Gabrielle and Lulu are sisters, but that’s where the similarity ends. Where the elder sister, Gabrielle, has always been a slave to beauty and fashion, Lulu has always been a no frills sort of woman, nonplussed by the latest trends. But when Gabrielle goes through a divorce and Lulu becomes a young widow, the two suddenly have more in common than ever before.

Another thing they have in common? Their strained relationship with their fashionista mother, Bette Bradford. So when Bette dies, the sisters are reluctantly reunited to settle their mother’s affairs. Even from the grave, Bette remains passive aggressively elusive, giving her daughters the mysterious task of tending to her “collection”. Neither woman knows what their mother collected, so when they walk in, quite literally, to a closet full of expensive and one of a kind items, they can’t believe their eyes. Forced to work together, the sisters quickly realize there’s more to the collection than pearls and purses. Neither may have been the perfect fit as daughters, but being there for one another is always in vogue.

Fashion Orphans was a refreshing novel with a unique premise. Not only did the women come to understand their mother better, they came understand each other better as well. The quirky undercurrent kept the story flowing as well as a designer’s new spring collection. It also left me wishing, once again, I had a sister to share clothes and companionship with. 😞

So grab your sister, your gal pal or your favorite garment for a story with a sweet message that, quite frankly, never goes out of style.

Mother wore Chanel!

Two sisters, divorced Gabrielle and widowed Lulu, who’ve stopped communicating, are brought together over their mother’s grave, and their mother’s obsession with all things Coco Chanel. The sisters are like chalk and cheese. Their roles neatly pigeon holed from early childhood. Stepping in from the “Beyond” via a tightly managed will, care of lawyer Ms. Hayes, whom the sisters dub The Gray Lady, their mother Bette leaves a structured and perplexing task for her daughters. A task they must collaborate on. The women are both puzzled and dismayed by the will and what that reveals about their mother and her obsession. Shocked and yet not. As was said, Bette’s “self-absorption [which] could sometimes rival Miranda Priestly’s in The Devil Wears Prada, always rose to the occasion.”
Their discoveries at Bette’s apartment opens up into the world of high fashion, and feeds into their mother’s absolute mania with all things Coco Chanel. A world these two must translate and conquer.
They meet their mother’s friends who are all fashion divas and long time members of the same group, “The Style Endures Society.” These friends take the sisters into the fold. They turn out to be a group of crazy dames, somewhat resembling the Ya Ya Sisterhood ladies, doyens of style, who bring their influence and talent to bear on the sister’s quest.
As the lives of the sisters unfold, and as the future beckons, some threads are left hanging. But all becomes clear for Gabrielle and Lulu, including their questions around their mother’s love for them, which they have seriously questioned. Their search is leavened with Coco quotes.
I love the inclusion of the idea of buying vintage being “green.” A thought close to my own heart.
A Vibrant, often joyous, and frequently puzzling read.

A Blue Box Press ARC invitation via NetGalley
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

“Fashion changes, but style endures.” - Coco Chanel

This was such a delightful read! Being very into style and fashion, I loved every moment when the sisters were discovering their mother’s huge Chanel collection - each Chanel bag, shoes, jewelry and clothes made me itch to touch them too! I savored the tidbits and quotes by Coco Chanel which is also my fashion icon. I was in heaven the whole time so I didn’t notice that I already read the whole book ‘til 3am! I adore the relationship between Gabrielle and Lulu —- how they were close and drifted apart and found their way back again! The complicated relationship they had with their mother was also what I love about the book. Not every parent is demonstrative of their feelings, but it doesn’t mean they love their kids less. I am all too familiar with this since I came from similar family dynamics. Of course, their ragtag team of elderly ladies who acted as their surrogate parents plus the Quattro relatives made this whole story an extra feel good one. Although it dragged for me a bit towards the end, I still love the overall story.

