My Paris Dream: An Education in Style, Slang, and Seduction in

My Paris Dream: An Education in Style, Slang, and Seduction in the Great City on the Seine

A charming and insightful memoir about coming of age as a fashion journalist in 1980s Paris, by former Vogue and Harperâ€™s Bazaar editor Kate Betts, the author of Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama and the Power of Style

â€œYou can always come back,â€ my mother said. â€œJust go.â€

As a young woman, Kate Betts nursed a dream of striking out on her own in a faraway place and becoming a glamorous foreign correspondent. After collegeâ€”and not without trepidationâ€”she took off for Paris, renting a room in the apartment of a young BCBG (bon chic, bon genre) family and throwing herself into the local culture. She was determined to master French slang, style, and savoir faire, and to find a job that would give her a reason to stay.

After a series of dues-paying jobs that seemed only to reinforce her outsider status, Kateâ€™s hard work and willingness to take on any assignment paid off: Her writing and intrepid forays into la France Profondeâ€”true Franceâ€”caught the eye of John Fairchild, the mercurial fashion arbiter and publisher of Womenâ€™s Wear Daily, the industryâ€™s bible. Kateâ€™s earliest assignmentsâ€”investigating the mineral water preferred by high society, chasing after a costumed band of wild boar hunters through the forests of Brittanyâ€”were a rough apprenticeship, but she was rewarded for her efforts and was initiated into the elite ranks of Mr. Fairchildâ€™s trusted few who sat beside him in the front row and at private previews in the ateliers of the gods of French fashion. From a woozy yet mesmerizing Yves Saint Laurent and the mischievous and commanding Karl Lagerfeld to the riotous, brilliant young guns who were rewriting all the rulesâ€”Martin Margiela, Helmut Lang, John Gallianoâ€”Betts gives us a view of what it was like to be an American girl, learning about herself, falling in love, and finding her tribe.

Kate Bettsâ€™s captivating memoir brings to life the enchantment of Franceâ€”from the nightclubs of 1980s Paris where she learned to dance Le Rock, to the lavender fields of Provence and the grand spectacle of the Cour CarrÃ©eâ€”and magically re-creates that moment in life when a young woman discovers who sheâ€™s meant to be.

Praise for My Paris Dream

â€œ[A] glittering coming-of-age tale.â€â€”Entertainment Weekly (The Must List)

â€œFashion and self-examinationâ€”froth and wisdomâ€”might seem like odd bookfellows, but Betts brings them together with winning confidence.â€â€”The New York Times Book Review

â€œAs light and refreshing as an ice cream cone from the legendary Berthillon, My Paris Dream evokes the sights, sounds, smells and styles of 1980s Paris.â€â€”USA Today

â€œMy Paris Dream is awesome.â€â€”Man Repeller

â€œWhat was Bettâ€™s Paris dream? Her dream was her awakening, [which] is elegantly chronicled in these pages.â€â€”The Daily Beast

â€œFor those who are interested in the men and women involved in haute couture, Bettsâ€™ reminiscences will be a delight.â€â€”Kirkus Reviews

â€œFull of slangy French, delectable food and swoon-worthy fashion.â€â€”BookPage

â€œAn amazing story of a young woman in Paris trying to break into the fashion business.â€â€”Sophia Amoruso, author of #GIRLBOSS
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â€œKate Bettsâ€™s story brought me back to my own young self and the journey I madeâ€”in my case, from a small town in Illinois to New York City.â€â€”Cindy Crawford
Country USA
Manufacturer Random House
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2015-05-12
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Random House
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2015-05-12
Format	Kindle eBook

My Paris Dream: An Education in Style, Slang, and Seduction in the Great City on the Seine

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