My Paris Dream: An Education in Style, Slang, and Seduction in the Great City on the Seine

A charming and insightful memoir about coming of age as a fashion journalist in 1980s Paris, by former Vogue and Harper€s Bazaar editor Kate Betts, the author of Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama and the Power of Style

€œYou can always come back,€ my mother said. €œJust go.€

As a young woman, Kate Betts nursed a dream of striking out on her own in a faraway place and becoming a glamorous foreign correspondent. After college€"and not without trepidation€"she took off for Paris, renting a room in the apartment of a young BCBG (bon chic, bon genre) family and throwing herself into the local culture. She was determined to master French slang, style, and savoir faire, and to find a job that would give her a reason to stay.

After a series of dues-paying jobs that seemed only to reinforce her outsider status, Kate€s hard work and willingness to take on any assignment paid off: Her writing and intrepid forays into la France Profonde€"true France€"caught the eye of John Fairchild, the mercurial fashion arbiter and publisher of Women€s Wear Daily, the industry€s bible. Kate€s earliest assignments€"investigating the mineral water preferred by high society, chasing after a costumed band of wild boar hunters through the forests of Brittany€"were a rough apprenticeship, but she was rewarded for her efforts and was initiated into the elite ranks of Mr. Fairchild€s trusted few who sat beside him in the front row and at private previews in the ateliers of the gods of French fashion. From a woozy yet mesmerizing Yves Saint Laurent and the mischievous and commanding Karl Lagerfeld to the riotous, brilliant young guns who were rewriting all the rules€"Martin Margiela, Helmut Lang, John Galliano€"Betts gives us a view of what it was like to be an American girl, learning about herself, falling in love, and finding her tribe.

Kate Betts€s captivating memoir brings to life the enchantment of France€"from the nightclubs of 1980s Paris where she learned to dance Le Rock, to the lavender fields of Provence and the grand spectacle of the Cour Carr©e€"and magically re-creates that moment in life when a young woman discovers who she€s meant to be.

Praise for My Paris Dream

€œ[A] glittering coming-of-age tale.€€"Entertainment Weekly (The Must List)

€œFashion and self-examination€"froth and wisdom€"might seem like odd bookfellows, but Betts brings them together with winning confidence.€€"The New York Times Book Review

€œAs light and refreshing as an ice cream cone from the legendary Berthillon, My Paris Dream evokes the sights, sounds, smells and styles of 1980s Paris.€€"USA Today

€œMy Paris Dream is awesome.€€"Man Repeller

€œWhat was Bett€s Paris dream? Her dream was her awakening, [which] is elegantly chronicled in these pages.€€"The Daily Beast

€œFor those who are interested in the men and women involved in haute couture, Betts€ reminiscences will be a delight.€€"Kirkus Reviews

€œFull of slangy French, delectable food and swoon-worthy fashion.€€"BookPage

€œAn amazing story of a young woman in Paris trying to break into the fashion business.€€"Sophia Amoruso, author of #GIRLBOSS
 
€œKate Betts€s story brought me back to my own young self and the journey I made€"in my case, from a small town in Illinois to New York City.€€"Cindy Crawford