When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for a digital advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own. This book describes the history of department stores, women’s rise to positions of power in the female-centric retail business, and specifically profiles the three visionary women who were behind the golden age of American department stores. The book primarily focuses on “three American women who made twentieth-century department stores a mecca for women of every age, social class, and ambition:” Hortense Odlum of Bonwit Teller, Dorothy Shaver of Lord & Taylor, and Geraldine Stutz of Henri Bendel's. In addition to the upscale stores of New York’s Fifth Avenue, there is brief mention of other stores that became ingrained in the American shopping culture. For instance, Walmart, Kmart, and Target – all of which happened to be founded in the same year – 1962. While I found the history fascinating, and appreciated author Julie Satow’s meticulous research, I became impatient with the level of detail, i.e. Hortense Odlum’s marital woes. On the other hand, the history of mannequins was fascinating. I think this would have been more entertaining as historical fiction, but nonetheless I’m glad I read this one-of-a-kind book. If you appreciate fashion and marketing, like to shop, enjoy history of American culture, appreciate strong and complex women – this is the book for you.