Fashion journalist Justine Picardie’s mother was married in ablack mohair cocktail dress, the garment now disappeared, just like her parents’marriage. But what we wear reflects much more than current fashion, saysPicardie. The narrative of our clothes is inexorably woven into the story of ourlives 
In a memoir that is both smart and stylish, Picardie lets herown recollections lead into larger stories: there are the tight plastic pantsbought in a London market when she was a teenager, their tough but transitorilyrebellious exterior soon worn away; and the treasured black Gap jacket belongingto a sister who died of cancer. Many of the chapters are punctuated by oftenhilarious lists, from "Uniforms to Avoid" (Juicy Couture matchingsweats) to "Best-Dressed Heroines" (Pippi Longstocking finally getsher due), and Picardie turns a thoughtful eye to the fashion industry in aninsider’s look at the models, designers and philosophy of a fantasydrivenbusiness. A read that is by turns poignant, funny and extraordinarilycaptivating, My Mother’s Wedding Dress is a book for every woman whoknows her closet holds memories as well as clothes.

My Mothers Wedding Dress

Biographies & Memoirs

Picardie, Justine

Community & Culture

HarperCollins, Publishers

In Coco Chanel, Justine Picardie peels away the layers of romance and myth surrounding the legend of Coco Chanel, revealing the true history of the incredible woman who shaped modern fashion and created an empire of haute couture. Picardie's unprecedented research illuminates Chanel’s path from little-known seamstress to the aristocracy of style in this stunning look at the fashion icon, illustrated with more than sixty color and black-and-white images.

Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

It Books

Sleek. Chic. Notoriously guarded. Welcome to the secret world of Gabrielle Chanel.
The story of Chanel begins with an abandoned child, as lost as a girl in a dark fairy tale. Unveiling remarkable new details about Gabrielle Chanel’s early years in a convent orphanage and her flight into unconventional adulthood, Justine Picardie explores what lies beneath the glossy surface of a mythic fashion icon.
Throwing new light on her passionate and turbulent relationships, this beautifully constructed portrait gives a fresh and penetrating look at how Coco Chanel made herself into her own most powerful creation. An authoritative account, based on personal observations and interviews with Chanel’s last surviving friends, employees and relatives, it also unravels her coded language and symbols, and traces the influence of her formative years on her legendary style.
Feared and revered by the rest of the fashion industry, Coco Chanel died in 1971 at the age of eighty-seven, but her legacy lives on. Drawing on unprecedented research, Justine Picardie brings her fascinating, enigmatic subject out of hiding and uncovers the consequences of what Chanel covered up, unpicking the seams between truth and myth in a story that reveals the true heart of fashion.

Filled with fresh new research and never-before-seen photos, this updated edition of the definitive biography of Coco Chanel deepens our understanding of the history and legacy of the incredible woman who shaped modern fashion and created an empire of haute couture. 
Coco Chanel was an extraordinary inventor, conjuring up the little black dress, bobbed hair, trousers for women, contemporary chic, bestselling perfumes, and the most successful fashion brand of all time. But she also invented herself, fashioning the myth of her own life with the same dexterity as her couture; and what lies beneath her own glossy surface is darker, more mysterious, and far more intriguing. 
Uncovering remarkable new details about Gabrielle Chanel’s humble early years, Justine Picardie picks up the legend Chanel where it began—in orphanhood and poverty. Throwing new light on her passionate and, at times, dark relationships and providing profound insights into her connections with Cocteau, Diaghilev, Picasso, and Dali, this beautifully constructed portrait gives a fresh and penetrating look at what made Coco Chanel the strong-spirited and powerful presence she became. An authoritative account, based on personal observations and interviews with Chanel’s last surviving friends, employees, and relatives, the book also unravels her coded language and symbols and tracks the influence of her formative years on her legendary style. 
Feared and revered by the rest of the fashion industry, Coco Chanel died in 1971 at the age of 87, but her legacy lives on. This special new edition has been extensively revised and updated and offers a uniquely authoritative account of the world’s greatest designer. Adding fresh new insights and discoveries, it comes complete with a compelling array of previously unseen images from the Chanel archives.

