Ik hou niet zo van het ruwe papier dat gebruikt werd maar voor deze prijs kan je niet alles verlangen en het doet natuurlijk niets af aan de inhoud. Like many, I was first introduced to Esme Young via the Great British Sewing Bee, where she is a judge along with Patrick Grant. Her life is astonishing, from the radical fashions she created with Swanky Modes, to the daring decisions she made as a young girl living in London and enjoying the swinging 60s. I found that the need for sewing tips should have been put at the back of the book instead of in between the chapters. But this generosity has come back to her too, as she gleefully tells of being taken on incredible trips overseas, and huge parties with friends to celebrate significant birthdays.

She's good at recognising the contribution of others to her success - not always the case in autobiographies - and it's a book I'd enjoy reading again. The ’90s saw a career move into costumes for films, where she designed outfits for Trainspotting, Bridget Jones’s Diary and The Beach, before she moved onto the small screen herself. There was little emotion - the struggles were glossed over, so we didn't get to see the pain, which made the triumphs less triumphant. Esme is an inspiration, not just because of her career, but also in the way she is 100% her authentic self - what you see is what you get, zero f’s given!Some of Esme’s stories from her childhood and particularly her own and her siblings boarding school days were hilarious. She has one of those lives that just seems to natural and brilliant, she met the right people in fun places and is very humble and gorgeous. She makes friendship with people she meets at different stages of her career and seems to have completely balanced relationships with them irrespective of age and they value one another's experience and expertise. It documents key times, and it documents the highlights of those, all the positive things for example, about four women working together, managing families and other commitments, doing it for the love of clothes and not for the money. Personally, I find her interesting because she's a woman who's never married, doesn't have children yet has created and is part of an enormous extended family she has met through her career.

She's honest and warm-hearted, she's highly individual - has been all her life, has stuck to it too - and as such my admiration for her rocketed. The ’90s saw another career move, this one into costumes for films such as ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ and ‘The Beach’, before she moved onto the small screen herself. I still fear the stay pressed, flat fronted nylon trouser, but admire it as a part of our wonderful textiles heritage and history. Born into the very early era of punk, and then raised in the difficulty of the early 1980s, I always saw fashion as a huge important element of society - a reflection of what the masses wanted to be, and in many cases what could be afforded and imagined as a result of the restriction.

While he is the dapper, sartorially precise voice of the pairing, she's always had a cheeky glint in her eye, and the occasional allusions to her past career and life made me reach for this book - I listened to her read it herself via Audible. What a character, the people she has worked with in the fashion and film industry was mind blowing, as well as partying with so many celebrities. I felt, as a reader, almost as though she was sitting with me, telling her story - it's that immediate.

Her cheeky wit and flare for the unusual explain the transformation challenges in the show but also show her dedication to being one step ahead of the trend. Fascinating if you’re a follower of the industry, but I can imagine that it’s also a really good autobiography for anyone having grown up in that same era - and some fab name drop clangs that nobody can resent along the way!To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.