A charming and insightful memoir about coming old like a fashion journalist in 1980s Paris, by former Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar editor Kate Betts, the author of Everyday Icon: Michelle Obama and the Power of Style

“You can always keep coming back,” my mother said. “Just go.”

As a young woman, Kate Betts nursed a dream of striking from her own inside a faraway place and learning to be a glamorous foreign correspondent. After college-and not without trepidation-she became popular for Paris, hiring a room in the about My Paris Wish: An Education however you like, Slang, and Seduction in the fantastic City within the Seine apartment of a young BCBG (bon elegant, bon genre) family and tossing herself in to the regional culture. She was driven to understand French slang, design, and savoir faire, also to find a work that would provide her grounds to stay.

After some dues-paying jobs that seemed only to reinforce her outsider status, Kate’s hard work and willingness to take on any assignment paid off: Her writing and intrepid forays into la France Profonde-true France-caught the eye of John Fairchild, the mercurial fashion arbiter and publisher of Women’s Wear Daily, the industry’s bible. Kate’s earliest assignments-investigating the mineral water favored by high society, running after a costumed band of outrageous boar hunters through the forests of Brittany-were a rough apprenticeship, but she was rewarded for her efforts and was initiated into the elite rates of Mr. Fairchild’s trusted few who sat beside him in the front row and at private previews in the ateliers of the gods of French fashion. From a woozy however mesmerizing Yves Saint Laurent and the mischievous and commanding Karl Lagerfeld towards the riotous, amazing young guns who were rewriting all the rules-Martin Margiela, Helmut Lang, John Galliano-Betts gives us a watch of what it had been like to be an American gal, studying herself, dropping in love, and getting her tribe.

Kate Betts’s captivating memoir brings alive the enchantment of France-from the nightclubs of 1980s Paris where she learned to dance Le Rock and roll, towards the lavender fields of Provence as well as the grand spectacle of the Cour Carrée-and magically re-creates that moment in life whenever a young woman discovers who she’s meant to be.

Compliment for My Paris Fantasy

“[A] glittering coming-of-age tale.”-Entertainment Regular (The Must List)

“Style and self-examination-froth and wisdom-might look like unusual bookfellows, but Betts brings them together with winning confidence.”-The New York Times Book Review

“As light and refreshing as an ice cream cone from the legendary Berthillon, My Paris Dream evokes the sights, sounds, smells and styles of 1980s Paris.”-USA Today

“My Paris Desire rocks !.”-Man Repeller

“That which was Bett’s Paris desire? Her fantasy was her awakening, [which] is usually elegantly chronicled in these pages.”-The Daily Beast

“For those who want in the women and men involved with haute couture, Betts’ reminiscences will be a delight.”-Kirkus Reviews

“Filled with slangy French, delectable food and swoon-worthy fashion.”-BookPage

“An amazing story of a woman in Paris wanting to break into the style business.”-Sophia Amoruso, writer of #GIRLBOSS

“Kate Betts’s tale brought me back to my own youthful self and the journey I made-in my case, from a small town in Illinois to New York City.”-Cindy Crawford