What a fun book! I have always been a fan of Chanel as well as fashion in general so this was right down my alley. I loved the way the beautiful articles were described in such detail. The sisters, who were not close to their mother came to understand her through the messages that she
left for them to find after her death and also through her mothers friends. Such a great story of friends, family, love and forgiveness.

I should preface this review with the fact that I am completely the wrong audience for this. I am one of those who look for ruggedness in clothing that can be cleaned several times without damage. I have never understood the concept of branding just for the sake of recognition, although even I must admit that a superior style of sewing does make a difference in how it looks on a person. I read different types of fiction, and usually, my personal preferences of this ilk do not make much of a difference, but here I felt like it was a lot of angst for something that did not feel worth it. The personal stories a group of women share during the tale would have been equally riveting if they were about homemade and simple items. It was the story behind the things that made them special.
That said, the authors got a sibling relationship to hit a very realistic note. The two half-sisters are very different and have the usual misunderstandings, but are united over their feelings for their mother, even if the mother did play favourites. The writing was excellent, and the characters sparkled on the page, even if I did not get the clothes to sparkle as much in my mind.
The two sisters a left with a legacy that they can only receive if they join forces and figure out a few key points. They have years of silence between them (even if the children continued the communication and were not asked to take sides, which was also refreshing to read about), but they start to bond again when they are thrown together for significant periods. It is not a smooth ride but something that made sense. I would definitely pick up another book by either or both authors.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

The entertaining story that is built around the mid-life sisters' relationships with each other, their family members, as well as their mother's friends - and the healing that takes place - as they reinvent themselves makes this an uplifting and inspiring read that honors women, their style, and their friendships. I cannot write a review to do this book justice. I was hooked from the first page. The writing is superb and enthralling and overall, I just loved this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blue Box Press for the chance to read this ARC. I am sharing my review voluntarily.

This story of two middle-aged sisters who’ve let their pain get in the middle of their relationship and how they find their way back to each other and themselves was well told. The sisters were grieving multiple losses and their emotional journey was believable. At times their processing was a bit much and juvenile. I can relate to how adult sisters sometimes bring out the kid in you.

I thought some of the plot was a bit far fetched or drawn out. Discovering their mother’s purpose felt rushed to me and anticlimactic. Some plot points felt extraneous and unnecessary or just not fully developed. There were a lot of characters vying for development and that seemed a bit crowded.

I considered not finishing this book a few times but ultimately wanted to know more about Bette’s motivations so I kept going.

Loss and love. This is a story of relationships with family told through the lives of two sisters who have just lost their mom and must walk through the grief.
Gabi and Lulu must deal with their fragile relationship that was fractured after both dealing with personal losses, one with divorce, the other suddenly widowed. Now they need to deal with their grief over the loss of their iconic fashionista mother as they revisit their memories together. Bette, their mom, has left them a collection which they must decide what to do. While going through her home, they discover a secret closet, filled with an abundance of Coco Chanel clothing and accessories of all styles and sizes. To top it off, as they begin to sort through it, they discover notes tucked into purses and pockets, in their mother’s handwriting, that they feel are speaking to them. A gift from beyond. Enter Bette’s friends, who offer help their direction and provide a glimpse to their mother that they did not know. Gabi and Lulu must discover what is truly their inheritance, what is that which measures beyond anything.

Beautiful dialogue. I would have liked to see a resolution with Gabi though on her relationships with a good man which would have tied it up with a nice bow. I loved all the quotes and notes left behind for the girls to find. I felt this revealed that their mother loved them while not being able to always express it. I loved the message, “Possessions tell the story of our past” that we all have something that represents a connection to our past. I liked the exploration of fashion as armor to wear and also that concept of “fashion fades but style endures”. A quick read, this is a great book to cozy up to read that you will enjoy.

Many thanks to #netgalley #thefashionorphans #mjrose # randysusanmeyers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Blue Box Press for gifting me a digital ARC of the collaboration between Randy Susan Meyers and MJ Rose - 4.5 stars!

