We all went up and found our garment bag and unzipped it and out popped twenty identical outfits: a double breasted houndstooth pattern jacket, a matching knee length pleated skirt, a rib knit turtleneck sweater, and a black beret. And we were expected to wear black and white saddle shoes and white knee-high socks. I was miserable. This getup was going to make me look like a cow.
Betsey Johnson, American fashion designer.
This quote is from Betsey Johnson: A Memoir (Viking, 2020).
Earlier this year while searching my local library’s online catalogue, I found this memoir in audiobook format. How perfect to listen to while working on various weekend sewing projects.
Ms. Johnson is the reader and generally speaking reading is not her forte, however, she has such earnestness and enthusiasm that I can’t imagine anyone else’s voice reading her story.
The quote I’ve used is about one of the many outfits that she and the other young ladies were to wear in1964 going out and about in New York City as the summer interns at Mademoiselle magazine. Like many other women before her (Sylvia Plath, Joan Didion) Ms. Johnson won a coveted place as a junior editor.
Born in 1942 in Connecticut, Ms. Johnson wanted initially to be an artist and she studied art in college, but it was her internship at Mademoiselle that led to the right connections that led to fashion design. Always ahead of her time in style and the way she lived her life, Ms. Johnson never let anything stop her from doing what she wanted, particularly not the conventions of her generation. A can-do approach combined with a lot of luck provided her an interesting if not always a rosy life.
There are so many fascinating tidbits in this memoir, including brushes with Andy Warhol and Eddie Sedgwick; hanging out with the guys from The Velvet Underground (she even married one of them); fabric research trips around the world. She was married three times, had a baby on her own, started and ran two fashion businesses, and survived breast cancer. Additionally, any fashion historian will enjoy hearing the many details of how the industry operated back in the day.
A fun yet informative read!
OverDressed for Life 
M- the keep on going part Touched home pour moi.
But Betsey & clothes style – No way.
Went to Britex remnant sale on sat.
Disappointed in wool selection. Some pretty But manmade fiber content added to beautiful wools- not my thing. Saw some pretty cottons- but also poly blend. The quality fab. I have been buying
SELECTIVELY over the yrs will do nicely as I prepare to start adding my own designs AGAIN to the RTW I have gotten over my time here.
Mostly resale, CLASSICS. Some with designer labels cut out- so resale shops would not sell @ inflated prices! So clever of Some Consigners
KNOW I COULD FIND CLASSIC natural fab. In PARIS.
Am checking out fab.stores left in Bay Area.
JG