YOU HAVE TO DRAW THE LINE SOMEWHERE

From early years on, Linsey had wanted to be an artist; by senior high, she had narrowed her aim to fashion design. Linsey does not climb a perpendicular ladder to the top of her field; she goes through a maze of art schools and assorted jobs, gaining confidence only to have it destroyed by a teacher or employer. Success comes slowly, and through Linsey's progress, the author presents a lot of insight and information about training for a career in design. This is a far from glamorous portrait of the routine of life at the bottom of the clothes heap. A picture of the stable-- a group of designers who must carry out exacting assignments with no allowance for creative flair-- is viewed under unromantic fluorescent lights as is the student's life of drudgery and momentary satisfaction. A love story is squeezed in which results in Linsey's marriage, and, finally a chance at a designer's career in New York. This story strips the romance but not the excitement from the fetching field of fashion.