Bettina Ballard.
Secker & Warburg. London. 1960. First edition. British edition. Hardback, octavo; green boards, dust jacket. 304 pages. English. 205 x 135mm. 0.4kg. . Very good, in very good dust jacket; jacket with some wear, light rubbing to edges, wear to forecorners and spine ends with slight loss, light fading to spine, price-clipped; slight dustiness to edges, no inscriptions.
'The fashion world is akin to the political world - a good place in which to exert power, influence people, and give expression to the ego.'
The fashion memoir of Bettina Ballard, chronicling her career at Vogue during the twentieth century. Ballard was America editor in the Paris office before the Second World War. After spending the war years overseas with the Red Cross, she returned to New York as Fashion Editor, witnessing the birth of Dior's "New Look". Her work brought her into contact with designers, models, artists, photographers and clients, including Berard, Chanel, Balenciaga, Dior, Hartnell, the Duchess of Windsor and Lady Mendl. All these figures and more populate her fascinating fashion recollections. The dust jacket reproduces a portrait by Rene Gruau.