Estranged half-sisters Gabrielle and Lulu both have lots of debt and unresolved feelings over their not-so-maternal behaving, recently-deceased mother, Bette. When they have to meet at the lawyer's office to go over her will, they are expecting to receive money to help them get out of their debt and then they can go their separate ways again. But they are both shocked when they realize that their mother left them the contents of a secret closet filled with designer clothes, as well as lots of rules about what they can do with it.

This was a good book to curl up with and escape into. Even if you aren't into high fashion (and I certainly am not!), this was a peek into a different world. But more than that, it is really understanding what was important to our parents, their past, and the things they cherished. In this world where us older folk are faced with the knowledge that our children don't want any of the things that we have spent a lifetime accruing and that are valuable to us, this story of children learning to appreciate that was a breath of fresh air and hope! It's also a story of working through grief and moving on, with the help of good friends and family.

This is a fascinating look at sisters, friendships and fashion. Gabrielle is the firstborn, raised in luxury thanks to her wealthy, deceased father. Lulu is her younger sister and spent her free time with her grandparents in their working-class Brooklyn bakery. Both are in somewhat dire straits. Gabrielle’s husband left her and tarnished her reputation so badly that she can no longer work in costume design. Lulu’s husband died unexpectedly, and her bills are more than she can handle financially. Their mother recently passed away and they are hoping that their inheritance can get them out of the financial hole they are both in. They are dismayed to find out that their inheritance is an entire room of Chanel, many things brand new or not their mother’s size. They must handle this room to the satisfaction of their mother’s lawyer, with no hint of what direction to go in. They find that the purses have little notes in them from their mother, and the notes mysteriously seem to fit the situation that faces them that day. As they start to work through this, they meet their mother’s close friends who take them under their wing. This is a beautiful book that I enjoyed very much.

Also reviewed on B&N under 1IrishEyes430 and Kobo under IrishEyes430

Quote from this book: “To achieve great things, we must first dream.” Coco Chanel
Quotes like this one are little messages from Bette who was not a very demonstrative mother but from the grave, she has made up for it, leaving secreted messages to her daughters in various Chanel purses and such. Gabrielle and Lulu, half-sisters who had different fathers have been estranged for about two years when the lawyer handling their mother’s estate tells them that they have inherited Bette’s collection TOGETHER. This is not what either of them want to hear! Both are single women again, working jobs which are really below the standards Bette had expected and they need money. With this collection will she let them recover the relationship they had when they were young? Will their opinions of their mother change in the search?
This was such a heart-warming and realistic story of two sisters who love one another but due to circumstances, had drifted apart. Their mother’s collection gives them back the future that Bette had hoped for them. Along this journey they discover so much about their mother and themselves. I would give this book more than five stars if I could. Well-written and edited, gripping in its simplicity and the human warmth you feel while reading. Love the premise and the execution. If you like charming, heart-warming fiction with beautiful characters, read this book. I volunteered to review an ARC through NetGalley.

The Fashion Orphans is the story of two estranged sisters, each going through major life changes (death, divorce) when they are brought back together in the wake of her their mom’s death. They have to work together to deal with their inheritance from their mom - an absurd amount of vintage high fashion clothing and accessories, heavy on the Chanel. In a word, this book was heartwarming. Watching the sisters communicate and repair their fractured relationship warmed my heart. The feeling that something as awful as losing a parent can bring about a ray of light and strengthen relationships was so comforting. And mixed in with the sister dynamics were overarching themes of forgiveness, resilience and the strength and love of family - the family you are born into and the family you make. I loved seeing them all come together. There were also laugh out loud moments brought on by the side characters, adding levity to some of the more emotional scenes.

Real Rating: 3.75* of five, rounded up because the prose is so enticingly polished

I have a personal connection to this story, in that this could be my family. My sisters are a lot older than me, and our mother was the same kind of borderline personality that the dead woman was. After our mother's death, there wasn't anything left except stuff...lots and lots of stuff...and there's a long, long history of unkindness, rancor, and just plain nastiness all over our "family." I was very curious to see how things would play out fictionally.

