Introduction

Twenty-eight-year-old Isabel Bookbinder has figured some things out:she's moved in with her loving lawyer boyfriend, and despite her mother's adoration of all things matching, she's finally discovered her true calling--fashion design. After all, she knows her Manolos from her Louboutin, her Pucci from her Prada, and she's always poring over fashion magazines (the celebrity pages of fashion magazines, that is). She's even landed a position with Nancy Tavistock, editor at top fashion magazine Atelier, and creative muse to hot designer Lucien Black. So learning from the very best, the future's looking bright for Isabel Bookbinder: Top International Fashion Designer. Within days she's putting the final touches on her debut collection, has dreamed up a perfume line (Isabelissimo), and is very nearly a friend of John Galliano. Yet nothing ever runs smoothly for Isabel, and fabulously fashionable as her life may be, it soon seems to be spiraling a little out of her control. With her characteristic humor, charm, and tendency to stumble into sticky situations, Isabel Bookbinder is an irresistible heroine you're sure to fall in love with.

Editorial Review

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Excerpt

Prologue

In the Beginning

God, I feel inspired.

I woke up with the dawn this morning. At least, I thought it was the dawn. I’ve just bought one of those superintelligent artificial-daylight alarm clocks that wake you up exactly like a natural sunrise. Much better than being woken by a horrible unnatural alarm clock. It does all kinds of clever things with your metabolism, and your brain chemistry, and something called your Arcadian rhythms, and you jump out of bed feeling all calm, and well rested, and ready to face the day ahead.

I must have read the instructions wrong, though. The stupid thing started glowing radioactively at eighteen minutes past two, which only made me feel furious, and sleep deprived, and ready for absolutely nothing. I couldn’t make the horrible orange light fade back down again, so eventually I staggered into the bathroom, dumped it in the bathtub, and covered it with two large bath sheets. I think I must have gone back to sleep somewhere around half past three.

When I woke up again—just now—nice, proper, natural daylight has started streaming through the blinds. I do a couple of energizing yoga-type stretches, which ought to sort out my metabolism and my Arcadian rhythms very nicely, then I head into the kitchen to make my first strong black coffee of the day.

Now that I’m going to be a Top International Fashion Designer, strong black coffee is probably going to form the cornerstone of my diet. It’s very important to start as I mean to go on.

It’s quite difficult to actually enjoy strong black coffee, though. I did try to get into it once before, when I was going to be a bestselling Novelist, but all I ever ended up doing was drinking lovely yummy mochaccinos instead. But this time I’m going to be seriously disciplined. When I’m the public face (and figure) of my own fashion label, I won’t be able to get away with any extra poundage. My ideal customer—I just call her The Woman I Design For—is extremely discerning. Whatever will she think of me if I go about the place looking a little bit on the chunky side simply because I can’t resist the temptation of a delicious, frothy coffee?

I have to say, though, I think The Woman I Design For would be a bit of a cow if she wouldn’t even overlook one little mochaccino a day.

I mean, here I am, thinking of nothing but how I can make her look fashion-forward and fabulous, and she’s getting all uppity about a measly little two hundred calories of caffeine and sugar I need to kick-start my morning.

Actually, only a hundred and eighty-three calories, according to the packet.

You know, I think The Woman I Design For is just going to have to get over it. I’ll go for a jog round Battersea Park this evening. That ought to placate her.

Mug of yummy mochaccino in hand, I head back to the bedroom to get on with the most important part of my day so far: assembling my Signature Look.

I mean, where would Donatella Versace be without the leopard skin and the tango tan? Or Stella McCartney without the snazzy little tailored trouser suits? And look at Vivienne Westwood, with all that punky hair and distressed tartan. If I’m going to make it as a Top International Fashion Designer, the right Signature Look is absolutely vital.

OK. Well, obviously, I don’t own any leopard skin. My wardrobe is pretty thin on snazzy little tailored trouser suits, too. I think I have got a tartan skirt lurking in here somewhere, one that Mum ordered for me from the Boden catalogue several years ago, but it’s not distressed. Though I was pretty distressed when Mum gave it to me, if that counts. I mean, it had “Fun” colored buttons, for heaven’s sake.

Hang on a moment. Maybe Fun Buttons could be my Signature Look?

. . . Stunning Isabel Bookbinder dazzled at her close friend and mentor Valentino’s birthday party, in a black lace gown accessorized with her Signature Fun Buttons . . .

