André Leon Talley, or A.L.T. as he is sometimes known, is a man whose life has been largely concerned with appearances, of every kind. His new memoir, The Chiffon Trenches, is a story of someone—and in this he is not unusual in the fashion pantheon—who seems to exist primarily in the reflected glory of others, and in particular of Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour. His raison d’être was bestowed by them. And then removed ... For anyone who judges the worth of a memoir by how prepared the writer is to dish on those around them, The Chiffon Trenches will not disappoint ... Memoirs come in all shapes and sizes, just like fashion personalities. This one is a bumper edition of grievances about and glimpses into the personal lives of those who encountered the writer ... It is, naturally, a mesmerizing read, and one which a reader unfamiliar with this febrile world might well imagine to be fiction ... Leon Talley not only traveled far from the world of his upbringing, but his story is hugely influenced by how he feels about what it has meant to be a person of color. Throughout these pages, no matter how glamorous his days and nights, how famous the milieu, how well paid he might be, the issue of race is as visible as the color of his skin ... He loves his clothes, cares deeply about the creative process, and is a brilliant cheerleader for talent. But overriding this is his concern with his and others’ standing and clout.

In America, if you are black and aim higher than the reach history has set for you, the white gaze will try to leech your spirit of its racial identity. Very often, it will succeed. Such is the case with the fashion fixture and former Vogue editor at large André Leon Talley, whose memoir, The Chiffon Trenches, is at once a summing-up of his decades-long career and a pointed commentary on how whiteness works ... Can his blackness simultaneously be unimportant, and also allow him to stand out among white titans? ... And yet, Talley doesn’t directly challenge anyone about the racism. His time working at Ebony magazine gets a single chapter, revealing little about what it was like to be embraced by black industry insiders who were proving to be as important in the fashion world as their white counterparts ... By the time we arrive at the point where Talley admits, 'I’m not belittling myself to say my strength was in my ability to be beside a small, great, powerful white woman,' he has already belittled himself in about 50 different ways ... For all its name-dropping, backstabbing, outsize egos, vivid description and use of words like 'bespoke' and 'sang-froid' The Chiffon Trenches is less about the fashion elite than it is about a black boy from the rural South who got swallowed whole by the white gaze and was spit out as a too-large black man when he no longer fit the narrative. But the white gaze has done its work, and Talley’s disconnect to blackness — his own and others’ — is palpable.

... recounts half a century of excess in almost every non-essential area of life, which is what makes it such a bitchy and enjoyable read, even if I did need a lie-down afterwards ... Talley initially tried working as a receptionist but it was 'too tragic', as he says with the trademark drama that defines his overwrought writing style ... [Talley] drops famous names like hailstones throughout his memoir ... It’s the insider descriptions of both this rarefied world of fashion and of working in magazine journalism during an era of astonishing expense accounts that make his memoir such an addictive read ... Talley was gradually frozen out from his job at Vogue by Wintour, and it’s impossible to read his exposé of her as anything but a form of public revenge...As a hatchet job it’s pretty spectacular ... Aside from all the gossip, name-dropping and insider information in this memoir, we are reminded that Talley was the only prominent black man in fashion journalism from 1988 to the appointment of Edward Enniful as editor of British Vogue in 2017. That disgraceful and unpalatable fact alone makes his story all the more relevant today, and Talley’s achievements so remarkable.

Talley believes that Wintour has 'dashed' many people 'on a frayed and tattered heap during her powerful rule”' Somehow, though, he never expected to be a victim himself...What’s strange, of course, is that he could ever have imagined he would be any different. For all his plaintiveness, he seems to have not even the dimmest sense that if you spend your life creeping to those who only respond to toadying, the people involved are probably not very sincere, and your relationship with them is probably not very real ... And it’s not as if his own behaviour is impeccable. Take a look in the mirror, Andre ... This is not to say that The Chiffon Trenches doesn’t have its… moments. Laugh as Talley primly turns down the chance to participate in Warhol’s Oxidation series, AKA his 'piss paintings'. Cry as he describes the fearful cold at the Shropshire home of John Galliano’s muse, Amanda Harlech ... Yes, there are poignancies: the abuse Talley suffered as a child; the friends who die from Aids. But because he always rushes straight back to his own wonderfulness – that time Diana Vreeland told him he was a genius! – they do not detain the heart for long. What he gives us, ultimately, is a circus the likes of which, given present circumstances, we may never see again. My advice is to do as I did: apply a good squirt of Fracas to your wrists, and sit back and enjoy the lunatic ride.

