| This work examines the image of female fashion journalists in three series of novels by Ellen Byerrum, Sam Baker, and Eleanor Hyde. Lacey Smithsonian is the main character in the "Crimes of Fashion" seven-novel series by Ellen Byerrum and two films, Killer Hair and Hostile Makeover , based on two of the novels. The two films will be compared and contrasted to the novels that inspired the films. Smithsonian will be compared to female journalists and fashion journalists, including Annie Anderson from the Sam Baker two-novel series and Lydia Miller, an ex-runway model turned fashion writer in the Eleanor Hyde two-novel series.;Lacey Smithsonian hates being the fashion reporter, even though it brings her fame and success at the paper. Even though Lacey loves to dress in clothes from the 1940s, she dislikes being forced to write about fashion instead a "serious" beat. Lacey is a strong-willed female, but her role as a sob sister and victim is evident in the series. Crimes of fashion occur on her beat and, as she investigates, she ends up becoming part of the story.;Annie Anderson must fight her inner demons as she acclimates to the new direction her career has taken as the fashion features editor for one of the top British fashion magazines, Handbag. Her previous job was at The London Post as the chief investigative reporter. She decided she needed a break from "serious" journalism and thus began her job in fashion. She does not fit in with the magazine, yet she is very successful and ends up landing coveted exclusive interviews that land her cover stories. Her investigative skills get her in trouble as she becomes involved in solving disappearances and murders that soon threaten her life.;Lydia Miller is a former runway model who doesn't share the same passion for journalism as Smithsonian and Anderson. The writer doesn't care for the craft but only works for the fashion magazine Gazelle to pay the bills. She, too, stumbles onto murders and must solve the cases before she becomes history. |
