Author(s): Tracy Tynan

Biography & Memoir

Tracy Peacock Tynan came of age in London and New York during the 1950s and 60s. Her parents - the renowned theatre critic Kenneth Tynan and the author Elaine Dundy - threw lavish parties where style was essential and guests included some of the greatest Hollywood and literary legends: Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, Orson Welles, Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal and many more. In Wear and Tear, Tracy divulges the glamour, secrets and dark side of her parents' highly stylized world; the struggles she faced as she tried to take charge of her own life; and the happiness she found as a costume designer, writer, wife and mother. With wit and honesty, she recalls her father's dandy attire; her mother's mink coat and Pucci dress; the costumes that defined her childhood and the Ossie Clark dresses she wore as an adult; the actors she clothed, including Richard Gere, Julie Andrews, Bruce Willis and Zooey Deschanel. She tackles big issues and small, using clothes as an entry-point, and deftly observes how style evolves as we get older.