I understood that the way we presented ourselves told the world who we wereand sometimes told ourselves whowewere.
Fashion can dictate certain adventures in your life and certainly has the potential to transform you, says Beker.
Also not to be missed?
Photo: Getty Images
The books touching foreword by supermodel (and fellow Canadian) Linda Evangelista.
Here,Voguechats with Beker about her new release.
Vogue: How did the concept for this book come to be?
Photo: Courtesy of Simon & Schuster Canada
I had just announced my cancer diagnosis in 2022 and was undergoing chemo at the time.
How did you come up with the idea of using clothing and jewlery as a means to do that?
I spent hours going through them, wondering:Who gave them that?
Jeanne Beker on her 16th birthday
Where did they go?
The most precious things, next to memories, are those little tokens.
But then I decided I had to open it up to my whole wardrobe.
Photo: Courtesy of Simon & Schuster Canada
The hardest part of doing a book is editing your ideas.
How did you sort out what items and stories to write about and what to leave out?
I imagine you had plenty of options.
Photo: Fabian Di Corcia
Are you someone who keeps everything?
I hold on to the stuff I get sentimentally attached to.
Not that I ever really wear them, but they are such great keepers of memories in our wardrobes.
Ive never regretted holding on to thingsbut Ihaveregretted throwing stuff out.
How long did you spend going through your closet, trying to unearth stories?
It was a pretty quick thing.
I thought about the stories I wanted to tell and if I had a piece to go with it.
The book opens with a foreword by Linda Evangelista.
Why was she the right person to kick it off?
The fact that she was a fellow Canadian really meant a lot.
We were strangers in a strange land.
Ive always been mesmerized by her incredible talent.
Nobody knew this [at the time].
That meant so much to me.
It gave me so much strength and inspiration.
Any woman whos gone through breast cancer really feels that theres a kind of sisterhood, like a club.
Lets talk about a few of the garments you talk about in the book.
I thought it was really poignant how you opened by writing about your mothers brown satchel.
That was one of the first accessories that really intrigued me.
Even as a child, I knew it had a gravitas to it.
Inside it were pictures of my parents from when they lived in a displaced-persons camp in Austria.
There were also all these black-and-white photographs of family members, many of whom perished in the Holocaust.
As a young child, I would often sift through these photos.
I thought, Wow, this is a family that I never had.
I never had a chance to meet them.
Around 1971, the great Pierre Trudeau had a little altercation with the press.
That made news, and I couldnt believe that department stores were now selling fuddle duddlepanties.
I was thinking thats probably thefirstplace someone will look.
But I said, Okay, mom, lets go for it.
I sat on a Greyhound bus in New York City with the $500 sewn into my panties.
Something that stood out to me in the book is all the characters we meet.
You have interviewed so many iconic figures as a television host.
Which stories stood out to you?
I had never publicly talked about theIggy Pop momentbefore.
The crux of that interview was that I wasnotdressed the part for it.
In walks a chick [like me]he probably thought I was some bourgeoisie.
I was going to do a junket interview with Madonna and was only allowed four minutes with her.
I had never interviewed Madonna before, so I knew I had to wear something really fabulous.
I had these dramatic, sensational black velvet Anna Sui flares.
I mean, they werewaybeyond bell-bottoms.
I still have them.
I thought we were going tobond.
I went, Madonna, I love your pants!
Were wearing the same ones!
And she goes, Oh, are we?
She couldnt care less.
I think about the chapter where you interview Andy Summers in a hot tub while wearing a bikini.
So much of the book offers a glimpse into a bygone era of celebrity and fashion journalism.
It seemed so much more morefunback thenwas it?
Oh, without a question.
The world has become so politically correct.
We never took ourselves too seriously.
And boy, did we have a lot of fun.
Who would get into a hot tub with a guy today?
I was 50-something at the time and a mother of two.
My mother was mortified when I told her.
I did it, and it was a great moment…until his hair caught on fire.
I also wanted to talk about the iconic fashion designers youve encountered throughout your career.
The chapter around your red Alexander McQueen boots, and your relationship with him, was special to me.
I always loved McQueen and felt I had a special bond with him.
Maybe he made everyone feel like that.
I did some great interviews with him over the years.
He was so funny and sort of naughty, and I loved him for it.
Then I woke up to the news that McQueen had taken his life, and I was just incredulous.
MyFashion Televisionproducer called me and said we needed to get on the air.
So I put on those McQueen booties and stood there incredibly heavyhearted.
I know you experimented a lot with hats.
Ive always been a hat lover.
But sadly I stopped wearing them somewhere along the way.
But when I got home and tried it on, it didnt feel authentic.
So I started wearing hats.
It really touched me because my mom used to love wearing these caps.
I started wearing these little caps, and I felt good about myself.
Have you worn these hats since finishing chemo?
Its all about the way we choose to see something.
I wore that cuff for over 25 years.
At first I was devastated.
But then I wondered, How can I perceive this and turn it into a positive?
So I thought, I dont need that bracelet to be empowered by anymore.
I hope somebody else has found it, and I hope its empowering somebody else.
Its my most precious accessory.
I wear it all the time because it reminds me that you cant rest on your laurels.
It was an incredible feeling.
What do you hope people take away from this book?
Did you have a specific mission in mind?
Wardrobes can tell us about ourselves and communicate about ourselves to others.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
