Vickie Lester recommends, “The Asylum: True Tales of Madness from a Life in Fashion” by Simon Doonan

Poppets! You know my fascination with fashion, especially since The Kid has been spending the past couple of years at the Royal Academy of Design in Antwerp. Right now he’s working on his second year collection, the silhouettes were approved by his professors, and I was looking for something to countervail the intensity of the design process — okay, I clued to the fact the inspiration was kind of dark when he told me the concept was based on the “extreme ideas about aesthetics and life,” of Yukio Mishima — when I came across this bright voice:

Now, while perusing SimonDoonan.com I discovered this creative soul, fashion arbiter, wit, etc., has written a number of books, the latest of which starts like this:

Be still my beating heart! He starts with a film reference, and I am hooked! Of course I’ve bought the book, and you can too by clicking right here on the blue text.

Special bonus, you can read his piece for Slate here, on the lost art of conversation: Charm Offensive.