Taste: Acquiring What Money Can't Buy [Hardcover]

Letitia Baldrige (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 29, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0312351739 | ISBN-13: 978-0312351731 | Edition: First Edition

"'Good taste' is synonymous with success in all fields of life. It's not a question of money, but of a trained eye."

 

Taste is proportion. Taste is civility. Taste is the mot juste. Taste is in play wherever educated people gather. Taste treats men and women, friends and strangers considerately. 

 

Taste cannot be bought, but only learned and practiced. In our modern times, the elegance and taste that characterized and defined such contemporary figures as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis has been overshadowed by gaudy wealth. But Tish Baldrige reminds us of the hallmarks of taste and its continued importance today.

 

Taste is a book that, today, has its perfect author and proponent in Letitia "Tish" Baldrige, a Taste and Manners Icon for at least 50 years. Her appearances on TV talk shows have steadily increased, most recently (in August) on "Good Morning, America."

 

 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Baldrige, who served from 1961 to 1963 as Jackie Kennedy's social secretary and chief of staff, was labeled America's leading arbiter of manners by Time in 1978. Her 20-plus books include Legendary Brides and the 736-page New Manners for New Times. The premise of this volume was suggested by her editor-publisher, Truman Mac Talley, who listened with aplomb to my shocking tales of what is happening today in social mores. Probing the history and nature of taste, Baldrige examines the role taste plays in the average person's life and explains how to educate your eye. She surveys celebrated tastemakers, from British art dealer Lord Duveen to Coco Chanel, with chapters on interior design and entertaining: The best dinner parties are those without any ulterior motive. They're rare but wonderful. The core of the book covers taste in fashion (where even the fabric is snob-important for some), encompassing such topics as wigs, jewelry, jeans, the application of lipstick in public, influential designers and shoe fetishism in Louis XIV's court. Throughout, she interweaves her own experiences with Diana Vreeland, Babe Paley and others. This patina of personal memories and anecdotes adds to the sheen of her polished prose. The vulgarians may be at the gates, but Baldrige is doing all she can to keep them away.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The eternal question of what is taste isn't directly answered by guru Baldrige. Instead, she quotes a designer, doyenne, or well-known wit--such as Coco Chanel, who opined that taste was the opposite of vulgarity. And she weaves enchanting tales of the Camelot White House (Baldrige was chief of staff for Jacqueline Kennedy); of postwar Parisian entertaining; of the elegant couture houses, such as Jean Patou and Vionnet; of Parish-Hadley and other designers extraordinaire. This narrative is more about her life than about taste per se; it is through her stories that the themes are developed. One theme is the absolute necessity of training the eye through museums and show houses and nature's visuals--not through the wallet. The second is paying attention to even the smallest detail, whether that be unchipped nail polish or correct silverware. And the third is the embracing of a sense of humor and kindness, two traits that define a real tastemaker. She says it best this way: "I believe that happiness comes from looking around us and finding the good and the beautiful in our own culture, and choosing to live with that taste." Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Truman Talley Books; First Edition edition (May 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312351739
• ISBN-13: 978-0312351731
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #586,751 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Letitia Baldrige's books on manners have sold over two million copies; her previous guide to executive manners sold over half a million copies worldwide and has had sixteen printings. This is her thirteenth book. In her diplomatic career she served in the American embassies in Paris and Rome; in the White House she was Jacqueline Kennedy's chief of staff. She has served as a marketing consultant to many major international corporations and holds three corporate directorships. She produces management training seminars on business behavior for major American companies and professional institutions and writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column and a monthly national magazine column. She is a regular on major network TV programs. Letitia Baldrige and her family live in Washington, D.C.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The advice for which you have been waiting... July 3, 2007

By A Bon Vivant

Format:Hardcover

This book contains the advice you have been looking for from that fabulous elder aunt. The book has been divided into five sections: Just Who Is This Person of Taste?; Good Taste in Fashion; Go, See and Educate Your Eye, Good Taste for Entertaining; and Tasteful Surrounds. In each section, La Baldrige tells tales of the iconic women whom she had the privilege of knowing, the official "rules" regarding each topic and, at times, she expounds on the standards of taste in today's society.

Just like your fabulous aunt.

But, just like your fabulous aunt, you will not agree with all of her expectations and, sometimes, her tales read more like a good Vogue magazine article than a book.

If you are looking for an academic analysis of the demoralization of society, this is not the book for you. If you are looking for a book that is a quick read, full of guidance (however personally impractical it might be for you, the reader) and stories of iconic women straight from the source, buy it and enjoy!!

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A YUMMY - YET NUTRITIOUS - READ June 30, 2007

By J'MO

Format:Hardcover

This is the perfect book for our A.D.D. addled times. This distillation of some-number-of-year's experience as America's leading tastemaker and etiquette goddess is a fun-to-read, easy-to-absorb hommage to something we call could use a little more of - good taste.

Letitia Baldrige is truly the stylistic "power behind the throne." She has reigned in Paris, Rome, Washington, New York and, most likely, Podunk. She knows her stuff inside out and could look down her nose like the haughtiest of grande dames at the daily blasphemies that are passed off as "world class" taste, but she never does, for two reasons: she has a kind heart and a well of humor that never seems to run dry.

Read this book - you'll take away so much. One may not have silver-gilt flatware and haute couture clothes, but TASTE shows that one doesn't need them if you have the things that really matter - a curious mind, the aforementioned kind heart and an indomitable spirit.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Spot on. May 9, 2008

By Catherine S. Gardner

Format:Hardcover

Letitia Baldridge is keeping manners and taste at the forefront of a
decent human education and I applaud her in these efforts. It is
critical in this day and age that we hone our skills in civility,
rather than give in to the overwhelming trend to "trash" such skills.