Fashion Climbing by Bill Cunningham

Fashion Climbing by Bill Cunningham

The New York Times bestseller

"[An] obscenely enjoyable romp." --The New York Times Book Review

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 that 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. Between these covers, is an education in style, an effervescent tale of a bohemian world as it once was, and a final gift to the readers of one of New York's great characters.

The sections On the Street and Evening Hours were created by Bill Cunningham, the legendary New York Times photographer. Cunningham dropped out of Harvard and traveled to New York City at the age of 19, eventually founding his own hat design company, William J. Cunningham. Vogue, The New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, and Jet have all featured his work. He began photographing while covering fashion for newspapers such as Women's Wear Daily and The Chicago Tribune, and in the late 1970s, he became a frequent contributor to the New York Times. The documentaries The Times of Bill Cunningham and Bill Cunningham, New York are about Cunningham. In 2009, he was classified as a living landmark for his contributions to New York City.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780525558729
ISBN 10	0525558721
Title	Fashion Climbing
Author	Bill Cunningham
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Penguin Putnam Inc
Year published	2019-09-03
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.