. . . high priestess of style Isabel Bookbinder looked cutting edge as ever at this year’s Glastonbury, working denim hot pants and a vintage Panama trimmed with her Signature Fun Buttons . . .

Hmmm.

Perhaps not.

What I’m really after is something elegant and fabulous. Something that expresses my fashion personality. Something The Woman I Design For would sell her granny to buy. Some classic black trousers, perhaps, and this little stripy T-shirt, for easy Parisian chic? Then some high-heeled loafers, a long string of beads, and, for that final twist of Gallic je ne sais pas, this navy blue beret I picked up from Comptoir des Cotonniers last winter.

But when I turn to look in the mirror, I don’t look chic and Parisian at all. Shove a baguette under one arm and I could be on my way to audition for an ill-advised remake of ’Allo ’Allo! With a bit of white face paint and big black panda eyes colored in with eyeliner, I could be about to begin an ill-advised Marcel Marceau mime routine.

OK. Back to the drawing board. I suppose I could try mixing Designer, Vintage, and High Street. It’s what all the fashion magazines are always saying you should do. I’ll team my Stella McCartney pistachio green silk pleated skirt (the Designer bit) with an off-white Karen Millen blouse (the High Street bit) and this gorgeous rose pink brocade duster coat with bracelet length sleeves that looks like it’s Vintage but is actually brand new from a mother-of-the-bride shop in Shepton Mallet. Well, if The Woman I Design For is anything like me, she’ll be too scared to go into proper vintage shops, too, so it’s a perfectly valid solution.

I love it. It’s cool, it’s cutting edge, and I’m pretty sure it’s got more fashion personality than you could shake a stick at!

Signature Look cracked, for now at least, I take a few mind-clearing yoga-style breaths, sit down at the writing desk in the corner of the bedroom, and reach for my Mood Book.

You know, I couldn’t believe my luck when I found out the way Top International Fashion Designers work. Only a couple of days after I’d decided I was really going to go for this fashion thing, I found this article about John Galliano in an old copy of InStyle. He went on about his “Process” a lot, and his “Fashion Vision,” but the most useful thing I learned was that he collects all his ideas for his new Collection on what he calls a Mood Board. What he does is, he starts out with a single word that sums up what he wants the Collection to reflect—Cabaret, say, or Tranquillity, or Brothel. Then he just gathers together all the things that inspire him and bungs them up on a piece of corkboard in his airy Parisian studio. Lines of poetry, scraps of fabric, pictures torn out of magazines, that kind of thing.

Well, obviously this is perfect for my Process, too! I’ve got poetry books rattling about the place somewhere. And I’ve got loads of unwanted clothes given me by Mum that I can hack up for scraps of fabric. And I tear things out of magazines all the time. It’s perfect!

I’ve gone one better than John Galliano, though, even though I say so myself. I mean, corkboard is all very well, but it’s not the most exciting thing you can buy. And seeing as I’m not yet in possession of my own airy Parisian studio, or any studio for that matter, I thought I’d need something a little bit more portable.

Smythson doesn’t actually do formal Mood Books—I did check—but they do have these really gorgeous little pocket notebooks that say Fashion Notes, which is perfectly suitable for the time being.

I open up my brand-new pink notebook, which is sitting on the desk in front of me. Right. So. What one, single word sums up everything I want to say in my debut clothing Collection? I mean, one word is easypeasy, isn’t it? Not like trying to write a whole novel, or something, where you have to write tons and tons and tons of them.

I pick up my special propelling pencil.

Then I put it down again.

Then I pick it up again.

God, I feel inspired.

I mean, really, really inspired.

Now all I need is a Debut Collection.

***

IN THIS WEEK’S HIYA! MAGAZINE, TOP INTERNATIONAL FASHION DESIGNER ISABEL BOOKBINDER SHOWS US AROUND HER STUNNING CHELSEA APARTMENT AND TELLS OF HER EXCITEMENT AT THE LAUNCH OF HER EXCLUSIVE NEW FRAGRANCE .

