{"id":77104,"date":"2014-09-22T16:49:04","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T20:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=77104"},"modified":"2014-09-22T16:49:04","modified_gmt":"2014-09-22T20:49:04","slug":"charm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/09\/22\/charm\/","title":{"rendered":"Charm"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Detail from the cover of The Polly Bergen Book of Beauty, Fashion and Charm<\/i> (1962)<\/p><\/div>\n

When I was in tenth grade, I went through a phase when I cut class all the time. Not in a fun way\u2014I never told any of my friends what I was doing\u2014or to be rebellious. In retrospect, I think I must have been depressed; I simply could not face other people, or think beyond hiding myself in the library in a small nook on the second floor. For some reason, I always read The Polly Bergen Book of Beauty, Fashion and Charm<\/em>, from 1962.<\/p>\n

Polly Bergen died this week<\/a> at the age of eighty-four. She was a polymath: an actress, singer, professional sophisticate, and (evidently) advice-giver. I knew none of this when I first picked up the book\u2014why it was in my high school’s library is another open question\u2014but quickly I learned about her country-music career, her success in films like Cape Fear<\/em>, and, of course, the development of her signature look, which involved big glasses and a pouf of a dark coif. It\u2019s not hard to see what attracted me; the cover features Bergen, in evening dress, peering out seductively from behind a cellophane curtain.<\/p>\n

Bergen would go on to be a successful entrepreneur\u2014she sold makeup, jewelry, and shoe lines\u2014and an outspoken feminist. She was what was known as a \u201cbig personality\u201d in the day, and was open about her ambition and strong will. Her recent obituaries have been laudatory, and quite moving.<\/p>\n

In tenth grade, I didn\u2019t know anything about Bergen\u2019s life past 1962, but during those few months of intense intimacy, her brassy sixties-era confidence was deeply comforting. I liked how definite she was about beauty tips, the elements of charm, and the importance of establishing a \u201ctype.\u201d I remember her writing that she was really only herself in her glasses; I liked that this was an essential part of her glamor.<\/p>\n

One day, I got caught by my favorite teacher. He had checked with the nurse\u2019s office and found that I had lied about being sick. (I had been in the library, reading The Polly Bergen Book of Beauty, Fashion and Charm<\/em>.) This man was a wonderful teacher; I loved his history class, and I knew he liked me, too, and thought I was smart. I know exactly why I had skipped his class that day. I was ashamed; I had not wanted him to see me depressed and unprepared and as I really was. I wanted to keep his good opinion. \u201cWhy did you lie to me?\u201d he said, seeming really hurt. And I didn\u2019t know what to say. Of course, he didn\u2019t like me after that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was in tenth grade, I went through a phase when I cut class all the time. Not in a fun way\u2014I never told any of my friends what I was doing\u2014or to be rebellious. In retrospect, I think I must have been depressed; I simply could not face other people, or think beyond […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[4064,1621,538,1171,7148,15389,13512],"class_list":["post-77104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-adolescence","tag-etiquette","tag-fashion","tag-high-school","tag-libraries","tag-polly-bergen","tag-the-sixties"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSadie Stein on Polly Bergen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Remembering the actress, singer, professional sophisticate, and (evidently) advice-giver, who died this week at the age of eighty-four.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/09\/22\/charm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Charm by Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"September 22, 2014 \u2013 When I was in tenth grade, I went through a phase when I cut class all the time. 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