by Brooke Varney
Eighty-six-year-old Betty Halbreich has had quite a life. It is so remarkable, in fact, that Girls writer, actor, and director Lena Dunham is in the process of developing a show about her life. She recounts the ups, downs, and everything in between in her new memoir, I’ll Drink to That: A Life in Style, with a Twist, which we just can’t seem to put down. After marrying the dashing Sonny Halbreich at a mere twenty years old, Betty moved to Manhattan to live the glamorous New York high life of Park Avenue parties and marital bliss. However, she soon realizes that all is not what it seems as her marriage begins to fall apart, and eventually ends after twenty years.
Betty and her ex-husband Sonny
After going through a period of severe depression, including a suicide attempt, Betty picked herself up by her bootstraps and took a job at iconic New York department store Bergdorf Goodman that would end up completely changing her life. Through her hard-working nature, sharp wit, blunt advice, and perceptiveness, Betty excels at her career as a personal shopper for her wide range of clientele, from the rich and famous, to the ordinary woman in need of a pick-me-up. She helps the women she encounters find their true selves through clothing, and proves that a good outfit can really make a girl feel like she can take on the world.
I’ll Drink to That is available in ebook now, and in paperback on 25 September.
A very stylish Betty wearing a jaguar coat and Chanel purse in 1950