Satow’s book has one longing for that delightful hush when the gates rolled down, the doormen went home and shopping gave way to sleepytime..

Charming.

Ms. Satow’s carefully researched book is compulsively readable.

A treat for anyone like me who yearns to time travel back to some of those palaces of consumption at the height of their grandeur.

Satow’s narrative is recommended as an interesting piece of social history, especially as department stores have been obsolesced by online shopping..

Satow concludes with perhaps excessive optimism about the democratizing nature of online retail and the expanded career options open to women today.

This stylish account, rich with personal drama and trade secrets, captures the department store in all its glitz, decadence and fun, and showcases the women who made that beautifully curated world go round..

The illuminating stories of these unexpected tastemakers are both complementary and well contextualized..