Stunning Isabel, 27, opens the door to welcome us inside. Clad only in a silk dressing gown that skims her slimkinny size 4 or 6 figure, her long, completely frizz-free hair pulled back in a low-maintenance but chic ponytail, Isabel is only just out of bed after last night’s fabulous launch party for her brand-new perfume, Isabel no. 5 Acqua d’Isabel Isabelissimo. Stocked exclusively at Harvey Nichols in London and Bergdorf Goodman in New York, waiting lists for the Top International Fashion Designer’s first fragrance have already run into the thousands. We settle down with the brunette dynamo in her fabulous living room, where, over strong black coffee, Isabel opens her heart about her fabulously fashionable existence.

HIYA!: So, we hear it was quite a party last night! All your Top International Fashion Designer friends were there to support you—Stella, Marc, Miu Miu Miucer Mrs. Prada, and Valentino, of course. . . .

IB: Dear Val. He’s such a great friend and mentor.

HIYA!: This was all to launch Isabelissimo—a wonderful mix of frangipani and white musk patchouli jasmine flowers and green scents. Tell us, Isabel, where did you get your inspiration for the fragrance?

IB: Well, as always, I found myself truly inspired by The Woman I Design For. I feel like I know her so well—a strong sassy free-spirited independent woman who isn’t afraid to be feminine alluring sexy glamorous.

HIYA!: And who also isn’t a miserable old body fascist.

IB: That too. Absolutely.

HIYA!: Fragrance may be your latest exciting venture, but clothes were where it all began for Isabel Bookbinder. . . .

IB: That’s right. I was just a girl with a portable Mood Book and a dream I don’t think I knew, when I started work on my first-ever Collection that sunny September morning in a one bedroom flat in South London, just how big my brand would become.

HIYA!: But now your label Isabel B is feted by the fashion cognoscenti and worn by A-listers all over the world, while your newer diffusion line, Izzy B by Isabel Bookbinder, is finding a whole new generation of fans in Harvey Nichols and Selfridges!

IB: Yes, it is quite good, isn’t it?

HIYA!: Could you talk us through a typical day in your glamour-filled life?

IB: As a Top International Fashion Designer, there’s no typical day! I might be auditioning models for my latest catwalk show, meeting an Oscar hopeful to discuss her awards-show gown, pounding the streets of Manhattan to find the perfect Fifth Avenue location for my new boutique. . . Of course, wherever I go, I’m always thinking about my latest Collection, jotting down a single word here or a single word there in my handy portable Mood Book. That’s a very important part of my Process.

HIYA!: Goodness, it sounds much harder work than we’d thought! Now on to your private life....If we may. . . . We’ve all heard the rumors about you and Daniel Craig. . . .

IB: Daniel and I met when I chose him to be the face and body of my new underpants menswear Collection. We’re just good friends.

HIYA!: So you won’t comment on the photographs of you two breakfasting on his hotel terrace at Cap-Ferrat?

IB: [blushing] I’m afraid not. The paparazzi can be very intrusive, and my Daniel is a very private man.

HIYA!: So, Isabel, what’s next for your luxury goods empire?

IB: Well, I have three brand-new Emporio Bookbinders opening worldwide later this month, so there are lots of launch parties to arrange. I’m also hard at work coming up with a name for another diffusion line—at the moment, we’re thinking Iz by Isabel Bookbinder for Izzy B by Isabel Bookbinder. And if I have the time, I’ll design the bottle for another new fragrance, which will be an exotic blend of tuberose vanilla emonbalm and scents.

HIYA!: While still hard at work on your new couture clothing Collection, of course!

IB: Of course. I’ve started assembling a new Mood Book already.

HIYA!: Isabel Bookbinder, thank you for your time.

IB: Thank you. It was a pleasure.

Chapter One

Well, this isn’t quite what I was expecting.

I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’d have thought a top fashion college like Central Saint Martins would have a really swanky reception area. Gleaming black lacquer on every surface, perhaps, with an original 1970s disco ball suspended from the ceiling, and hot pink velvet-upholstered Chesterfield sofas to lounge in. Or if not that, then maybe something fabulously art deco, with deep leather armchairs and little mirrored cabinets. Or at the very least, minimalist white walls, floor, and ceiling, with tiny little Scandinavian balsa-wood chairs that look like they’ll crack if anyone without a life-threatening eating disorder so much as hovers above one.

