2024 the best of everything by rona jaffe review

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The untold story of a New York City legend's education in creativity and style.

For Bill Cunningham, New York City was the land of freedom, glamour, and above all, style. Growing up in a lace-curtain Irish suburb of Boston, secretly trying on his sister's dresses and spending his evenings after school in the city's chicest boutiques, Bill dreamed of a life dedicated to fashion. But his desires were a source of shame for his family, and after dropping out of Harvard, he had to fight them tooth and nail to pursue his love.

When he arrived in New York, he reveled in people-watching. He spent his nights at opera openings and gate-crashing extravagant balls, where he would take note of the styles, new and old, watching how the gowns moved, how the jewels hung, how the hair laid on each head. This was his education and the birth of the democratic and exuberant taste he came to be famous for as a photographer for The New York Times.

After two style mavens took Bill under their wing, his creativity thrived and he made a name for himself as a designer. Taking on the alias William J. - because designing under his family's name would have been a disgrace to his parents - Bill became one of the era's most outlandish and celebrated hat designers, catering to movie stars, heiresses, and artists alike. Bill's mission was to bring happiness to the world by making women an inspiration to themselves and everyone who saw them. These were halcyon days when fashion was all he ate and drank. When he was broke and hungry, he'd stroll past the store windows on Fifth Avenue and feed himself on beautiful things.

Fashion Climbing is the story of a young man striving to be the person he was born to be: a true original. But although he was one of the city's most recognized and treasured figures, Bill was also one of its most guarded. Written with his infectious joy and one-of-a-kind voice, this memoir was polished, neatly typewritten, and safely stored away in his lifetime. He held off on sharing it - and himself - until his passing.

Contained inside this audiobook is an education in style, an effervescent tale of a bohemian world as it once was, and a final gift to the fans of one of New York's great characters.

Reviewer: LKP
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Mad About The Boy
Review: Most of us know Bill Cunningham (yes, THAT one; with the camera, the bike, and the denim jacket) from his street-savvy photography and his New York State of Mind notoriety. But, lucky for us, when he died Bill left this memoir in one of the drawers of his many file cabinets. And as he would say, this book is a lulu. I keep turning over rocks trying to find out if he intended this book to be published. I mean -- One assumes that Bill Cunningham would only have to make one phone call to have a juicy book deal. And yet this typed manuscript languished in a drawer; only to be discovered after he passed. So - draw your own conclusions.It's a slim volume full of goodness. It is written in a breezy personal "oh, WAIT for the punchline" style, punctuated by Bill-isms like "It's a dilly!". Best of all, it gives us a deep dive into his earliest days; revealing a lifelong Creative who got anything-but a standing ovation at home. He needed to get out into the world in order to find his tribe; and all that ignited in Manhattan circa 1948 and onward. While we learn about Bill's earliest days in retail, the story quickly transitions into his career as a milliner. A hat guy. His moniker, William J, was a non de plume for a young man whose family would have been scandalized to learn what he was actually doing. But Bill always amassed his own custom-ordered cheering section; whether they were fresh young things who became fabulous mannikins for his creations, and protective grand dames who bought his hats and then brought their friends. The irrepressible "hey kids, let's give a show!" vibe prevails -- I lost track of how many times he moved and moved and moved his studio/storefront -- but each time he managed to create beauty in the midst of creepy/moldy low-rent brownstones, and his career was defined by both epic feasts and dire famines. Decrepit walls were covered -- voila! -- with brocade drapes found in a dumpster and ostrich feathers. (no, really...…) He was famous for carting around his own bed, because he always "lived above the store". Any money he had was always put right back into the business, and lean times found him eating hot dogs at Nedick's. He was a total misfit for the world of retail and manufacturing -- but was a whiz atOne Of A Kind. When the Sixties arrived he realized that hats were going to be a non-issue; so he pivoted to writing for Women's Wear Daily and seemingly taught himself photography. Like Zelig, he seemed to be everywhere before it became Somewhere. He had a storefront in the Hamptons before it was considered anywhere special. When uptown was hip, he was in The Village -- and when downtown was "the place" he was up on Museum Row. He loved theatricality and occasions. The book has a generous handful of his personal scrapbook snapshots, and we see a wide-eyed grinning Bill having Quite The Time.Bill arrived in New York City about 19 years before I did - and I thoroughly loved reading his recollections of Living Large On A Shoestring. Like me, he considered the place to be his personal Shangri La -- a glittering metropolis that could still be decorated on a dimestore budget. He snuck into operas, fashion shows, ateliers, invitation-only galas, and ballrooms. He commented it felt "peculiar" to walk in the FRONT entrance of the Waldorf since he had been sneaking in through the Laundry Door all those years. (smile) When he was low (and even hungry) he could always re-boot by witnessing beauty. Midnight walks past store windows would restore his spirit and launch new ideas.Rarely do we get to hear such granular details of the great expectations of a creative mind. He muses about how he came to prize his originality, and how he stayed faithful to his own best ideas, whether they paid the rent or not.A wonderful book - an amazing man.

