Blow by Blow, Signed by Detmar Blow
[Signed by Detmar Blow] Blow, Detmar. Blow by Blow: The Story of Isabella Blow. First Edition. 2010. Book and dust jacket are both in very good condition. Book is signed “Detmar Blow.” on the title page. On that same page, it is also inscribed, “To Sabrina, with my very best wishes, Detmar Blow.” Co-written by Tom Sykes.
Those who assume that The Devil Wears Prada‘s Miranda Priestly is merely a thinly disguised portrait of Anna Wintour may be surprised to learn that one of Wintour’s earliest assistants was Isabella Blow, the troubled fashion visionary whose life was every bit as colorful as the industry she helped shape. Brilliant, eccentric, extravagant, and self-destructive in almost equal measure, Blow possessed a gift for discovering talent and recognizing beauty where others saw only risk. Among those whose careers she championed was Alexander McQueen, long before he became a household name. This memoir by her husband, Detmar Blow, looks beyond the legend to examine the darker forces that shaped her life. Echoing the emotional landscape of the Patrick Melrose novels, it traces the wounds of a cold, aristocratic upbringing that never healed, a reminder that money, pedigree, and social standing are no bulwark against unhappiness. The result is a candid and deeply personal portrait of a woman whose creativity and fragility were often impossible to separate, and whose tragic end remains one of fashion’s saddest stories.
“Issie got the job as one of Anna’s two assistants. It was the break she needed. Ever after, Issie would say, ‘I owe everything to Anna.’”
--Detmar Blow