But Central Saint Martins’s waiting room has none of the above. What it does have is the following:

1) Gray carpet tiles, peppered with little blobs of decades-old chewing-gum

2) Walls papered with a yuck-yellow version of that horrible nubbly wallpaper you find in old people’s homes

3) Those Day-Glo orange plastic molded chairs that make your bottom sweat if you sit on them for longer than two minutes

As I’ve been waiting for my interview here for nearly half an hour already, there’s some serious nether-region perspiration going on. I already know this will have played havoc with the pleats in my Stella McCartney silk skirt. All I can hope is that there isn’t an extremely embarrassing damp patch there, too.

Because frankly, my outfit is embarrassing enough already. Here I am, in my off-white blouse, my pistachio-green skirt and my rose pink fake-vintage duster coat, and everybody else is in black trousers and a black V-neck sweater, almost like it’s a uniform or something.

Oh, God.

It isn’t a uniform, is it?

“Excuse me?” I lean over to the bespectacled girl on the Day- Glo chair beside me.

She looks up, startled, from her copy of Pop magazine. “Yes?”

I lower my voice. “I’m sorry to disturb, but I was just wondering—there isn’t some sort of uniform requirement at Central Saint Martins, is there? Perhaps something they mentioned on the application form?”

She blinks at me from behind her glasses. “Um. I don’t think so.”

“Well, then, is there some sort of uniform requirement for fashion designers in general, do you know?” I nod round the waiting room at everyone in their near-identical outfits. “Something laid down by the . . . er . . . British Union of Fashion Designers? And Framework Knitters,” I add, because that’s definitely something union-y I’ve heard of before.

She just blinks at me again. “Well, I can’t speak for everybody else. But personally, I wear black so I can blend into the background and put my fashion personality into my own designs.”

“Oh.” Clearly, I should never have tried to actually wear my fashion personality. “Well, thank you.”

I sit back in my seat again, trying hard to look calm and collected. But inside, I’m churning with embarrassment. I feel like such a hick from the sticks. And I look like a gaudy Neapolitan ice cream in a room filled with earnest single espressos.

You know, I bet it really is on the application form. A fact I’d know if I hadn’t been too scared to fill in the application form. It was ever such a long form, with big spaces where you were meant to write down all your previous fashion-related degrees and relevant work experience. Given that I have none of either, I thought it was best to just avoid the blank spaces altogether.

Or maybe it really wasn’t on the form, and it’s just something you’re expected to know. Well, if you have connections, like I expect everyone else at Saint Martins does, then it’s the kind of thing you probably would know. But I don’t have connections. I don’t have a rock star dad and an ex-model for a mum. I mean, look at that boy right opposite me—the spitting image of Trudie Styler, if ever there was one. And now I come to think of it, the bespectacled girl next to me has a distinct air of Art Garfunkel about her.

I haven’t got a hope in hell, have I?

The thing is, I know it’s a little bit ambitious, applying to Central Saint Martins for a fashion master’s. Especially when I haven’t even studied fashion minors before. Not to mention the fact that they’ve already filled up almost the entire course for the year, and there’s just a couple of last-minute places left for us latecomers. But this was really the only fashion course that appealed to me. Every other course I investigated seemed to be filled with the most incredibly fiddly, tedious stuff. How to hem a skirt. How to make a sleeve. How to sew a seam. Whereas what I’m after is the really interesting and important bit. How to get your clothes stocked by Harvey Nichols. What to name your fragrance. How to persuade Keira Knightley and Daniel Craig to star in your worldwide ad campaign. That sort of thing.

Because at the end of the day, anyone can hem a skirt or sew a seam, can’t they?

Well, I mean, I can’t, obviously.

But the point is that I’ll be more than happy to pay other, better-qualified people to do so when I’ve got my own label. If I’m the one coming up with all the genius ideas, I don’t think I can possibly be expected to deal with all the boring stuff like manufacturing, too. I mean, I very much doubt Kate Moss does any of that stuff for her clothing Collection. And Sarah Jessica Parker doesn’t look like she’d be too handy with a needle and thread, but she’s designed a fashion line of her own. Not to mention all those footballers’ wives who keep popping up all over the place with a jeans brand here or a bikini collection there. So I honestly don’t see it as what my boyfriend Will would call a barrier to entry.

Anyway, there’s one other very big reason why Central Saint Martins is my fashion college of choice. Which is that I’ve sort of told my family I’ve got into this course already.