It's not like I wasn't expecting the happily ever after...I was...but I was simultaneously frustrated and amused at how these deeply estranged siblings navigated this emotional passage without either death threats or theft taking place.

What drew me to the read was that sense of familiarity, of fellow feeling, for the characters. It was a fun way to work through my own bad past. And in the end, while I wanted the story to end the way it did, I was...curiously detached. Neither Lulu nor Gabrielle ever cohered to me, never took on the full volume of characterhood. The real character here was their horrible mother! She emerged in all her shallow, self-centered, controlling awfulness. If you've never seen The Little Mermaid, you won't know this reference, but this old baggage out-Ursula'd Ursula!

I was drawn in by the deep Chanel lore on display here, and found myself grateful for the Fire tablet's ability to browse the web. There's a lot I didn't know, and a lot I half-knew, about Chanel, so being able to check references and to see aesthetics I was ignorant about helped me to *get* this read. The sisters "playing dress-up" in Mama's clothes was a hoot. But in the end, that's just what it felt like: Playing a game in which Mama would, in the end, step in to decide who wins. (Or her lawyer, in this case, who must approve any plan for the huge collection of Chanel artifacts to be disposed of.)

So there's me, all irked with "Mother" Bette being her borderline-personality tantrummy self...there's the source of my sour, not-quite-four star rating. I was certainly drawn in by the collaborators' ability to merge their prose into one authorial voice. It shows that they're different people mostly in the hilarious older women who formed Bette's coterie of ladies-who-lunch, and Lulu's adult sons. These very, very different types didn't emerge from one brain! But they each contributed to the sense of rightness and reality that the story definitely has.

The obvious comparables to this story are Sex and the City and The Devil Wears Prada (actually, Author Weisberger, she wore and collected Chanel), but those aren't direct cognates. Bushnell's book and its offshoots are about navigating complications unique to upper-class modern life; Weisberger's bildungsroman takes a greenhorn into adulthood wearing amazing shoes. Here we have what happens when the Bushnell women, now mothers of another Weisberger generation, have to deal with their own mothers' deaths.

It *is* in a tradition, then, but it is *not* something you've read a dozen times already. It's the next step, it's the Bushnell women's ascent to cronehood, it's the education of the adults in the arts of being elders. It works fine. It isn't quite as full-bodied as I expected it to be, since the real main character turns out to be the dead mother; but it was more than worth my time to read. I'll venture to say that it's worth yours, too.

Gabrielle Winslow and half-sister Lulu Quattro never had a normal upbringing. Gabrielle was raised in luxury in Manhattan provided by a trust fund from her late father. Lulu was raised in Brooklyn by loving grandparents. After Gabrielle’s painful divorce and the devastating death of Lulu’s husband, the two sisters became estranged. When their mother Bette Bradford died, the sisters, both in debt, were anticipating a substantial inheritance. They were shocked to learn that the majority of their inheritance was in the form of a collection of new and vintage Chanel clothing and accessories. Yet it came with some stipulations. The sisters needed to come up with a plan on what to do with the collection and Bette’s attorney had to approve it. As Gabrielle and Lulu try to figure out what to do, the seemingly manipulative bequest might actually bring the sisters closer and help them learn more about their mother.

The Fashion Orphans is a light, enjoyable read yet co-authors Randy Susan Meyers and M.J. Rose address some tough and common family issues – death, estrangement, divorce, poor financial decisions and regret. Ultimately, this book is about forgiveness, second chances, love and friendship. If you own or have ever coveted an item from Chanel, you’ll adore all the luxurious references. But even if you have no interest in the world of high fashion, it’s still worth a look.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blue Box Press for the chance to read an early copy of this book!

This is a soothing, feel-good read. It unfolds in a predictable yet enjoyable way, and it has a lovely sense of community as well as, of course, copious amounts of fashion descriptions!

