Reviews

The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris by Alicia Drake

theycallmev's review against another edition

Couldn't get into it. Boring 

gingerfoot's review

4.0

Four stars for the dishy first half, three stars for the tepid second half. After seeing photos of the 1972 Rothschild surrealist dinner party, I wanted to know more about the tastemakers of 1970s Paris, and this book did not disappoint. But more than the glitz and glamour (and the theme parties!) is the sense that the 1970s were a pivotal time in French fashion & society - one last hurrah of l'ancien regime with Yves Saint Laurent, and the brash birth of a new type of culture with the rise of Karl Lagerfeld (the original coolhunter?) At the midpoint between the two worlds - longing for the old aristocracy while embracing a more modern character-driven celebrity - is Jacques de Bascher, who seems a singularly French invention. Worth a look.

jnkay01's review

3.0

Seeing the film "Yves Saint Laurent" solidified my feeling that "The Beautiful Fall" is an excellent study of two creative processes: the tortured artist filled with angst and the artist who works his perspective into outside assignments. YSL was the former, and while I agree that his work and vision were brilliant, I thought the film could have used more Karl Lagerfeld. I would have been far more interested in a film exploring the tension between YSL and Lagerfeld, who was the latter sort of artist.

See the film, then come back to "The Beautiful Fall" for more Karl. More Karl is always better.