When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion

Award-winning author of The Plaza, Julie Satow looks south on Fifth Avenue and back through the 20th century to examine the golden age of American department stores and of three visionary women who led them. In three chic palaces of consumption – Bonwit Teller, Lord & Taylor, and Henri Bendel – Satow writes, “men owned the buildings, but inside, women ruled.” Her new book, When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion, focuses on three talented business women in different decades: Hortense Odlum, Dorothy Shaver, and Geraldine Stutz. Rich with personal drama and trade secrets, Satow’s book portrays the world of the fashionable department store in all its glitz, decadence, and fun, and showcases the women who ran the show.