I am an only child. I have never experienced the sister dynamic. This book gives the good, the bad, and the ugly. Of course, Lulu and Gabi are actually only half-sisters, and the difference between their fathers is part of what sometimes separates them. Gabi has been the golden child; Lulu has always felt like she has disappointed their mother.

Their mother was not the warm, nurturing sort. At all. She was more of the type to toughen them up to prepare them for the world.

Both women experienced pretty intense trauma in their marriages—one was blindsided by divorce, the other by her husband’s death. Neither was able to support the other in crisis, and there has been a rift between them. And both are in definite need of funds.

So when they meet for the reading of their mother’s will, both are hoping for the money they need. Instead, they find there is not a lot of money, and they are required to make a plan for their mother’s collection—a collection they have no clue about.

It is their discovery of this collection and, through it, their mother’s friends, that sets them on the path to healing and self-discovery. There is a lot of love in this book, it just sometimes gets sidetracked.

I really enjoyed the supporting characters just as much as the sisters. I particularly like the closeness that Lulu develops with her sons’ spouses as everyone comes together to work on the problems at hand.

Possible Objectionable Material:
Swearing, including a few instances of the F word. Drinking. Unmarried sex. One of Lulu’s sons is gay and has a husband.

Who Might Like This Book:
People who like stories about family dynamics. There’s a lot of good food in the story, as well as a lot of fabulous clothing.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2022/02/february-1-releases-part-2.html

As a huge fashion and luxury lover, The Fashion Orphans was right up my alley. I loved reading the fashion descriptions as Gabrielle and Lulu sorted through their mother’s extensive Chanel collection.

However, this book is about so much more. Gabrielle and Lulu’s relationship journey has had some troubles in the past. I’m really close with my sister so I loved following them as they struggled to rebuild their relationship for the future.

I also lost my mom last year so Gabrielle and Lulu’s experience resonated with me. Grief is a personal journey but there were so many feelings with which I could relate. The sisters are very different people with different lives but their love for each other helps them work through their complicated relationship with their mom.

The Fashion Orphans is a really beautiful, heartwarming story. I adored it and finished it with a smile on my face. If you like books about family - the family we are born into, the family we marry into and the family we choose for ourselves, you’ll enjoy this book!

I'm a big fan of Randy Susan Meyers' stories and have been wanting to try one of M.J. Rose's books. This one ended up being a win-win for me!

I really loved this story. I felt everything right along with the two sisters—their estrangement, their pain and loneliness from losing their spouses, their frustration and confusion regarding the stipulations of their mother's will, and the love of those around them. I felt it all and loved being a part of it.

I highly recommend The Fashion Orphans. It is a wonderful, feel-good story with a lot of character growth, forgiveness, and love.

3.5/5⭐️

Mixed feelings for this one.

Gabrielle and Lulu are half-sisters (55 and 48 respectively) who have grown apart as adults and are both trying to recover from blows in their personal lives (divorce, death of spouse). They also were not close to their recently deceased mom, Bette, who was more of a presence in their lives for their “big events” than their day-to-day.

Bette leaves them a secret closet filled with collected Chanel (Coco was her borderline obsession) vintage pieces, but first they must decide how these treasures will
be used. Along the way they meet Bette’s lovable friends and new possible love interests, and they work to establish a better relationship with each other.

While I liked certain aspects of the story (mainly the sisters’ growing connection), I didn’t connect well with any of the characters. They felt one-dimensional, and the sisters at times seemed immature and a bit too self-absorbed. I think maybe I just couldn’t relate with the “elite-ness” of this group/world or the fashion mania for designer offerings. Other fashionistas will probably love it.

My thanks to #NetGalley and #BlueBoxPress for providing me with the free early arc of #TheFashionOrphans for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

This was an interesting story about half sisters dealing with the legacy their mother left them upon her death. Both sisters had suffered marital loss over the past couple of years and were currently not really speaking with each other.