Becoming Elizabeth Arden : the woman behind the global beauty empire / Stacy A. Cordery.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cordery, Stacy A., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Arden, Elizabeth, 1878-1966.

Arden, Elizabeth.

Businesswomen--United States--Biography.

Businesswomen.

Cosmetics industry--United States.

Cosmetics industry.

Genre:

Biography.

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xiv, 495 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

[New York] : Viking, [2024]

Summary:

"A sweeping biography of one of the most influential and successful business-women in American history, BECOMING ELIZABETH ARDEN opens the Red Door to a world of wealth, glamor, and the profitable business of beauty Elizabeth Arden was a household name on six continents and a millionaire several times over before her death in 1966. Arden counted British royalty and social elites from the overlapping worlds of New York, Hollywood, London, and Paris among her clients. She revolutionized skin care and cosmetics, making it acceptable for all women to embrace glamour and wear makeup-not just actresses and prostitutes. She created a successful international business empire before women gained the vote and at a time when virtually no woman owned or ran a national company. She developed the first luxury spa and insisted on a holistic understanding of health and beauty. Unconventional and driven, Arden fervently believed that every woman could be beautiful. Acclaimed biographer Stacy Cordery does full justice to one of America's greatest entrepreneurs. Canadian-born Florence Nightingale Graham turned herself into Elizabeth Arden, using her uncanny sense of the possible to take full advantage of everything New York City offered, building her company and becoming one with her brand. In an astounding rags-to-riches tale, Elizabeth Arden came to personify sophistication and refinement. Her hard work and innovation made makeup, fitness, and style not only acceptable but de rigueur. Arden prospered throughout the Depression, reimagined women's needs during two World Wars, and by pioneering new approaches to marketing and advertising, ushered beauty into the modern era. Cordery delivers a compelling picture of a modern CEO whose career provides a model for aspiring businesses to this day"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Beginnings

The beauty culturalist

Changing the face of America

Building a national beauty brand

The new woman and the Arden look

An empire of health

The beauty of friendship

Fashioning the American woman

Exercising modern perfection

Inventing color harmony

More beginnings, and endings

Maine chances

Business savvy during hard times

Marketing value

New directions

War begins in Europe

Beauty and morale

"For beauty on duty"

The end of World War II

The horsewoman

"Meauty is power"

Maine chance Phoenix

Maine chance mania

Rounding out the Fifties

The not-yet-swinging Sixties.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 401-479) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Cordery, Stacy A. Becoming Elizabeth Arden

ISBN:

9780525559764

0525559760

OCLC:

1433980313

Publisher Number:

90100214645