Throwback Thursday: Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Skyes

Author: Plum Skyes

First published in 2004 by Viking

Re-issued by Random House August 2014

The tenth anniversary edition of New York Timesbestselling author Plum Sykes’s timeless satire Bergdorf Blondes are a thing, you know, a New York craze. Absolutely everyone wants to be one, but it’s actually très difficult. You wouldn’t believe the dedication it takes to be a gorgeous, flaxen-haired, dermatologically perfect New York girl with a life that’s fabulous beyond belief. Honestly, it all requires a level of commitment comparable to, say, learning Hebrew or quitting cigarettes.

Our heroine, “Moi,” described as a “champagne bubble of a girl about town,” gets into misadventures with fellow socialite and best friend Julie Bergdorf, a department store heiress. When Moi notices that getting engaged brings about a glow unattainable by facials, she and Julie scheme and shop to attract the perfect PH (Prospective Husband). Sykes’s debut is a pitch-perfect examination of the glittering lives of the young, rich, and fabulous living in New York.

I went into Bergdorf Blondes hoping I was going to like it.  I like chick-lit in general and am always up for a laugh.   I tried to look at it as a tongue in cheek tale, but there really wasn't anything remotely funny about it. I got about 1/4 of the way through and I just couldn't take any more of the shallowness and greed of the characters.

Why? Where to start..maybe it was the main character deciding a fiance would make her skin look better. Or it could have been one of the characters freaking out because someone gave her a COMPLETE set of Beatrice Potter book for her unborn baby..ungrateful much? I think the last straw was the heiress who shop lifts at her own store and daddy is happy because the scandal boosts sales. Sadly, people like this probably exist. I couldn't even like the main character "Moi".  What these characters need is a less money and a lot of therapy.  I can't say I would recommend this book.  

About the author:

 Plum Sykes was born in London and educated at Oxford. The author of the novels Bergdorf Blondes and The Debutante Divorcée and the Kindle Single memoir Oxford Girl, she is a contributing editor at American Vogue, where she writes about fashion, society, and Hollywood. She has also written for  Vanity Fair. She lives in the English countryside with her husband and two daughters.

Plum’s Tour Stops

Tuesday, August 19th: A Bookish Way of Life – Bergdorf Blondes

Thursday, August 21st: booknerd – Bergdorf Blondes

Friday, August 22nd: Drey’s Library – The Debutante Divorcee

Monday, August 25th: Carpe Libros – The Debutante Divorcee

Tuesday, August 26th: Books in the Burbs – Bergdorf Blondes

Wednesday, August 27th: Book by Book – Bergdorf Blondes

Thursday, August 28th: Reading in Black & White – Bergdorf Blondes

Thursday, August 28th: From the TBR Pile – Bergdorf Blondes

Monday, September 1st: A Bookish Way of Life – The Debutante Divorcee

Tuesday, September 2nd: Drey’s Library – Bergdorf Blondes

Wednesday, September 3rd: Reading in Black & White – The Debutante Divorcee

Thursday, September 4th: booknerd – The Debutante Divorcee

Monday, September 8th: Mom in Love With Fiction – Bergdorf Blondes

Tuesday, September 9th: Staircase Wit – Bergdorf Blondes

Wednesday, September 10th: Reads for Pleasure – Bergdorf Blondes

Thursday, September 11th: BookNAround – Bergdorf Blondes

Tuesday, September 16th: Cruising Susan Reviews – Bergdorf Blondes

Wednesday, September 17th: A Book Geek – Bergdorf Blondes

Thursday, September 18th: Books à la Mode – Bergdorf Blondes

Thursday, September 18th: Book by Book – The Debutante Divorcee

TBD: Books in the Burbs - The Debutante Divorcee

TBD: Cruising Susan Reviews - The Debutante Divorcee

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