This wasn’t my plan, by the way. Fibbing to people about my career has caused me so many problems that I honestly intended never to do it again. In fact, when I decided I was really going to go for this fashion designing dream of mine, I even made myself a bit of a vow to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But then, when I actually plucked up the courage, last weekend, to mention to my family that I was giving up novel writing to concentrate full-time on becoming a Top International Fashion Designer, they didn’t take it too well. By which I mean that my dad didn’t take it too well. We were all gathered for a Sunday lunch to celebrate my brother Marley and his wife Daria getting pregnant. In among the general sense of excitement and celebration, I thought it might be a good time to . . . what do they call it? Bury bad news. Well, the only thing that nearly got buried was me. Dad shouted so loud that he frightened Daria, who ran off to be sick. Then Marley got very upset, and Mum started crying, and the only way I could calm everything down was by pulling something big out of the bag. Dad being a headmaster, I knew the only thing that might placate him was the solid respectability of a recognized degree course.

And it did a pretty good job of placating, I must say. I mean, Dad wasn’t exactly thrilled, but at least it stopped all the yelling. And Mum actually was thrilled—she whispered so in my ear before I got the train home that evening, anyway. I think she’d actually been thrilled from the first moment I’d made my announcement, to be honest, but she finds it difficult to admit to being thrilled about anything without Dad’s express permission to do so.

So here I am. Waiting for my interview for a place on the world-famous fashion masters’ roster at Central Saint Martins.

Waiting a very, very long time, it must be said. I’m actually getting a tiny bit bored. I’d really like to get this week’s Grazia out of my handbag and have a little look at this week’s hottest accessories, and see which celebrity outfits the style jury is pronouncing on, but Art Garfunkel’s daughter is still buried in her Pop, and one particularly smug girl is even holding up a copy of Madame Bovary, though I don’t think she’s turned the page in twenty minutes. Several people are leafing through the copies of anothermagazine that are lying about on the plasticky coffee table, so I pick one up, too, and start flicking. I raise my eyebrows knowingly at a very long article about Japanese Harajuku style, then make fascinated-sounding noises at a rather disturbing picture of slightly fleshy people parading along a catwalk wearing what looks like Saran Wrap.

Actually, I think I’d much, much rather read my Grazia. I’m just about to give up and display my lowbrow credentials— I mean, I’m already the odd one out in this outfit—when suddenly a woman calls out my name.

“Isabel Bookbinder?”

A rather dumpy woman in black (natch) is standing in the doorway of the waiting room, smiling pleasantly in my direction.

“Yes! I’m Isabel!” I pick up my bag and hurry toward her, hoping nobody’s noticed the damp patch on my squashed skirt. “Nice to meet you,” I say as I stick out a hand and try to look quietly confident, the way you’re meant to at interviews.

“Diana Pettigrew.” She shakes my hand back before leading me a few feet along a hallway and ushering me through a door into a small, dimly lit office. “I apologize for the long wait. Have a seat.” She points me toward another—terrific—orange plastic molded chair.

“Thank you!” I beam at her, to show her I’m easygoing and laid-back, just the kind of student any right-thinking teacher would be thrilled to have in their course. “It gave me the chance to sit and think,” I add hastily before she gets the idea I’m too easygoing and laid-back to take her course seriously. “Thinking is an extremely important part of my Process.”

“Right . . .” She looks a little bit confused, then starts to leaf through a pile of thin cardboard folders on her desk. “Now, just one little admin issue . . . we don’t seem to have received your application form yet.”

“That’s right.”

She glances up for a second. “Er—is there a reason for that?”

“Well, I didn’t want to rely on the post. Things go missing so much these days.”

“But applications are done online.”

Shit. “Oh, well, I don’t trust technology either.”

Diana Pettigrew’s forehead is creased into a frown.

“So . . . you’ve brought the form with you now?”

“Not exactly.” I can feel my palms starting to sweat along with my bottom. “You see, I didn’t really feel the application form represented who I am.”

This is completely true. This is not breaking my vow.

“I have a very unorthodox approach to fashion,” I go on. “I don’t like to be constrained by have to’s and should have’s. Which is why I feel so very well suited to life at Central Saint Martins,” I say smoothly. “After all, if you can’t be creative and individual here, where can you be?”

“Ms. Bookbinder.” Diana Pettigrew’s lips are set in a rather irritable line. “I have taught John Galliano. I have taught Alexander McQueen. Not even they were too creative and individual to fill out our application form.”

“Well, you did an excellent job on both of them,” I say meekly. “Congratulations on that.”

There’s an odd silence for a moment, then she lets out a sigh.

