Blow by Blow: The Story of Isabella Blow Hardcover – Bargain Price, November 9, 2010

This was a wonderful book. Detmar wrote a very candid, captivating account of his life wife his wife, Isabella. As a lover of biographies, Isabella’s life, work ethic and her contributions to the world of art, through fashion, was inspiring. However, I have to question Mr. Blow why he chose to let Issie die alone. Quite sad she died all alone in a hospital surrounded my strangers. Shame on you, Mr. Blow.

This certainly is a 'Blow by Blow' description of Isabella's life told to the treader by her now widowed husband Detmar Blow.Isabella was a colorful character throughout her years of desparate achievments in the social and fashion world in London and of course New York.Detmar takes us into the life style of the rich and famous in their social and castle whirl of England, mentioning many high profile names along his way.Some parts of Detmars' recording of his life with Isabella were interesting and some wre tiresome.We all knew that Isabella commited suicide, and knew that Detmar was leading up to this sad ending of his wife's life. I began to feel rather depressed at the whole situation, and kept wondering why Detmar continued following Isabella's wild and frustrating journey.. Having said this, it is an interesting read for anyone who follows the happenings of high profile Fashion and Entertainment Industry. I myself just had to finish Detmars story.

I had read "Isabella Blow: A Life in Fashion" by Lauren Goldstein Crowe, first, and it was a very good primer as an in-depth introduction to the extraordinary life and personality of Isabella Blow. But reading "Blow by Blow" by Detmar Blow with Tom Sykes, was especially in-depth, as Detmar Blow was married to Isabella, and it was a very intimate portrait, and loving as well. I am grateful that he opened up his and her lives together to us readers, in such detail and compassion, and honesty. I have to say it was a real page turner and I was sorry that the book ended (I wanted to keep reading), but most sorry that the world has lost such an extraordinary and outrageous personality that Isabella Blow was, at such a relatively young age, and tragically so. It is a testament to her that so many people loved her and wanted to preserve and share her memory with others.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the worlds of fashion, art and music, as well as aristocracy and British eccentricity. One of best character studies I have ever read.

This aptly named biography of fashion stylist and zeitgeist arbiter Isabella, by her widower Detmar (with Tom Sykes) is a fairly comprehensive account of her early life, her obsession with emerging artists and Hilles (the Blow family seat) and her final spiral into suicidal depression. This book names names, so much so that it can be confusing to follow when the author lapses into first name references. It is sometimes difficult to follow the course of events, such as Isabella's education, as the narrative moves forward and backwards in time quite clumsily with little signalling. The genius of Blow was in both her personal style and her ability to identify, and nurture, new talent. The reader gets some idea of the artists she nurtured (Philp Treacy and Alexander McQueen the most famous designers and Stella Tennant and Sophie Dahl the most prominent models) but less of her own amazing style - the photographs are quite patchy. What this book does better is depict her frustration with her inability to commercialise her talents, and her decline into bipolar madness and ultimate suicide. The book suffers from poor editing, with numerous typos. Quite a good read, but doesn't adequately convey why Blow was such a sensation on the fashion scene in the late 80's and 90's.

Such an amazing story of an amazing person. She touched so many people, including me, a country girl who she never met. I hope she is at peace.

Two things I learned about Isabella's life (other than the fact that she was more eccentric in her daily life, not just in her dress) is that her husband, Detmar, loved her so much, and was so patient, and it really shows. He was inspired by her too. She was a ray of sunshine to all around her.The second thing I wasn't completely aware of is McQueen's betrayal of her.In the end, you remember she was a bright light for everyone, if not for herself.An excellent read. A quick read. I couldn't put it down.

I enjoyed this detailed biography of a real character, whose name I hadn’t previously heard but whose influence can vibe seen throughout the fashion world, even today.

An informative read about Isabella's personal life from the perspective of her husband Detmar. If you can pull yourself away from Detmar's pretentious story-telling portrayal of his life with Isabella, there are gems of insight into her fabulous and sad life. I recommend it but would probably pick up another book from a different perspective.

"sad, sweet and not very well written" was the other heading i considered, but if you come to this book because you loved isabella and the fashion world of her era, you'll note the "not very well written" aspect and read on enrapt regardless.written by the man who loved her most, this was always going to be a highly subjective account and it certainly lives up to expectation, filled as it is with gossipy anecdote and sideswipes at those he feels let his beloved issie down.i thoroughly enjoyed it, but if you want a more objective telling of her tale, can't abide a name-dropper or suffer with inverse snobbery or grammatical/spelling pedantry then there are other books about this extraordinary woman you can read.

A badly written book by someone of questionable character.I can’t say too much or will gave away some of the details and spoil it for those who still want to go on and buy it.On finishing the book I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. There are too many accounts from the author that don’t really add up and like someone else said in their review, the main point for the book seemed to be to exonerate himself and constantly name drop.I don’t really feel I can recommend it.

I enjoyed this, I had wanted to read it for some time as I had read bits in the media and thought she sounded like a fascinatingly complex character. The book also highlights how you never know what someone is going through or has been through. It's certainly worth a read!

Detmar writes with such admiration and affection for Isabella and I found this to be so affecting. You can almost feel the love he had for her rise off the pages. Fascinating life and history and such a sadness that seemed to belie this beautiful soul. Am so glad I read this.

I bought this and read it quite a while ago but looking forward to reading again as there was far more in it than I imagined. I didn't know that much about Isabella but it's so sad that she is no longer with us. Anyone who knew or met her must feel that it was a great priviledge. It's a book that you don't want to put down once you start reading it. A wonderful person with great great talent and spirit.