"During my life, I've spent thousands of hours and thousands of dollars on my hair, my makeup, and my clothes, trying to look prettier because I grew up believing that pretty girls had happier lives." "I'd be a lot happier now if I had that time and that money back." Ilene Beckerman has lived long enough to have finally learned that there's more to happiness than finding the right hairdo and maintaining an ideal weight. This is never more clear than when she's invited to her fiftieth elementary-school reunion. "Of course I'd go to the reunion." Beckerman says. But delight soon turns to dismay: "I wondered who'd be there. How would they look? Would I look as good? What would I wear? Could I lose twenty pounds by June?" Her reunion presents the perfect occasion to illustrate the anxieties and doubts, the dreams and hard-earned triumphs, of women—from Queen Victoria to Britney Spears. Beckerman knows what really matters in life (besides good hair), and she imparts her wisdom in letters (unsent) to Madonna, Ava Gardner, Sofia Coppola, Meryl Streep, Gwyneth Paltrow, and others, and to her granddaughter Olivia. Frida Kahlo, Cinderella, Whistler's Mother, and Audrey Hepburn make appearances too. In this wise and wonderful book, she shares a lifetime of experience that reminds us that, ultimately, our mothers (and our grandmothers) were right: real beauty comes from within.

Marriage was historically not only a romantic ideal, but a tool of exploitation of women in many regards. Women were often considered commodities and marriage was far away from the romantic stereotypes people relate to it today. While marriages served as diplomatic tools or means of political legitimization in the past, the discourses about marital relationships changed and women expressed their demands more openly. Discourses about marriage in history and literature naturally became more and more heated, especially during the "long" 19th century, when marriages were contested by social reformers or political radicals, male and female alike. The present volume provides a discussion of the role of marriage and the discourses about in different chronological and geographical contexts and shows which arguments played an important role for the demand for more equality in martial relationships. It focuses on marriage discourses, may they have been legal or rather socio-political ones. In addition, the disputes about marriage in literary works of the 19th and 20th centuries are presented to complement the historical debates.

In a poignant memoir of the mother-daughter relationship, a woman who has seen three daughters marry shares her insights into the entire bittersweet process, from engagement rings to "here comes the bride." Reprint.

The story of a young woman’s life, one outfit at a time. Tucked inside the fibers and buttons and pockets of the clothing in our closets are the stories of our lives, the lessons we’ve learned, the people we’ve loved. Like so many of us, Adena Halpern has used clothes to conform, to seduce, to console, to show off, and to hide. Her ability to relate fashion to her inner life--in a way that goes beyond the clothes--has endeared her to many readers, one of whom called her, "the real-life Carrie Bradshaw." But Fashionista, she’s not. Adena is: every teenage girl who had to have what all the other girls had, whether it looked good on her or not; the college coed who swooned for the boy in the leather jacket; the heartbroken girl who chose a rebound dress over a rebound man; the best friend who borrows clothes and never gives them back; the woman who is 45 minutes late to work because she has nothing to wear. She is a lover of clothes and shopping whose passionate memories are always tied not only to the clothes that she wore, but what everyone else was wearing, too. This is the affectionate and funny story of Adena’s life, an unconventional love story that readers will want to share. Clotheshorse or otherwise, this book is for anyone who keeps an old piece of clothing in the back of their closet, wishing that one day those clothes would get up and start talking about the wonderful times you once shared together.

The author of Love, Loss, and What I Wore presents “a whimsically illustrated memoir about [her] acerbic Jewish grandmother” (St. Petersburg Times). Ilene Beckerman’s first book “illuminates the experience of an entire generation of women,” wrote the New York Times Book Review in a full page of praise for Love, Loss, and What I Wore. It became a bestseller and inspired the hit Off-Broadway play by the same name. Now, Gingy returns with her fifth illustrated treasure, The Smartest Woman I Know—a tribute to the insightful woman who raised her. It’s been said there’s nobody as smart as an old woman. That’s Gingy’s grandmother, Ettie, though she had no more than a third-grade education. She dispensed unforgettable wisdom to Gingy and her sister, Tootsie, as well as to the customers at her and (her husband) Mr. Goldberg’s stationery and magazine store, where customers ranged from Irish nannies to Sara Delano Roosevelt to Marlene Dietrich. Clever about life and love, food and men, Ettie had advice for everyone, and it didn’t hurt that she got some of her best ideas from talking things over with God, out loud. Known for bringing wit and emotion to issues that concern women, depth and poignancy to subjects as seemingly trivial as clothes, beauty, and bridesmaids, Gingy now magically brings the irrepressible Ettie Goldberg to life. “With its compact format and bright colors, The Smartest Woman I Know by Ilene Beckerman looks deceptively cute, but it’s a deeply felt homage to the author’s 4-foot-10-inch grandmother Ettie.”—The Jewish Week “Ettie’s epigrams are packaged in a quick, amusing read, complete with quirky illustrations.”—Publishers Weekly

As a middle school teacher, author Bart King listened carefully to the wisdom of his girl students. Along with his five sisters (!), their knowledge made The Big Book of Girl Stuff a classic that Parenting magazine has called “a must-have for girls.” This updated and redesigned edition of The Big Book of Girl Stuff is still loaded with fascinating facts, activities, quotes, games, and insightful information and advice on important topics. This humorous and informative resource is filled with everything a girl needs to know and celebrates all the things that make being a girl so wonderful. And not only is it a perfect handbook for preteens, ’tweens, and teens, but it will delight moms, aunts, and big sisters as well!

With the average cost of weddings today at over $20,000, it’s no wonder that today’s savvy, budget-conscious brides are looking for deals to get the wedding of their dreams at a fraction of the cost. But in today’s world where extreme couponing and the number of wedding sweepstakes competitions is on the rise, for the modern bride, discounts and bargains are simply not enough. For these brides, only free will do. Enter The Bride's Guide to Freebies, the book that shares insider secrets on how to potentially get thousands of dollars worth of merchandise and products for your wedding for free. No, this is not a book of suggested bargains and discounts. Rather, this book provides freebie-finding strategies on everything from the dress to the food to the entertainment, information on what to say (and not say) to score lots of swag, and how to foster positive relationships with vendors that result in spectacular add-ins. And each and every tip and strategy featured in the book is designed to give the budget-conscious bride the ultimate payoff: lots of wedding goods and extras… for absolutely zero money.