I’ll Drink to That: A Life in Style, with a Twist

Sartorial style becomes a philosophy of life in this spirited memoir by Halbreich (Secrets of a Fashion Therapist), Bergdorf Goodman’s legendary personal shopper and the subject of the 2013 documentary Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s. From her affluent childhood in 1930s Chicago, through her moneyed but turbulent married life in New York, to her divorce and nervous breakdown at middle age, Halbreich recounts her life in clothes. High-end shopping had long been her major consolation when, in 1977, she found her calling: to help women—rich and poor, famous and obscure—find themselves by finding the right outfit at Bergdorf’s. When dressing clients, Halbreich explains, “I try to steer them away from the herd and make them understand the beauty of individuality.” She is a beacon of good taste and good sense, particularly when sharing her tart opinions on the vulgar fashion trends of the past quarter-century. The downside to her philosophizing is a tendency to lapse into cliché. (Perhaps we do not need a personal shopper to pronounce that when she was unhappy she did not know herself, whereas “now I am happy, because I do know myself.”) Still, Halbreich comes across as sage and gracious as she narrates a life full of incident, taking us inside the fashion industry and one of its great institutions. Agent: Carol Mann, Carol Mann Agency. (Sept.)