Remembering Betty Halbreich, Bergdorf Goodman’s “Fashion Therapist,” Through Her Words of Wisdom
Betty Halbreich, the legendary personal shopper and long-time Director of Solutions at Bergdorf Goodman, died on Saturday, August 24 from natural causes. She was 96.
Halbreich, after having worked on Seventh Avenue for Geoffrey Beene’s diffusion line, rose through the ranks at Bergdorf Goodman after being hired as a sales associate in 1976. The legendary department store, upon her request, created a personal shopping office for Halbreich where she counted the likes of Babe Paley, Meryl Streep, and Liza Minelli as clients. Halbreich worked on TV series including Sex and the City and Gossip Girl and would go on to write two memoirs, Secrets of a Fashion Therapist (1997) and I’ll Drink to That (2015). Her star further rose after audiences were charmed by her non-nonsense wit in the 2013 documentary Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s. She had also maintained an audience on both Instagram and TikTok.
The fashion world was quick to eulogize Halbreich following the news of her death. Bergdorf Goodman’s Linda Fargo remembered her time with Halbreich on the shop floor, saying “Every moment [with] you was a masterclass in level headedness, ethics, delivering on the promise and of course—style!”
Kim Cattrall shared a photo with Halbreich in which they were joined by Sex and the City stylist, Patricia Field. Lena Dunham, who met Halbreich a decade ago and once tried to pitch a TV series about her career, dedicated a heartfelt message on her Instagram account, saying she’ll “miss the escalator up to her office, the royal greetings she received on each floor, the intensity of her hugs.”
In honor of Halbreich’s legacy, some of her most memorable quotes to live by, below.
On happiness: “Idle hands and brain make for unhappiness.”― I’ll Drink To That: A Life in Style, with a Twist
On the evolution of style: “The world has changed, my love. Nobody gets dressed anymore. I think it’s all about climate change. We don’t have the seasons we had. This all reflects on clothing. Where are you going to wear a fur coat? It snowed once last year.” — W
On being starstruck: “Never. I didn’t have time to be. Some didn’t let me in the dressing room, I got so used to it, what’s the difference? Listen: We all look the same when we’re stripped. Don’t forget it. God made us all the same.” — Vanity Fair
On style: “Fashion is what is given to you through the media, magazines. Style is what you slip into [to] face the mirror and smile.” — Vogue
On getting dressed: “The real secret to dressing well: it's all about your attitude.” — Secrets of a Fashion Therapist
On originality: “I’ve seen a lot of things come around and go around. Sending someone to the moon was original. But in clothing? How mundane!” — W
On life: “So that’s how you do it, I thought while exiting my little office. You get on with life by facing it.” ― I’ll Drink To That: A Life in Style, with a Twist
On shopping outside of Bergdorf: “I haven’t been in another store. I have a friend, who loves to go to places like T.J. Maxx. She knows, if she says to me, jokingly, ‘Would you like to go today?’ I give her one look. Here’s what I do: I go to Fairway. I adore Costco. I really wanted to have a book signing at Costco, but nobody would let me.” — Vanity Fair
On her style as a teenager: “Well, if my mother were here, she would tell you: If everybody wore cardigans buttoned down the front, I wore them buttoned down the back.” — W
On her profession: “There’s no question. I’m a therapist—a fashion therapist. Half the time I don’t sell, I’m very busy getting into their lives. I hear more than I sometimes want to hear.” — I’ll Drink To That: A Life in Style, with a Twist
