The legendary Bergdorf Goodman saleswoman, who has worked for the Manhattan luxury department store for 47 years, has opened up about her career in a new interview.
Betty Halbreich, 95, started out as a clerk at the legendary store in 1976 and went on to launch Bergdorf Goodman’s personal shopper service for the rich and famous.
Throughout her decades of work on the Fifth Avenue landmark, which she chronicled in a 2015 bestseller, she has seen fashion trends come and go and how customers have changed with them.
“Manners have changed. People of all ages treat salespeople terribly. “It shocks me,” Halbreich told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday.
“They throw things around and walk away or come out of the dressing room and get undressed.” I won’t tolerate it. “The only thing I’ve ever asked for is leave me with my dignity.”
Betty Halbreich, 95, started out as a saleswoman at Bergdorf Goodman in 1976 and went on to launch the legendary store’s personal shopping service
The exterior of the Bergdorf Goodman store during the 2014 Christmas window unveiling
Halbreich also observed that younger customers are increasingly being attracted to the store, which used to be primarily aimed at older, wealthy customers.
“When I started, it was a small, elite store. “People were afraid to come in. Chauffeured cars were allowed, but if you brought up your bike, forget it,” she said.
“Lately I’ve seen a tremendous upsurge in youth.” It amazes me that they’re giving out the prices they’re asking for. You buy two things: handbags and shoes. And yet they kind of walk around in jeans and a tank top all day.”
As she recounted in her book I’ll Drink To That, Halbreich, known to fans as BG, was already in her 40s when she began her career at Bergdorf Goodman.
She took the job after a tumultuous breakup with her unfaithful, heavy-drinking husband caused her to have a nervous breakdown and attempted suicide.
“I grew up here, and that’s where a different person came in,” she told the Journal of her career at the store.
She proposed the creation of a personal shopping service and was put in charge of running it.
As Director of Solutions, her official title, Halbreich has served a wide range of high profile clients including Hollywood personalities, celebrities and politicians.
Bergdorf Goodman is the favorite store of Carrie Bradshaw, Sarah Jessica Parker’s beloved character on the HBO series Sex and the City.
Betty Halbreich, seen in an authentic Jaguar coat in 1950, was already known to fans as BG in her forties when she began her career at Bergdorf Goodman
Halbreich has worked as a personal shopper and stylist for a variety of prominent clients including Hollywood personalities, celebrities and politicians
In her memoirs, she describes how President Gerald Ford came to her to pick up an altered dress for his wife and she took it upon herself to show him how to wear it properly.
“It was just pressed and done. “He took it and wrapped it around his arm like he was taking his shirts to the wash,” she recalls.
“I said, ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake. She’s going to wear this dress tonight,” she explains.
“He said, ‘I can’t believe Betty is telling me how to wear a dress.’ I said, ‘At least I’m not telling you how to run the country.’
The quick-witted octogenarian goes on to say that Ford and his wife had “a wonderful love affair.” She came out of the dressing room and showed him each dress. And his appreciation for her was written all over his face.’
A big part of Halbreich’s success is due to her ability to adapt with the times — though she can’t help but notice how much the fashion world has changed since she was a teenager.
“We got dressed – that’s the difference,” she writes. “They went to El Morocco on Saturday night and tipped the head waiter heavily to get a table.” “You didn’t think about going out naked.”
Halbreich’s list of other former celebrity clients is staggering, but also includes Al Gore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sharon Stone, Julia Roberts, Bobbi Brown, Estée Lauder, Farrah Fawcett, Liza Minnelli and Meryl Streep.
Victoria Beckham poses with a Victoria Beckham Beauty exhibition at Bergdorf Goodman in 2021
Founded in 1899 and permanently located on glamorous Fifth Avenue in 1928, the New York store sells designer clothing
Andrew Goodman is seen in 1956. He ran the company after the death of his father, Edwin Goodman
For more than a century, Bergdorf Goodman has served midtown Manhattan’s upper class.
The New York store, which was founded in 1899 and permanently settled on glamorous Fifth Avenue in 1928, sells designer clothing from brands such as Prada, Jimmy Choo, Gucci, Lanvin, Dolce & Gabbana.
It’s the favorite store of Carrie Bradshaw, Sarah Jessica Parker’s beloved character on the HBO series Sex and the City.
The store was also where author E. Jean Carrol said Donald Trump sexually abused her in a dressing room.
He denied it, but a civil jury awarded Carrol $5 million in damages after finding that Trump sexually abused and defamed her, but did not rape her.
Today the business is a subsidiary of Neiman Marcus, which is owned by private equity firm Ares Management.