Have you enjoyed Tales from the Back Row? A look inside the fashion industry is equally entertaining and perplexing, isn’t it? Odell does a good job at giving the inside scoop while keeping an “outsider’s” point of view. Check out discussion questions below (if you’ve been following us on Insta, maybe you’ve read some of them already!), and further reading suggestions – we read Grace Coddington’s memoir last year and it was fabulous! This month’s awesome artwork is by one of my previous interns, Victoria Riza, who has gone and done some incredible things! We hope you enjoy!
Let’s talk about Tales From the Back Row!
1. Amy Odell says, “What magazines like Vogue forget or simply can’t tell you is that there is nothing normal about this business. Crocodile backpacks that cost $50,000 and come with a designer label aren’t just something you mix into your Hamptons wardrobe…they’re bizarre, and the people who become attached to these things are sometimes equally unusual.” How do you feel about the fashion industry itself? Are you very much into following fashion, or does it just confound you and make you wonder “WHY? How can they take themselves seriously?”
2. “They say a picture is worth a thousand words— they’re wrong: in fashion, it’s actually worth a thousand people.” Odell talks about the work that goes into one celebrity wearing one designer dress: the work of the designer, stylist, hair and makeup experts, editors, publicists, trend influencers and forecasters of various companies, cosmetics, etc…Phew! Did you realize how much work goes into one photo or one fashionable look? Does that change your perception of fashion?
3. Odell’s chapter on bloggers definitely stuck out to us! Blogging has changed many industries, the world over, including fashion. How has this type of media influenced your fashion consumption? Have fashion bloggers made fashion more accessible and desirable for you?
4. Where do you stand in the realm of fashion in your own closet, and has this book inspired you to change up your wardrobe? (ie. Odell’s “very cavelady” fashion sense: “This is shirt, this is pants, this is outfit.”) Haha! Ultimately, Odell states that we can look at the ways “these clothes can make you feel like your best self.” Does your wardrobe do that for YOU?
Download the Tales from the Back Row print and bookmark HERE
If you liked Tales from the Back Row, you might like:
Man Repeller: Seeking Love. Finding Overalls. by Leandra Medine
Front Row: Anna Wintour: What Lies Beneath the Chic Exterior of Vogue’s Editor in Chief by Jerry Oppenheimer
Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington
The End of Fashion: How Marketing Changed the Clothing Business Forever by Teri Agins
