In The Mink. By Anne Scott-James. (Michael Joseph. 12s. 6d.)
In The Mink. By Anne Scott-James. (Michael Joseph. 12s. 6d.)
I Jus-r don't know how much In The Mink would appeal to people who have never had
anything to do with the fantastic world of fashion journalism. All I do know is that for those who have, this book is sheer bliss. Miss Scott-James started her career on the staff of Vogue, worked for a time on Picture Post, then became Editor of Harper's Bazaar, and, despite her assertion that her book is not autobiographical, the experiences she "invents" would seem to run strangely parallel to her own. In crisp, witty prose, noticeably influenced by her working milieus, Miss Scott-James takes the lid off a cauldron seething with ingredients far more macabre than Shakespeare's witches ever brewed. I would call your attention to the Corset Manufacturer and the New Cup Sizes, to the Retouching Instructions on the Photographs of the Elegant Actresses, to the visita- tion of Mrs. Nutting, the American Editor- in-Chief, a little old woman as despotic as the Empress Catherine of whom the author truly says, "She had reached the top of an American business hierarchy, and there is no power more absolute in the world." Women who seek beauty in cosmetics may be a little shaken by Chapter 6, while those who have heard much about the world-wide success of post-war British couture may like to find out on p. 136 just who really went to those parties given by the Board of Trade for foreign buyers. . . .
As I recall one glorious .incident after another, I find that on second thoughts I have no reservations at all. Everyone will enjoy this book, whether it merely convinces them that fashion and its journalism are as silly as they'd always hoped, whether it only makes them doubt if they can ever again turn the pages of their glossy journals in perfect faith and trust, or whether, like me, they just delight in reading such witty revelations about an occupation we all know is a racket but love just the same.
MARGFLANITA LASKI.
Previous page
