Delivery perfect. Read this book in 2 days.
She was quite the gal. I only read the book in connection with research on another topic.
What an unexpected little treasure this book is. Part memoir and part biography, Patricia Volk moves effortlessly from her own conventional mother to the avant garde designer Elsa Schiaparelli who was a great influence on the author as she was growing up.
Elsa is a fascinating figure, especially as seen through the eyes of a girl growing up and wanting to spread her wings, but the book is really a fabulous mother-daughter story. It is brilliant and funny and original--the way the text and the illustrations play off each other--but at the heart is the portrait of a mother whose beauty was essential to her sense of self, and who was by turns loving, cruel, indifferent and demanding.
Real story of a magnificent designer which inspires to be true to your art and caft and to keep moving forward in life to meet your goals and live your dreams. Good read!.
If you're interested in Schiaparelli, this is a good book to buy. She's extremely full of herself and that gets annoying at times, but the narrative reads well and it's interesting for the most part.
A fascinating look inside 'Schiap's life, following her day to day. Especially interesting are her survival techniques during the war and her ingenuity solving creative and life problems.
Great read, she speaks of herself in third and first person, a reflection nf how she saw herself and her work.
For a fashion designer that in her time invented the newspaper print, the bottle perfume made as a little body -now copied by Gaultier-, the first zipper in a haute couture dress and a variety of items from hats to shoes and dresses inspired by surrealism and dada, this autobiography lacks of real interest in design and fashion.Have you ever met such a lady so fascinated with herself that she always thinks everything she does from open a beer can to walk her dog is a world event?
Who knew?! I picked up this book at The Met after the Prada/Schiaparelli exhibit.
I really enjoyed this book. After reading the Dior autobiography I thought this would be all about fashion as well, however, on the contrary fashion was not the major topic in the book.
I knew next to nothing about Schiaparelli when I started this book, except that she made crazy surrealist clothing in the heyday of modern art in Paris.
Reading the book is like listening to a rambly old lady who never stops talking.
