Am reading a book titled Dress for Success by Edith Head. I have read many magazine articles on the subject, and seen the television programs, but this is the first time I have seen something that truly takes into account women as individuals. Head gives us a glimpse into her workshop, filled with dozens of dress forms, each one the unique shape of a different actress. Elizabeth Taylor is not the same as Audrey Hepburn is not the same as Bette Davis is not the same as Sophia Loren in height, weight, coloring, or curves so why would what fits and suits Miss T. be the same as what fits and suits Miss L.? One of my favorite bits so far is in the section on choosing color: if a color makes you feel bad, even if it suits your "color aura," don't wear it. Miss Head relates an instance when a certain actress would rather have given up a mink coat than wear the brown dress that would have complemented it. Another actress couldn't abide lavender, even though it suited her, so Head would never put her in it. If you don't like a color, you won't look your best in it, no matter what other people say. (For which I say, "Hah!" to everyone trying to put me in pink and pastels all these years.) Anyway, I am enjoying this immensely. It is obviously a book written by an accomplished professional trying to impart the arcana of her profession to a lay reader.
The reason I picked up a book on dressing by the greatest Hollywood costumer ever? Time for new clothes, one; two, my image needs polishing: no matter what the employment future holds, I am no longer "just a bookseller." Oh, and the company vice president is flying in especially to visit our store on Saturday.
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