War Paint: Madame Helena Rubinstein and Miss Elizabeth Arden, Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry
by Lindy Woodhead
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Description
They were both born in the nineteenth century in humble circumstances-Helena Rubinstein in an orthodox Jewish household in Krakow, Poland, Elizabeth Arden on a farm outside Toronto. But by the 1930s, they were bitter rivals in New York, the rulers of dueling international beauty empires that would forever change the way women thought about cosmetics, salons, and wrinkles. This riveting biography brings these two celebrated women to life, revealing the ruthless drive and innovative business show more strategies that took each to the top. Along the way, it offers an intriguing look at their personal idiosyncrasies (Rubinstein collected art, Arden racehorses), their checkered marriages, and the rarefied social milieu in which they both traveled. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
A dense and fascinating look at the stories of Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden, their bitter rivalry and the rise and rise of the cosmetics industry during the twentieth century. These two extraordinary women came from similar obscure and relatively poor backgrounds but through their drive and determination reached the top, and essentially created the modern cosmetics industry. The book is full of fascinating anecdotes, how Miss Arden was delighted to outlive Madame Rubenstein and smiled all the way through her funeral and, my favourite, how the Duchess of Windsor terrified Miss Arden's secretary by sleeping with her eyes open - she'd had so much cosmetic surgery that she was unable to close her eyes.
This book is great for anyone interested in the history of the cosmetics industry. Not actually that inspirational from a feminist perspective. These women were ruthless; nothing new there.
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Author Information
5+ Works 377 Members
Lindy Woodhead has been in international fashion public relations for more than twenty-five years. She worked in journalism, music, and film publicity before establishing her own agency in 1974. Woodhead retired from fashion to write four years ago. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, she lives in London and the southwest of France.
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2003
- People/Characters
- Helena Rubenstein; Elizabeth Arden; Charles Revson; Estee Lauder
- Important places
- London, England, UK; New York, New York, USA; Paris, France; Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Epigraph
- In a country where wealth is constantly bringing new claimants for consideration into the area of fashion - for it is, after all, no more than a struggle for notoriety, that may be more bloodless but is not less bitter than t... (show all)hat of the gladiators - those who are in its possession contrive all possible means of distinction between themselves and those who are about to dispute their ascendancy. (James Fenimore Cooper, 1828)
- Dedication
- Dedicated to the memory of Patrick O'Higgins
- First words
- During the early evening of Friday 29 April, 1966, in an atmosphere of tense, almost palpitating excitement, over seven hundred people were gathered in the Madison Avenue premises of New York's prestigious Parke-Bernet Galler... (show all)ies.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)When asked what the problem was, she remarked gloomily, 'Not expensive enough.'
Classifications
- Genres
- Biography & Memoir, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, History, Business
- DDC/MDS
- 338.7 — Society, government, & culture Economics Production Business Enterprises
- LCC
- HD9970.5 .C672 .R838 — Social sciences Industries. Land use. Labor Industries. Land use. Labor Special industries and trades Manufacturing industries
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 122
- Popularity
- 268,307
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.72)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 12
- ASINs
- 2