Reviewer: Michael A. Helbig
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great snapshot of the past in general, of fashion in particular - a very joyful read
Review: Even before the book was published I had read a brief summary I think in The New York Times and at first was disappointed that the book would not cover up to most recent events in Bill Cunningham's life and the fashion world. But once I read it boy was I glad it didn't because through the very time distance it brings across the past even more intensively.Bill Cunningham's language is a very pleasure to read, and if you have a thing for language, as I do, you'll surely enjoy the sometimes old fashioned words, expressions or idioms he uses. The book is an extraordinary read, I frankly had a hard time to put it aside and as a matter of fact it took me only say three or four days to finish it. What I found most fascinating was how Cunningham described the different eras and what it felt like to live the and there.On a personal side it gives you a very close view into Cunningham's view of the world, how he lived his life, and why he did it the way he did. It complements the picture of him you might have from reading his column in The Times, and from other sources, like news articles and the media.I had the pleasure to run into Bill a few times in New York City - he on his bike on street say a year before he passed, and another time earlier at one of the fashion shows at Lincoln Center. On the latter he was chatting with Isabella Blow when I asked him if I could take a picture - as expected he shook his head and turned the other way.This book is a must for people interested in fashion in general and the wonderful person of Bill Cunningham in particular. Beyond that, it shows you how you can find your own way in life, despite - or even - because of supposed adverse circumstances.I am happy the manuscript was discovered in Bill Cunningham's estate that and his family decided to have it published its a winner for all of us.

Reviewer: Midnighter
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: How to Succeed (By Really Trying)
Review: Really enjoyed this memoir for a number of reasons. First, the fashion-conscious generation of women that it describes, who wouldn't be caught dead in the wrong outfit, has now pretty well faded away. That generation and the times they lived in deserve to be showcased alongside other movements or moments that characterize the Twentieth Century and the book does that extremely well, from Cunningham's unique, insider's perspective. Finally, as someone who likes to think of herself as "creative," Cunningham's creative drive, the intensity and fearlessness with which he pursued his goals, is inspiring. So are the little tidbits of advice for anyone seeking his or her own creative path which run through the book.

Reviewer: Buzz
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Insights from a unique life.
Review: Wasit passion or obsession? And why? Bill Cunningham's memoir is remarkable to me for its description of a world and people and time that I'd never cobsidered before. But Cunningham was notoriously private, so he seems unable or unwilling to answer what drove his obsession with fashion. I don't hold it against him though and appreciated the book for his unique journey. It will stay on my shelf and be lent out.

Reviewer: Ann M. Altman Ph.D.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: I really really wanted to love it, all of it, but got bored by the end
Review: I am a huge fan of Bill Cunningham. I started this book with such enthusiasm and the first few chapters were a delight. Indeed, when Bill writes about his youth and his hat-making business, he is totally charming. However, the second part of the book, about going to fashion shows and his views style and taste, seems to belong to an entirely different volume. For students of fashion and fashion shows in the sixties, the second half of the book provides detailed and valuable documentation but, for the rest of us, it’s too much of a good thing. In addition, perhaps it was because I read the Kindle edition, there were not a particularly large number of photographs and I, at least, couldn’t find the captions.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: great company!
Review: His life was so interesting! I loved reading about his experiences in everything from department stores to the military. What a gem!

Reviewer: Sophie Louise
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Bill Cunningham was much more than an extraordinary photographer. He was really a sociologist with a brilliant talent for capturing the essence of New York street energy with his camera. There will never be another Bill Cunningham— this book is essential reading for anyone who is interested in people, style, New York, or interesting minds.

Reviewer: Gary Fab
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I loved this book so much I couldn’t put it down. After becoming away of Bill from the amazing DVD Bill Cunningham New York I was delighted to discover this book written by him and it is such an honest and often comical insight into this amazing mans life. I would highly recommend to any fashion fans.

Reviewer: robert mcfarlane
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Well written. Interesting, amusing.......Great comments and insights about the difficulties of starting a business. Still pertinent today. Heart wrenching hardships overcome. Through out, references to many well know personalities of his day, and, as the business developed........ Highly recommend.

Reviewer: "noddlewrap"
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I came from discovering Bill from the documentary film, more from a photographer's perspective than a perspective of fashion, which the book is heavily geared towards, slightly disappointing it didn't detail how and why he decided to pick up a camera, but a wonderful read non-the-less. His strength of personality comes through, like chatting to an old friend, with an frank portrayal of his life and not omitting bad decisions from his life, or pretending a good decision was born from design.Printing quality was a slight issue on my early copy, the print on a few pages was very faint; however it is a nice read.

Reviewer: Sarah Walker-Sage
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Disappointed the spine and sides of the book were scuffed, especially as this was planned as a present for someone. May need to reconsider now as I don’t feel it looks new!