Bettina Ballard, In My Fashion
Ballard, Bettina. In My Fashion. Second Printing. 1960. Book is in very good minus condition; dust jacket is in good condition—jacket spine has faded (see photo).
Bettina Ballard was the Paris editor of American Vogue from 1935 to World War II when she transferred to the New York office. This memoir’s focus are the Paris years, which she portrays with great insight, as a story about Chanel leads to one about Beaton that in turn leads to a Daisy Fellowes anecdote, etc. She writes with the voice of an American but one that understands the intricacies of Parisian society, and the result is that the reader is right there with her, reliving the glamorous, glorious excess of those years, when they all seemed to sense that their world would soon end.
“I could take any criticism from [Vogue Editor] Mrs. Chase, if only as proof that she was aware of my existence.”
--Bettina Ballard