris fashion copy house, and wrote about fashion for The New Yorker. In 1928, the public's interest in French fashion began to fade, so she opened her design house, Hawes Inc., which originally made expensive custom designs for affluent women. The outspoken and independent Hawes criticized the New York Fashion industry for creating poorly made, expensive clothing and marketing them as trendy. Designers couldn't complain about the Fashion industry, for fear of losing business. Yet, Hawes had the luxury to be outspoken, since she came from a wealthy family. She worked with retailers to produce and sell well made, affordable clothes. Hawes believed in designing classic, well made clothes, instead of caving into designing the latest fashion trends. Although the book was written seventy years ago, the fashion industry operates the same way today, by continuing to lure the public with the latest "must have" fashions every season.
A copy of the book was provided to me by Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
A copy of the book was provided to me by Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
May 15, 2013
Sometimes you happen upon an old gem, dust it off and find that it still sparkles - such is the case with Elizabeth Hawes' autobiography, the wonderfully-titled Fashion is Spinach. Outspoken, opinionated and full of ideas way ahead of her time, Hawes was a true artist and revolutionary who believed that America should have couture of its own and did her damndest to make it happen. When the notion of American Design didn't exist, she was ballsy enough to show her collection in Paris and even in the Soviet Union in the mid thirties. She took Seventh Avenue by storm, but her heart wasn't in mass production - she was an old-school couturier with new-fangled ideas. Nothing escaped her designing eye - handbags, men's suspenders, her signature "Lucky Strike" gloves, and my favorite, a sprig of felt broccoli to wear in your lapel. Which brings us back to the title of her book, drawn for a famous New Yorker cartoon in which a mother says to her son, "Eat your broccoli, dear." The child ripostes: "I say it's spinach and I say the hell with it!"
July 5, 2014
This book was first published in 1939, and I regret that despite my 20+ years working in the Garment Center I never heard of it or its author. But that may be precisely the point. Hawes bites the hand that feeds her and skewers Fashion. I can see why the collective industry would want to distance itself from such an iconoclast.
But Hawes' observations are still spot-on. The prose is a little dated but the message is clear. Fashion is not style, and we consumers are being sold a bill of goods based on the "authority" of a few.
But Hawes' observations are still spot-on. The prose is a little dated but the message is clear. Fashion is not style, and we consumers are being sold a bill of goods based on the "authority" of a few.
February 7, 2015
"The passion which has been created for being chic leads to almost anything, probably including murder."
What a little gem! Elizabeth Hawes turns her insider eye onto the spoils of the fashion industry, though her wit and observations create a telling portrait of manufacturing in 20th century America. Just as we expect our technology to outlast the year, Hawes argues for the longevity of a garment, interspersing economic ethics with aesthetics.
What a little gem! Elizabeth Hawes turns her insider eye onto the spoils of the fashion industry, though her wit and observations create a telling portrait of manufacturing in 20th century America. Just as we expect our technology to outlast the year, Hawes argues for the longevity of a garment, interspersing economic ethics with aesthetics.
November 3, 2021
Elizabeth Hawes is one of the most clever, interesting and creative fashion designers of all time, so getting to read her autobiography was awesome. She was THE fashion insider, she knew everything about the industry because she did it all and cherry on top she was hilarious. Everyone who truly loves fashion should read this book.
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April 10, 2009I'd never heard 9f Elizabeth Hawes before I read this book, and I immediately searched for more by her. I can't find her book Why Women Cry, or Wenches with Wrenches, which was from the Rosie the Riveter era.
October 2, 2012
What a fun look at the world of high fashion in the 20s and 30s! This book is totally worth reading, if only for her distinction between style and fashion.
July 19, 2014
whoa whoa
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