“Well, we are where we are. You can always fill out an application form later. For now, why don’t I have a little look at your portfolio?”

“Oh, absolutely!” This is the bit I’ve been really excited about. I get my gorgeous pink Mood Book out of my bag and hand it over.

Her eyebrows shoot upwards. “You don’t have a standard artist’s portfolio?”

“Well, that depends on what you mean by a standard artist’s portfolio.”

“We mean,” Diana says, “the sort of thing you’ll have seen all the other applicants with. A collection of your clothing designs. Your sketches. Some photographs of items you’ve actually made.”

“Oh. Well, that’s not quite the way I work. I tend very much to start things out at the conceptual stage—”

“Well, everyone starts out at the conceptual stage!” Diana Pettigrew snaps, staring down at my Mood Book like it’s a smelly old sock in her teenage son’s bedroom. “What on earth is this?”

“It’s my Mood Board! Well, my Mood Book, really, because it’s so much more portable than a great big piece of corkboard . . .”

Diana has opened up the book at the front. “You’ve written the word Pretty.”

“That’s right!”

“In French as well as in English.”

“Well, I do hope to become a Top International Fashion Designer.”

She ignores me. “You have glued in a piece of pink satin—”

“Which is Pretty, I’m sure you’ll agree!”

“—and stapled on a photo of Keira Knightley wearing Valentino couture on a red carpet.”

I smile at Diana. “Keira would be the ideal Woman I’d Design For. And I’ve got the most amazing idea for an Oscar dress for her.”

“A dress you have sketches of somewhere else?”

“Well, no, not exactly . . . I find actually drawing clothes quite difficult, to be perfectly honest. But I mean, that’s not that big a deal, is it? I mean, when you’re actually a designer, you can just pay someone to do the drawings and . . . you know, sew stuff together. Make the sleeves. Can’t you?”

“You can’t make a sleeve?” Something about the horror on her face tells me I’ve made a fundamental error here.

“I wouldn’t say can’t. It’s more that I’ve never really tried.”

“Well, how’s your sewing?”

“Oh, you know . . . so-so!” I laugh. Diana doesn’t. “But can Sarah Jessica Parker sew?” I ask rhetorically. “Can Victoria Beckham?”

She sits back in her seat and folds her arms. “Can you cut a pattern?”

“Well . . .” I shift uncomfortably in my seat. My bottom is getting sweatier than ever. I’m starting to really have some serious regrets about my nothing-but-the-truth vow. “That all depends on the kind of pattern you’re after. I mean, I could probably do a square. Maybe a triangle . . .”

“All right. Stop.” Diana Pettigrew holds up a hand. “Isabel. Help me out here. You’ve neglected to fill out a proper application form. You seem to have no idea about the most rudimentary elements of garment-making. You’ve come to an interview with nothing but a so-called Mood Book, and your greatest design role models appear to be Sarah Jessica Parker and Victoria Beckham.”

She leans across the desk. “What is it you feel you have to offer Central Saint Martins?”

I take a deep breath. “OK. I’m going to be completely honest with you here.”

“That would be helpful.”

“I don’t have all the experience some of your other applicants have got. And I’ll admit—I don’t have any rudimentary knowledge of garment-making. In fact, the only garment I’ve ever made was a silk-screened T-shirt in Year Nine. And even that didn’t come out like it was supposed to.”

This is completely true, by the way. Somehow I managed to get the silk-screening equipment the wrong way round, so in the class photo all the other girls are wearing T-shirts saying Babe and I’m wearing a T-shirt bearing the inexplicable ebaB.

“Then why on earth are you applying for the toughest fashion postgraduate course in the country?”

“Because I think I’d be really, really good at this if you’d give me the chance!” I lean forward. “Honestly, Diana . . . I mean Ms Pettigrew. I’d work incredibly hard. And I’ve got big plans for the future—I mean, how many other students do you get who are already working on their fragrance line?”

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a single one,” she says, rather faintly.

“Exactly!”

“I’m sorry, but you are manifestly underqualified!” Diana Pettigrew is standing up. “Letting you into this course would be an insult to my other students and, quite frankly, a cruelty to you.”

“But I don’t mind about that!” I want to grab her hands, but I have a feeling she’s already thinking of summoning a security guard to eject me. “Look, the course doesn’t even start for another three weeks—I’ll make sure I learn all the rudimentaries of dressmaking before then, I promise . . .”