... it is hard to weep for someone who over his career received a benevolent corporate loan — along with gifts of designer clothes, rooms at the Ritz Hotel, designer luggage, fur bedding, first-class flights, and lots and lots of kowtowing — especially at a moment when more than 36 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits ... It is hard to grieve with Talley when what has gone missing from his life were extravagances, not necessities. He lost suspect friendships, not soul mates. The timing is not Talley’s fault, but the refusal to see oneself from a reasonably objective distance unfortunately is ... The story of Talley, 70, is in many ways the story of fashion itself ... Talley writes that he was sexually abused as a child and admits that he’s never done a deep assessment of the damage it caused. He barely gives the assault two sentences in this memoir even though the fallout has hindered his ability to have intimate relationships ... He may well be the victim this time, but one wishes he’d used his stature and knowledge of what goes on inside fashion’s glossy realm to consider the wider moral and financial implications of the industry’s continued skittishness about age and size. His hurt is important, but what comes down to an assault on Wintour’s communication style is petty ... in emerging from the long fight, Talley is less focused on whether his victories have done some abiding good and more interested in counting the spoils.

The prospective reader has a hell of a job ahead of them when it comes to deciphering where and if what is written is all true, half true, and simply some Cinderella story about a large man of color who has an extraordinarily high opinion of himself and a fount of fashion knowledge. [Talley] is well known for his bloviating, long-winded, pretentious diatribes, so a great deal of focus and knowledge are required to separate what actually was as opposed to what was creatively constructed to enhance one’s position and persona ... Some readers will throw the book at the wall in disgust and others will find the book fascinating with its tsunami of name dropping and tales of his 'friendships' with so many of fashion’s great luminaries.

... unguarded style ... Shying from neither painful complications nor boundless praise, in turn, Talley opens up about his significant relationships with these mentors and friends and others, including Karl Lagerfeld and Lee Radziwell, to whom the book is dedicated. With great vulnerability, he also shares his longtime battle with weight, experiences of racism, and childhood trauma that led to struggles with romance. Draping difficulty in the title’s chiffon, Talley describes splendid fashions (including his own trademark caftans) with vibrant specificity, and often relates being positively starstruck by the work and worlds he moves in, like the time he escorted Beyoncé into the Met Gala. Black-and-white photos dot the text, and finished books will include a glossy photo insert.

... a tell-all in which it is difficult to discern who the biggest diva is — the author included ... His writing style may be as pompous as his reputation and as camp as his collection of designer kaftans, but such stories about the fashion greats make for perfect lockdown gossip.

... the tale of an African-American man’s spectacular rise from the segregationist Jim Crow South to the hallowed halls of Vogue — and his eventual fall ... Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/7f0c7cb4-abe7-11ea-a766-7c300513fe47 That Talley, now 71, achieved his dream against all odds, through sheer force of intellect, personality, hard work and a daring sense of style, is remarkable. His memoir should feel like a triumph. Instead, it reads like a tragedy — a warning not to measure your worth by the monogram on your luggage, or to mistake your professional contacts for your friends ... Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/7f0c7cb4-abe7-11ea-a766-7c300513fe47 It also captures a bygone world: one in which everyone in fashion knows everybody else, where one is expected to know what a martingale back is to a Balenciaga one-seamed coat, and where black American Express cards are handed out to your closest friends. Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/7f0c7cb4-abe7-11ea-a766-7c300513fe47 Talley reveres and upholds fashion’s social hierarchy, even when he is no longer peering down from the top. Titles of nobility, grand displays of wealth, his seat at a fashion show, the brand label on a suit — all impress him deeply ... Talley remains frequently discreet on behalf of the powerful, Wintour included ... What is apparent to the reader — but not to Talley — is that he failed to change with the times ... Talley likens fashion to war; his story is one of survival. He might have permeated the inner sanctum. Yet the spoils never seem to outweigh the sacrifice.

In a conversational and earnest voice, the author chronicles his defining years learning under Diana Vreeland ... The author’s writing becomes more animated when he describes more personal details ... Talley too-fleetingly addresses the sobering reality of the 'subtle, casual jabs' of racism that he has experienced throughout his career. He does note how many editors with whom he worked failed to understand his perspective as a black professional in a predominantly white field or appreciate the cultural significance of events such as Beyoncé’s gracing the cover of Vogue in 2018. Though the text brims with gossipy anecdotes, Talley mixes the serious and the saucy with equal heft. Though his legacy speaks for itself, this balanced, entertaining memoir is dramatic proof in print ... A heartfelt and often eyebrow-raising memoir perfect for armchair fashionistas or high-fashion insiders.