Betty Halbreich dishes on decades of plain speaking and proper sizing in ‘I’ll Drink to That: A Life in Style’

Betty HalbreichMy favorite tip from Betty Halbreich, a straight-shooting Svengali of style, is this: “I would never in a million years dream of going out in public barefaced. I have to put on lipstick and mascara even to travel half a block for a loaf of bread. How do I know I won’t meet Prince Charming on the way?”

Most mornings, the corner store Halbreich heads to is the world-famous luxury emporium Bergdorf Goodman at 5th Avenue and 58th Street, near the Plaza Hotel and Central Park. Halbreich, 86, runs the store’s Solutions (personal shopping) department; she started working there in 1976.

In her latest book “I’ll Drink to That: A Life in Style” (co-written with Rebecca Paley), the vendeuse of elegance looks back on nearly nine decades of plain speaking and proper sizing.

(This is Halbreich’s second book. She appeared in the 2013 documentary “Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s” and is working with Lena Dunham on a new HBO show.)

Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, an only child of wealthy parents, one of her favorite pastimes was playing in her mother’s closet. As a wife, mother and socialite in New York City, she passed her days shopping and dressing to the nines. I loved hearing about the luscious meals her parents served when entertaining and her swanky nightlife as a newlywed in Manhattan.

Halbreich’s seemingly enviable life, however, was both charmed and cursed. After her marriage fell apart and she attempted suicide, she found solace through work.

She’s quick to point out, though, that she’s not a great saleswoman. In fact, she never learned to use the cash register. Her true talent is seeing what clients crave under the sequins, lace, taffeta or feathers – advice, a surrogate mother, a shoulder to cry on.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Halbreich also has an unerring eye, uncommon discipline and understated good taste. These traits have helped her dress Candice Bergen, Liza Minnelli, Mia Farrow, Betsy Cronkite and Joan Rivers, just to name a few. She even instructed former President Ford on the right way to hold a garment bag.

Halbreich’s recollections make a breezy read – easy as slipping into a favorite pair of jeans. Denim, by the way, is something Halbreich wouldn’t be caught dead in.

‘Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s’ is a fascinating hot mess

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s/2013/eOne Films/93 min.

There’s usually something fascinating, even fun, about a hot mess and that’s the case with writer/director Matthew Miele’s documentary “Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s,” now available on DVD.

Miele’s film is a gushy tribute to luxury retailer Bergdorf Goodman, the famed New York emporium and Art Deco palace that occupies an entire city block (Fifth Avenue at 58th Street) near Central Park.

There is much frothy conversation. We meet Bergdorf Goodman insiders, celebrities (Candice Bergen, Nicole Richie and Joan Rivers, to name a few) and a slew of designers (such as Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs and Karl Lagerfeld) as well as fashion observers, writers, the New Yorker cartoonist from whom the film’s title is borrowed and real-estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, among others. William Fichtner narrates; no idea why.

Unfortunately, the interviews (many of which make the same points again and again) are never pulled together. The throughline – creating the gorgeous, glittering store windows for Christmas 2011 – becomes less interesting as it progresses and fails to unify the film.

Miele clumsily tries to mask the underlying condescension – even if you’re not one of the lucky few who can afford to shop here, you can peer in from the street through dazzling windows full of very expensive stuff – with a couple of offhand references to the economic downturn and by opening the film with a morning-has-broken sequence of a working-class guy who turns out to be a Bergdorf’s doorman. Cringe.

All that said, though, some of the talking heads are extremely entertaining. “What would you be doing if you didn’t work here?” Miele asks Betty Halbreich, a longtime personal shopper, known for her candid opinions and discerning eye. “Drinking,” Betty replies.

“Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s” also has a chic, polished look and offers a nice dollop of New York City history. For fashionistas and shopaholics as well as forbearing general-interest viewers, this is pretty good fun.

“Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s” is available on DVD, $25 list price with discounts via Amazon. Click here for more info.

‘Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s’ hits theaters today

“The energy in ‘Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s’ – what a great title! – is genuine, infectious and superabundant.

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

You can read the full WSJ review here and view the film trailer here. Looking forward to seeing this. : )