Customer Reviews

Mommy Dressing: A love story, after a fashion

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

How often we might envy the lives of children of the rich, the talented and the famous. But Lois Gould's poignant memoir "Mommy Dressing" again underscores that a childhood lived in the shadow of glamor but without love and affection is no way to grow up. It is a dark moment when Gould asks her mother about a scar only to learn that her mother, who had a horror of doctors, had a rib surgically removed the better to wear the fashions of the 1920s. Gould's portrayal of herself as the gawky, awkward, intellectual daughter of a beautiful woman who dominated the American fashion industry for a time is reminiscent of Susan Cheever's recollections of her life as the daughter of novelist John Cheever. A quickly read but fascinating book.

Lois Gould's biography of her mother, and in no small part her own autobiography, is written with the novelist's touch. The prose is spare but evocative; the observations through a child's eyes clear but heartbreaking. It's a beautiful "read" although a sad, sad story. Lois Gould, however, bears no malice and allows us to judge Jo Copeland, which we do ultimately with compassion.

This was a Christmas present last year that I just re-read and loved even more for the texture of Lois Gould's rarified existence and the terror and mystery of her mother's unbelievable life. All my favorite topics are combined in this remarkably dry-eyed memoir: fashion, mother-daughter relations, Park Avenue life, how to pack a steamer trunk when going off to the Paris collections...

Gould's flawless memoir captures the complexities of a family, an era and a place beautifully, and anyone who reads her book is richer for it. As with the autobiography Angela's Ashes, Gould is able to recreate her personal history with fascinating detail. The fashion sketches and photos of her mother enhance the text. The book is a captivating armchair journey. I admire Gould for her ability to write of her parents with unblinking perception, conveying her compassion despite their tremendous shortcomings.

This book gave me a glimpse into a world I'd never known. The author's mother was a highly successful fashion designer in the 40's and 50's. Her daughter examines the events of her life and why they transformed her into a mother who was closed to her emotionally. The book is not bitter, though some of the things that happen are hard to read. In the end, they come to terms with each other; both are survivors, of sorts, with strong personalities. A quick and absorbing read.

Lois Gould's memoir of growing up as the daughter of American designer Jo Copeland strikes a rare balance. Gould's childhood was often harsh, lonely, and bewildering, yet also thrilling, if only in the looking-back on it. The creative juices flowing all around her were abundant, and must have informed her own artistic bent.

Gould is a poetic writer, and while she doesn't flinch from revealing the more disagreeable aspects of her childhood, she also doesn't fall into the oh-woe-is-me psychobabble so popular today. She comes to a hard-won understanding of and compassion for her beautiful, brittle, dazzlingly talented mother. The book is also a rich history of American social and political life in the first half of the 20th century. Highly recommended.

I was so looking orward to this book, but was sadly disappointed with it. The author had emotionally charged and complex family relationships. She related heart-wrenching accounts of her family history. Yet the emotional foundation for those stories was poorly developed. The book would have ben enthralling if the author had helped me to know her characters more. Instead it left me a bit flat.