Eileen Ford’s Book of Model Beauty

Title: Eileen Ford’s Book of Model Beauty
Genre: Relationships/Fashion & Beauty
Author: Eileen Ford (1922-2014)
Illustrator: Erica Merkling
Publisher: Trident Press, New York, New York.
Year: 1968 (fifth printing)
Pages: 280
Format: Hardcover with dust jacket; medium-large format.
Provenance: Price stickers in the amount of sixty cents on front cover and first page.
Chapter Title Examples: The Case History of a Model; How to Take Your True Measure; The Beauty Program; Nutrition—Your Inside Story; Leg Work—How the Models Do It; Put Up a Good Front; Wise Walking and Pretty Sitting; Makeup—Accentuating the Positive; Your Neck and Your Shoulders; A Word to the Mother of a Teen-ager; The Maturing Beauty; Special Problems—For Specialists.
Dedication: “To my models, because I love them. To my husband and partner—without him there’s no me.”
Opening Sentence: “Mother was a model, the first Best and Co. ever hired.”
Random Passage: “The dictionary defines posture as signifying “state of mind or attitude.’ When you slouch around, the impression you create is one of an attitude of depression, sadness, lack of confidence. When you stand up straight, you look certain, healthy, and much happier.” (from Pose or Posture—Affect and Effect)
Goodreads Review: “My sister bought this when we where young teens, living for a short time in a small New England town. We spent hours following all her little tips, and thinking about how close and yet so far New York was. This is more nastagic [sic] then [sic] self help to me.” — Jo, September 22, 2007.
Notes: Ford Models was at the center of the modeling industry in 1960s New York, run by Jerry and Eileen Ford. Many of the fashion models in their employ became well-known celebrities—Suzy Parker, Jean Shrimpton and Lauren Hutton, to name a few. The stern yet meticulous Mrs. Ford became something of a celebrity in her own right, authoring (most likely with a ghostwriter) this how-to book on beauty and etiquette. The most fascinating section is at the end, with mini-bios and photos of the most prominent Ford models as of 1968.