Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fifth Avenue Glamour Girl by Renee Rosen

Glamorous cover 

G👀dreads

It’s 1938, and a young woman selling face cream out of a New York City beauty parlor is determined to prove she can have it all. Her name is Estée Lauder, and she’s about to take the world by storm.

In New York City, you can disappear into the crowd. At least that’s what Gloria Downing desperately hopes as she tries to reinvent herself after a devastating family scandal. She’s ready for a total life makeover and a friend she can lean on—and into her path walks a young, idealistic woman named Estée. Their chance encounter will change Gloria’s life forever.

Estée dreams of success and becoming a household name like Elizabeth Arden, Helena Rubinstein, and Revlon. Before Gloria knows it, she is swept up in her new friend’s mission and while Estée rolls up her sleeves, Gloria begins to discover her own talents. After landing a job at Saks Fifth Avenue, New York’s finest luxury department store, Gloria finds her voice, which proves instrumental in opening doors for Estée’s insatiable ambitions.

But in a world unaccustomed to women with power, they’ll each have to pay the price that comes with daring to live life on their own terms and refusing to back down.

Genre: Historical Fiction, Chick Lit
Circa: 1928

Day 2 - This story is told from Gloria's POV. I was expecting it to be Estée's. Actually deducting one ⭐already for that because re-reading the About it sounds like it's more Estée's story. It's Gloria's story of riches to rags and how she met Estée and how they became friends and how Gloria fell into success and was Estée's stepping stone into Saks, even though E was a go-getter and had her business off the ground, she just needed that foot in the door. Oh wait, Gloria is a fictional character. 🤦
It's still a great story and I'm enjoying it. I just feel like it was a bait and switch. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall Enjoyment 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎊

Did it grab and keep my attention? 🎣🎣🎣🎣🎣

Would I recommend it to anyone? 🗣️ Yes ➕

Would I want a sequel 🕮 No ➖

Would I want to read more books by this author 📚  Yes ➕

Trigger Warnings 💣💥 None

Spice 🌶 No, but there is sex

Plot twist 🌪 None

Tidbits 💻As mentioned in Day 2, I deducted one star for the bait and switch. It leads you to believe it's Estée's story but it's actually Gloria's story and point of view. Gloria is a fictional character who, trying to recover from family scandal, becomes friends with Estée when she gets a job in a salon as a shampoo girl where Estée is working. It's about their friendship, sometimes rocky, but always there during their rise in the fashion and beauty industry.

Estée was bound and determined to be successful, and is credited for the practice of free samples and gift with purchase. She felt that women would want her product once they felt how amazing her creams and lotions were. She was also determined to get her products into Saks because that would have meant she "made it" in the industry.

In the book, Gloria is the one who got her into Saks. She gets promoted to assistant cosmetic buyer and pitches Estée to her boss a few times. 

From my research, in real life it was her persistence pursuing Saks that got her in with her marketing tactics. She created demand with "mystery shoppers" (friends) who would go into Saks and ask for her products. Her mantra "telephone, telegraph, telewoman". I've heard that but didn't realize it was Estée's! Her real turning point, and this WAS in the book, was giving away lipstick at a charity gala. The next day they had a mob of wealthy attendees storming Saks asking for her products. Saks agreed to buy $800 worth of her products and it sold out in two days. 

One little annoying thing, Gloria mentioned "Estée's tiny teacup hands" or "teacup fingers" WAY TOO MANY TIMES! At one point I was "enough already with the teacups, we get it!". She was barely five feet tall, tiny hands were probably in proportion with her tiny body. 

🎧Hillary Huber

MY EXTRAS

She WAS a Glamor Girl
They don't look like teacup hands to me!

Can you imagine?!?!


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