Diana stands up and goes to the door.

“ . . . and this is the only way my family will take me seriously.” My voice has suddenly got a lot smaller.

“Look, Ms Bookbinder . . . Isabel . . .” Her face softens ever so slightly. “I can’t give you a place here just so that your family will take you seriously. All I can suggest, if you’re really serious, is that you reapply—”

“When?” I grab my diary out of my bag. “Is there another late round of applications?”

“—in three years’ time.” Diana opens the door. “In the meantime, I would suggest that you take a basic fashion degree, get some decent work experience, and try putting together a sensible portfolio that does not simply revolve around the word Pretty.”

I’m not about to argue with her. Not with the entire waiting room listening ten feet away. I pick up my bag, put my Mood Book back inside, and, with the very little dignity I have left, walk out of her office. view abbreviated excerpt only...

Discussion Questions

From the Publisher:

1. Throughout the novel Isabel talks about not wanting to become a “Stepford Wife.” How does this direct her decisions within her relationships with Will and Ben? What actions show their perspective on gender roles? Do you think social class plays a role in one’s attitude toward the opposite gender?
2. Isabel is considered the black sheep of her family. How do you think this label affects her determination to succeed? Would you say Isabel changes her career goals in order to avoid failure and disprove her family’s judgments?
3. Isabel continuously tries new careers in attempts to find something that brings her satisfaction. She strives to find happiness and respect through her career choice. How do you think this attitude affects Isabel’s persona? Do you believe the actions she takes to achieve this goal are justified?
4. In order to begin her career in the fashion industry, Isabel fabricates the truth. “Oh, Mum’s fine now . . . her and my dad run their own organic farm in Somerset. Making . . . er . . . honey wine.” What consequences, both positive and negative, does that behavior have? Do you agree with her actions? How do you think she could have gone about the situation differently?
5. Isabel desperately tries to fit in and conform to what she thinks other people’s ideals are. She changes her clothing style depending upon where she is going to be. Can you relate to changing aspects of yourself in order to be accepted? In changing the way you look or act, do you think you are losing your identity?
6. In what ways is Isabel challenged while pursuing her new career choice? What obstacles does she overcome? Do you think she handles the setbacks appropriately? If you were in Isabel’s shoes, how would you have gone about starting a new career differently?
7. Part of Isabel’s desire not to become a “Stepford Wife” drives her to become more independent. “But I think when he [Will] sees me all settled in my new place, he’ll realize how important it is for me to live on my own for now.” How do you think her newfound independence will affect Isabel’s self-esteem? Do you think it will help her grow as a person and create more opportunities in her future?
8. Throughout the novel Isabel seeks out the approval of others. She longs to be accepted into the fashion industry’s exclusive circle. Do you agree that it’s okay to forfeit your own standards to gain the approval of others’? What other options did Isabel have?
9. How does Isabel’s dysfunctional family life carry over into her personal and professional life? Do you find similarities between roles she has with certain family members and those with her peers?
10. What do you think is so appealing to Isabel about having a relationship with Ben? Would you say the way it made her look in the eyes of others affected her decisions during their short relationship? How did this relationship benefit her? What realizations was she able to make as an outcome of this relationship?
11. Which of the characters were you most able to relate to? Which one stands out most to you? What makes that character appealing?
12. Throughout the novel, Isabel tries to prove herself to both her family and peers. What events do you think made her succeed in doing so? At what point do you think she started getting her life together without the prodding of others?
13. How do you feel Isabel’s expectations of success affected her chances of succeeding in the fashion industry? Ultimately, do you think her discouraging realizations about this industry will make her want to pursue a different, possibly more glamorous, career? If so, what career do you think Isabel would turn to next?


Enhance Your Book Club
1. Isabel spends hours trying to come up with her own “signature look.” Have your book group come to a meeting wearing their own signature looks. Find something that each member feels represents herself and her inner fashionista.
2. Isabel continuously follows her dreams. What are your dreams? If you could choose any profession that would make you feel your life is complete, what would it be? What would your life look like if you were to have followed and obtained all of your dreams?
3. Hold one of your book group meetings at a location you think Isabel would go to. Submerge yourself into her fabulously fashionable, “cool,” and “glamorous” life style.

Weblinks

»	Publisher's Book Info
»	You Tube Interview of Author Holly McQueen

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