num_pages: 240
description: Funny and fearless Tales from the Back Row is a keenly observed collection of personal essays about what it's really like to be a young woman working in the fashion industry.In Tales from the Back Row Cosmopolitan.com editor Amy Odell takes readers behind the stage of New York's hottest fashion shows to meet the world's most influential models designers celebrities editors and photographers.But first she has to push her way through the crowds outside where we see the lengths people go to be noticed by the lurking paparazzi and weave her way through the packed venue from the very back row to the front. And as Amy climbs the ladder (with tips about how you can too) she introduces an industry powered by larger-than-life characters: she meets the intimidating Anna Wintour and the surprisingly gracious Rachel Zoe not to mention the hilarious Chelsea Handler and more.As she describes the allure of Alexander Wang's ripped tights and Marchesa's Oscar-worthy dresses Amy artfully layers in something else: ultimately this book is about how the fashion industry is an exaggerated mirror of human fallibilityreflecting our desperate desire to belong to make a mark to be included. For Amy is the first to admit that as much as she is embarrassed by the thrill she gets when she receives an invitation to an exclusive after-party she can't help but RSVP yes.
language: English
title: Tales from the Back Row: An Outsider's View from Inside the Fashion Industry
publisher: Simon & Schuster