You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO request comes from Victoria, who is searching for a book that sounds crazypants:
I’m looking for a book that I read in high school. It’s a Jackie Collins-esque novel about a girl who moves to L.A. to become a fashion designer. I think her name may have been Jazz or Jazzy or something similar.
She invents pantyhose that are two-toned (one color on each leg).
She has her purse stolen when she’s in a public bathroom stall; someone reaches over the top of the door and hooks her purse with a finger.
She first makes money when she gets to L.A. by becoming a paparazzi, and in one scene she yells at another photographer to get down via the phrase: “Down in front, dickhead!”
With all of this information you’d think it was easy to find but alas.
One, I think I want to be this woman. And two, how do you not realize someone stole your purse while you’re peeing? Normally, you’re looking right at the door!
Is Judith Krantz’s Dazzle?
It does sound Judith Krantz-y!
I remember being warned not to hang my purse on the door hook (or at least not the TOP door hook) lest this happen.
And I think the tragedy of it all is that you would KNOW your purse was being stolen–watch it happen–unable to do anything *because* you were peeing!
Yes, I think it is Dazzle!! Thank you Julia!!
And yeah she sees it happen but can’t catch the thief because her pants are around her ankles.
Dazzle by Judith Krantz does feature a Heroine named Jazz, but I don’t think any of those events take place. She’s the daughter of a starlet and a wealthy rancher and becomes a photographer, though not a paparazzo. Notable outfits include a priceless Madame Gres gown (that I saw at the Met a couple of years ago)on which the hero spills chili, a gold lame Calvin Klein slip dress, and an entirely green outfit composed of a sequin skirt and sheer silk blouse. Yes, this book might be hiding under my bed since I was 11.
I, too immediately thought Judith Krantz, but I was thinking Spring Collection. I’m not sure, because it (with Dazzle and Princess Daisy) has been hiding under my bed since I was 15 or so, and I mostly skimmed it, except for the-ahem-“good parts”.
I remember a scene with the purse being stolen in the bathroom stall, but it seems like it was definitely not this book. It happened in New York — Bloomingdales, I think, — and in the book, the heroine goes on to meet a bullfighter and go on a whirl-wind thing with him that eventually results in him raping her for hours and hours. Because that’s super-romantic and awesome. That’s not who she ends up with, though.
And now I almost feel like I need to submit a HABO about that book. Because even though it was not at all awesome, I read it like a dozen times at a time in my life when I had very few books. I can practically see the book in my head, purple cover, author name in huge letters, but not well enough to read the author’s name or the title of the book.
Y’all are right, sadly. I bought Dazzle at Amazon and have read the first chapter and it doesn’t seem right. I think the heroine becomes a fashion designer in the 80’s, not a photographer. I’ll still totally read Dazzle though because it seems nice and juicy.
It’s not Judith Krantz, I know that for sure. But it was probably a knock off of her. So, the publishing date would be sometime around 1991-2.
Btw: Dazzle was such a fun miniseries, and included possibly the first lesbian scenes on US TV. I think it’s on Amazon video streaming so check it out!
I don’t think I’ve ever been in a bathroom stall large enough that I couldn’t just reached out and grab my purse if someone tried that. Though my fondness for crossbody purses probably helps.
It doesn’t have two-toned pantyhose, but Fantasies by Beverly Sassoon has someone get their purse stolen over the door at Bloomingdales and there is another character who is a paparazzo.
Francesca, you just might have it!! After looking at it on Amazon, I know for a fact that I’ve read it more than once. Unfortunately there’s no Kindle so I have to order the paperback, but thank you!
My friend is related by marriage to Judith Krantz. I know it has nothing to do with HaBO, but she told us some really nice things about Judith. Always nice to know authors are really nice people in real life.
Hooray for a possible HABO find! Call me naive, but I never thought about someone reaching over the door to take a purse. Perhaps because I’m five feet tall and can’t imagine being tall enough to reach a cabinet, let alone over a door? Although I’ll still take the risk vs the dirty floor!
Fantasies is the book I was thinking of, which may or may not help the OP.
I’m sorry but if I’m in a bathroom stall and I see a hand reaching over for my purse, I don’t care if I’m in the middle of something or not, I’m grabbing my purse!
OMG I have to read this book! I am now scurrying off to get Dazzle and to find a copy of Fantasies because this bidness with the two tone pantyhose is so the kinda crazysauce I love!
Before I saw the comments I thought Krantz too. Scrupples was the title that came to my mind but I think it was because there was something about clothes in that one.
Is it a requirement that JK books be hidden under the bed? 🙂
BTW, back in the old days when I wore pantyhose to work, my friends and I used to have a way to make them last longer. We never threw away a pair that had a run/hole in just one leg. We’d cut off the damaged leg and save the good leg (with the panty part still attached). Once we had an undamaged left and right leg, we’d wear them together. It wasn’t terribly comfortable wearing the double thickness of panties, especially in the summer, but we were young and poor so we did whatever we had to. We did wear colored stockings, but never thought to wear two different colors together! I guess the harlequin/renaissance two-toned look would have been a bit much for us.