Coco Chanel, New Edition: The Legend and the Life

Dey Street Books

When Ruth Picardie died from complications following the misdiagnosis of breast cancer in September 1997, leaving a young husband and two-year-old twins, thousands mourned who'd never met her. Ruth's column in "The Observer" recorded with scalding honesty the progress of her illness and her feelings about living with terminal cancer. "Before I Say Goodbye" brings together these pieces, Ruth's e-mail correspondence with friends, selected letters from readers, and accounts of Ruth's last days by her sister, Justine, and husband Matt.

Before I Say Goodbye

Picardie, Ruth

Seaton, Matt

Children's Books

Penguin Uk

Kate Linden is a 35 year old single mother, who dreams of a rosy future with a dream man who will love both her and her son Sam. But while she's waiting for the arrival of that unknown saviour, she finds herself entangled with her handsome, domineering cousin Julian, the son of her dead mother's twin sister. As she returns to Julian's childhood home in Norfolk for a family weekend, Kate is drawn back into the mysteries that haunt her. What was the truth of the relationship between her mother and Julian's father? Who was responsible for her mother's death in a car crash? How will the patterns of that dark past repeat themselves, or can she escape them? Justine Picardie writes with a clear, beautiful voice about family intrigues and intricacies. "Wish I May" is a story about the shadows cast by the past, but also of a sustaining hope for the future, and the magical transformations of love. 'A seductive tale about secrets and the ghosts of childhood' - "Independent". 'A beautiful, elegiac and intensely readable novel. Justine Picardie writes very movingly about the bonds between the living and the dead, the horrors and rewards of family life, and one woman's search for happiness' - Zoe Heller.

Wish I May

Literature & Fiction

Contemporary

Picador

Kate Linden is a 35 year old single mother, who dreams of a rosy future with a dream man who will love both her and her son Sam. But while she's waiting for the arrival of that unknown saviour, she finds herself entangled with her handsome, domineering cousin Julian, the son of her dead mother's twin sister. As she returns to Julian's childhood home in Norfolk for a family weekend, Kate is drawn back into the mysteries that haunt her. What was the truth of the relationship between her mother and Julian's father? Who was responsible for her mother's death in a car crash? How will the patterns of that dark past repeat themselves, or can she escape them? Justine Picardie writes with a clear, beautiful voice about family intrigues and intricacies. WISH I MAY is a story about the shadows cast by the past, but also of a sustaining hope for the future, and the magical transformations of love. 'A seductive tale about secrets and the ghosts of childhood' Independent 'A beautiful, elegiac and intensely readable novel. Justine Picardie writes very movingly about the bonds between the living and the dead, the horrors and rewards of family life, and one woman's search for happiness' Zoe Heller

Picador UK

My Mother's Wedding Dress: The Life and Afterlife of Clothes

Kate Linden is a 35 year old single mother, who dreams of a rosy future with a dream man - one who will love both her and her son Sam. But while she's waiting for the arrival of that unknown saviour, she finds herself entangled with her handsome, domineering cousin Julian, the son of her dead mother's twin sister. As she returns to Julian's childhood home in Norfolk for a family weekend, Kate is drawn back into the mysteries that haunt her. What was the truth of the relationship between her mother and Julian's father? Who was responsible for her mother's death in a car crash? How will the patterns of that dark past repeat themselves, or can she escape them? Justine Picardie writes with a clear, beautiful voice about family intrigues and intricacies. Wish I May is a story about the shadows cast by the past, but also of a sustaining hope for the future, and the magical transformations of love.

Literary

TRUTH OR DARE is a new anthology of original memoirs, commissioned and edited by Justine Picardie, in which eleven internationally recognised authors have written about the subjects closest to their hearts: from childhood secrets and tales of first love to the story of a father's suicide. With pieces by Andrea Ashworth, Rachel Cusk, Sophie Dahl, Sabine Durrant, Will Fiennes, Esther Freud, Zoe Heller, Nick Hornby, Julie Myerson, Jon Ronson and Alice Sebold, this volume contains all the emotional range and quirky individuality for which such writers are acclaimed. It is the perfect gift collection for any admirer of literary shorts as well as a sure fire backlist title of quality literature.

Truth or Dare

Memoirs

Pan/Macmillan

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Books by Picardie, Justine

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Picardie, Justine. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

My Mothers Wedding Dress

Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life

Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life

Coco Chanel, New Edition: The Legend and the Life

Before I Say Goodbye

Wish I May

Wish I May

My Mother's Wedding Dress: The Life and Afterlife of Clothes

Wish I May

Truth or Dare