Author: Plum Sykes
The Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes is a trés good book, lol 😊 It is a book about New York society or Park Avenue princesses, as the author calls rich socialites and heiresses who form a part of the N.Y society, who largely focus their lives on attending and organising events and living the fashion. They also behave and talk in a particular way, including pretending to know French by using French words and generally obsessing about personal appearance, designer fashion and society. Through the main character, the author both mocks these women but also joins them in their obsessions.
This book could be and probably will be, labelled as chic lit by many commentators, but it will be those commentators who have nothing to do with sociology, know nothing of Bourdieu’s capital theory and know nothing of fashion and the fact knowing fashion as these women do constitutes a particular form of social and cultural capital. Each one of these women and make no mistake that these women exist and are not entirely the work of imagination, could easily work in the fashion industry, particularly for famous fashion designers due to their knowledge and passion for fashion. In that, they would beat many graduates for jobs and not just because of their influence in society and who they know – which also lands them discounts, invites to selective few events only, and even loaning designer clothes by designers so their creations can get seen in society – but also because they would demonstrate a historical knowledge of fashion, designer knowledge, historical knowledge of famous collections, segmented to each big designer name, and understanding trends in the upper society obsessed with fashion and personal appearance, etc. Therefore, I thought this book was fascinating from the point of knowledge shown by the author, through her characters and the fashion capital her characters show. The author herself is a fashion writer–turned–novelist who worked for the famous Anna Wintour and the American Vogue, and she lives in London and N.Y. thus likely being part of the society herself. I would not be surprised if someone told me that the main character in the book, who just refers to herself as moi, a fashion writer who ispart of society but cannot afford everything Park Avenue princesses can afford so she wears a lot of borrowed designer clothes and whatever she can afford and has fashion capital in spades, is Plum Sykes herself. This is particularly the case since the character is labelled as funny, and the book has a humorous element, curses for example (my favourite was cursing all shoes Marc Jacobs ever designed).
The Bergdorf Blondes book has large sociological value, despite its light style because it portrays the everyday life of a socialite/writer and her friends, the Park Avenue Princesses. We learn a lot about their daily routines, mindsets and conversations, which many would label as conversations about nothing, but a lot of these conversations centre on fashion and fashion collections, which was very compelling to read. The book might not be such a compelling read to someone who does not know fashion and its history and who does not know which designers and their creations, characters in the book mention, but for me, this was outstanding, particularly the obsession with Vera Wang and her wedding dresses and Valentino, for example, as well as Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs. I was surprised with how little Chanel featured in the book, apart from closed events for a selected clientele, and how little haute couture featured. It was mentioned but it was not a big deal, thus opening a different avenue of fashion thinking. Yes, designers are popular among Park Avenue Princesses, but haute couture is not the only thing in the world, which matches the economic position of couture, for decades significantly lower than ready-to-wear, which seems to be the focus of Park Avenue Princesses and the moi.
I also particularly enjoyed, and thought they had sociological value, all descriptions of the behaviour of the New York society, not just conversations but also breakuprexia (losing weight after a breakup), wanting to be engaged and prolonging engagement to enjoy being a fiancée, the expectation that engagement will be broken, the fact being engaged brings popularity in society and increased attention from designers and event organisers, the so-called New York breakdown, the New York therapy (dermatologist, not a psychologist), places to go, drinks to drink (Bellini in particular, in this book), the fashion magazine as the literature, etc.
Bergdorf Blonds was a fascinating read accompanied by a love story between the fashion writer and an LA film producer showcasing events from society, travelling on private jets, designer fashion, the importance of fashion and friendships in society, etc. Several research studies could be designed from this book. It is Simmel’s paradise, for any sociologist interested in fashion and consumer behaviour.
Thank you for reading!