Eighty-six-year-old personal shopper Betty Halbreich stole the show in a 2013 documentary called Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s. Her slightly haughty demeanor was belied by a twinkle and a smile playing at her lips. There’s more to this story, she seemed to be saying.
Is there ever. In her deliciously candid memoir, I’ll Drink to That, Halbreich recounts her life in fashion. Born into a wealthy Chicago family, Betty was a lonely only child who adored but rarely saw her glamorous parents. A classic beauty, she was married at 20 to a dashing and wealthy New Yorker, Sonny Halbreich. Her only job was to dress well for their extravagant life.
But when infidelity cracked their marriage open after several years and two children, Halbreich attempted suicide and was briefly hospitalized. As she adapted to life as a single, middle-aged mother, she got her first-ever job. Using her legendary ability to put her own twist on an outfit, she worked her way up in the fashion world before joining Bergdorf Goodman (“Xanadu. Candy Land.”) in 1976.
Upper management soon took note of her ability to find the perfect ensemble for every lady who came through the door—no matter her shape or budget. After being put to the test by successfully dressing the legendarily stylish Babe Paley, Halbreich got her own personal shopping department.
“I took the lady of leisure style off my back and put it on others, particularly women who didn’t have only wealth but also big lives,” she writes. “With charities, multiple households around the world, and complicated families to run, they wanted to be fashionable but not look like everyone else. And they certainly couldn’t be seen in the same dress twice—in the past I never would have either.”
Halbreich shows very little sign of slowing down. She styles celebrities, socialites and the now-grown children of women she’s worked with, all of whom seek her trademark honesty and sharp eye.
In this superbly entertaining, surprisingly poignant memoir, Halbreich proves that fashion is about so much more than clothes: It’s a reflection of personal identity and self-worth, whether you buy your outfits at Walmart or Bergdorf.
This article was originally published in the September 2014 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
