Are Women Not “Appropriately Dressed”?

85-year-old Betty Halbreich has made a career out of dressing the rich and famous. The kind of career that warrants an HBO series based on her memoir, "All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go" (which is being accompanied by a film called "Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's" — which will see appearances by Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, and Christian Louboutin). However, that doesn't mean Halbreich isn't above controversy.

In an interview with The Telegraph, the personal shopper (who's worked at Bergdorf Goodman since 1978) offered choice words on the way women dress today.

"These days, there are no rules of appropriateness," she said. "Women look like they're going to the beach when they're going to work. You'll see a size 16 woman in a cutaway t-shirt, her bosom flagging in the wind, and tight jeans, and flip-flops and older female commentors on TV with long extensions done in Shirley Temple curls — now you don't wear curls in your fifties."

Oh boy. Here's the thing: Halbreich is famous for what Vogue describes as her "sharp tongue," and she's of a different generation. She's also a legend, and has dressed everyone from Meryl Streep to Estee Lauder. So does she have a point? Or is a lack of "appropriateness" the reason fashion's so interesting right now? Alas, Halbreich continued.

"There are differnet ways of being yourself, isn't there? How about by using your brain and working your way down?"

This could be the basis for quite the think-piece. As for who she looks at as someone who dresses the part, that's were Queen Elizabeth II comes in.

"I mean the Queen," she said. "She's really grown into her own, hasn't she? She used to look quite dowdy, but now she's got the Philip Treacy hat and the handbag that we all know there's nothing in — not even keys to the palace. There's something peaceful about the way she dresses. It's quite lovely in a very mad world."

Opinions, you guys. What are yours?

[image via Pinterest]

Tags: Bergdorf's, Betty Halbreich, Fashion, HBO, style, The Queen, trends, TV

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