Bettina Bedwell

Bettina Bedwell (January 13, 1889 – April 29, 1947) was an American journalist and fashion illustrator. She reported on fashion from Paris throughout the 1920s and 30s.

Early life and education Bettina Bedwell was born in Broken Bow, Nebraska on January 13, 1889. Her parents were Walter C. and Emma Moore Bedwell. She attended school in Denver and then studied at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Mid-life and career

Bedwell moved to Paris in 1921 or 1922. She began reporting on fashion for the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate in 1924. : 268

In 1929, American author Kay Boyle began working for Bedwell as a "secretary." Boyle wrote to her family saying that the work included writing fashion articles for the Chicago Tribune, which appeared under Bedwell's name. Boyle and Bedwell became friends, continuing to work together and visit each other into the 1940s.

Bedwell understood the pirating of Paris fashions well. She had reported on fashion bootlegging and "style pirates" in a 1930 article that appeared in the New York Times. Bedwell's own columns were sometimes accompanied by sewing patterns that copied the Parisian styles she reported on.

Later life and death Bedwell and Rattner left Paris in late 1939 to avoid the Nazi invasion. They settled in New York where Bedwell later died due to a kidney infection on April 29, 1947.