Fashion Perspectives

Jean Dawnay (now Princess George Galitzine) describes her rise from airline steward to the top of the modelling world in the late 1940s and '50s. Photographed by greats such as John French and Cecil Beaton and working with Balmain, Carven, Lanvin, Pucci and Christian Dior, where she was a house model, this is a wry and charming tale, which provides a unique behind-the-scenes perspective on the golden age of couture.

Bettina Ballard, Paris-based correspondent and later Fashion Editor for US Vogue, was at the centre of the fashion world from the 1930s to the '50s and an intimate of Coco Chanel, Cristóbal Balenciaga and Elsa Schiaparelli. With journalistic flair, she captures the spirit of pre-war Paris, the working methods of the fashion greats and the transformation of the post-war fashion industry with the arrival of Dior.

Ginette Spanier discovered her talent for 'selling very expensive things to very rich people' at Fortnum and Mason in the 1930s. This uninhibited and amusing account takes her from hiding in occupied France to the world of haute couture, as Directrice of the House of Balmain from 1947 to 1976 and friend to stars of stage and screen including Laurence Olivier, Marlene Dietrich and Vivien Leigh.