Handbags and Gladrags
Praise for Maggie Alderson’s Pants on Fire and Mad About the Boy:
‘A witty, smart debut’ Daily Mail
‘Alderson shows a gift for slicing through the daffy bravado of women’s mags’ real-life Pats ’n’ Edinas and makes a highly entertaining meal of one woman’s search for an Aussie fit for a Pom. Highly entertaining’
Heat
‘A glitzy whirl of Tim Tams, tantrums and handsome love-interests’
Marie Claire
‘It’s fun, funny, feather-light and once started, like a box of chocolate bikkies, can’t be put down until you’re full and it’s finished’
Sydney Morning Herald
‘Witty, upbeat, modern romance’ Daily Express
‘A witty modern romance… much more than a Bridget Jones’s Diary’
Australian Vogue
‘Wickedly funny and realistic… the perfect read for any girl who’s ever wondered if the grass might be greener on the other side of the world’
OK!
‘A funny, light-hearted read’ Glamour
‘This sparky novel bowls along with great pace’ Sunday Mirror
‘Entertaining and upbeat’ She
‘Sassy stuff’ Daily Mirror
Maggie Alderson has worked on nine magazines and three newspapers, and has been covering the international fashion shows for many years. Her first novel, Pants on Fire, was a UK bestseller and she was a co-editor of the charity anthology Big Night Out. Pants on Fire and her most recent novel, Mad About the Boy, are both published by Penguin.
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia
Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2
Penguin Books India (P) Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), cnr Airborne and Rosedale Roads, Albany, Auckland 1310, New Zealand
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published 2004
1
Copyright © Maggie Alderson, 2004
All rights reserved
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject
to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent,
re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s
prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in
which it is published and without a similar condition including this
condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
EISBN: 978–0–141–90508–2
With particular love and thanks to Mark Connolly and Josephine Fairley for their friendship, humour and editorial advice.
Heartfelt thanks also to:
All at Penguin in the UK and Australia. Especially Mari Evans, Julie Gibbs, Louise Moore, Tom Weldon and Bob Sessions. Also to former Penguin, Harrie Evans. And the Curtis Brownies, Jonathan Lloyd and Fiona Inglis.
To my treasured writer gal pals Jessica Adams, Kathy Lette and Karen Moline. To Barry Goodman for the Latin lessons. To everyone at Good Weekend for being such mates and to my wonderful editors there, first Fenella Souter and now Judith Whelan.
Love and air kisses to all my shows buddies: Mark Connolly (again), Melissa Hoyer, Jane Roarty, Jane de Teliga, Joan Burstein, Albert Morris, Christian McCulloch, Laura Begley, Kirstie Clements, Nancy Pilcher, Alison Veness McGirty, Judith Cook, Jackie Frank, Marion Hume, and anyone I have left out. So many frocks, so many laughs. And thanks for all the limo rides.
To all the PRs in London, Milan, Paris, New York, Sydney and Hong Kong who have given me fashion-show invitations over the years – particularly Jelena Music and Celina Ma – and to the Sydney Morning Herald for sending me to cover them.
To the designers for continuing to inspire me, particularly Tom Ford, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen, Phoebe Philo and Miuccia Prada. And to the ones I can really call friends: Jasper Conran and Collette Dinnigan.
To James Hodgson for Kingsdown and Jane Scruton for Garden Cottage.
To Popi Popovic for everything.
And to all of the international fashion pack for the best people-watching on earth. Fashionisti vincit.