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The Beautiful Fall

by: Scarf

The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris by Alicia Drake

I was hunting around amazon, looking for a new summer read and I stumbled onto The Beautiful Fall. Has anyone read this novel? It sounds like it is right up my fashion/history loving alley.

From Publishers Weekly
"This smart book stitches together the lives, loves, personalities and obsessions of two iconic designers, Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld, into a work as finely detailed as any outfit they ever sent down a runway. Through interviews with dozens of the designers' friends and colleagues, fashion journalist Drake offers revealing inside anecdotes and perspectives from those who were there for the Paris "fashion revolution." Drake interprets the rarefied and decadent 1970s French fashion scene Saint Laurent and Lagerfeld helped create with insight and vigor, as well as germane commentary on the collections and the trends they set. A period when couture was faltering and ready-to-wear rising, Drake crafts clear yin and yang portraits of the introverted, passive and magnetic Saint Laurent, and the exhibitionistic Lagerfeld, known for wearing high heels, sporting monocles or wielding a fan. With a large entourage of colorful supporting characters-from fashion muses like Loulou de la Falaise to socialites like Talitha Getty-and exotic locales-from Paris to Marrakech to the Blenheim Palace and back-the story of the competing and capricious fashionistos becomes the account of one glittering party after the next, interrupted occasionally by fashion shows, and sprinkled with celebrities such as Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol. The two tastemakers' homosexuality is dealt with frankly and the storied roots of their aesthetic senses and public personas is nicely detailed. De rigeur for the fashion crowd and those interested in the pop or gay culture of the era."

6 Replies

wetz's avatar
May. 14, 2008 @ 4:47 PM - wetz said:1

Scarf, I have read this novel and it is a very compelling. The overall tale is excellent, tons of insider gossip, and the cat fights are told so well you feel like you are there.

I got my copy from the library, so it cost me nothing, and The Beautiful Fall is a VERY quick read. Just a helpful hint. wink wink

Reformation's avatar
May. 14, 2008 @ 4:51 PM - Reformation said:2

good call on getting it from your local library, you ARE paying taxes for the library..... you might as well use it.

Simonfb's avatar
May. 14, 2008 @ 5:03 PM - Simonfb said:3

the Mick Jagger stories are pretty funny and insightful.

Reformation's avatar
May. 19, 2008 @ 9:34 AM - Reformation said:4

I just got the novel from my local library this weekend, thanks for the idea.

tonystark1's avatar
May. 21, 2008 @ 8:50 AM - tonystark1 said:5

I loved how "inside" this book was. Alicia Drake really did her research.

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