Jeanne Beker, a veteran Canadian television host of shows like Fashion TV and New Music, understood early on that clothes held significance. “From the very beginning — ever since I was a little girl playing with dolls — I always knew that what we wear mattered,” Beker told Askew. “I learned that the way we present ourselves tells the world who we are and sometimes ourselves.” She realized that style is a status symbol and an art form, which is how she spent years working at the FT because of the world of haute couture. Now, Beker focuses on her relationship with clothes in a new memoir.
“Hearts on Sleeves: Stories from a Dressed Life,” published today, traces Baker’s life and career through the clothes in her unique wardrobe. The noted journalist sees them as artifacts — “they carry memories,” Baker says — and she has a passion for studying the relationship between clothing, experience and memory. “I realized that [fashion] can bring some excitement to your life and definitely has the power to change you,” Baker said. What else not to forget? Supermodel (and fellow Canadian) Linda Evangelista wrote a touching foreword for the book.
Here, AskUme spoke to Baker about her new release.
Askew: Hi, Jean! First I’d like to know how the concept for this book came about.
Jeanne Beker: The publisher Simon & Schuster contacted me and asked if I would be interested in writing a book. I had announced my cancer diagnosis in 2022; I was undergoing chemotherapy at the time. At first I thought they wanted me to write about my cancer journey, but I didn’t know how I felt about it. But they wanted me to remember some of the amazing people I’ve met [throughout my career], so I started thinking about a fun way to do that.
How did you come up with the idea of using clothing and jewelry to achieve this?
When I was little, my mom and sister had these jewelry boxes on their dressers filled with the cutest little ornaments. I spent hours looking at them and wondering: Who gave them this? Where did they go? Apart from memories, the most precious things are little ornaments. So I took that as the idea for the book – writing about my life through the lens of my own jewelry box. But then I decided I had to open it up to my whole closet.
The hardest part of writing a book is editing your ideas. How did you decide which things and stories to write about and which to leave out?
I think about clothes I wore that had an impact on me, or remember how wearing something made me feel.
I think you have a lot of options. Are you the kind of person who can control everything?
I value things that I feel emotionally attached to. I still have a lot [of things I wrote] because they mean a lot to me. Not that I ever wear them, but they are great preservers of memories in our closet. I never regret keeping things, but I regret throwing things away.
How much time do you spend looking for stories on your bookshelf?
Things happened very quickly. I thought about the story I wanted to tell and if there was a story that matched it. The story of the dress given to me by Karl Lagerfeld, or the beautiful pieces I got from Dior – these are all things that are taken for granted and really should have a place in this book.
The book begins with a foreword by Linda Evangelista. Why is she the right person to begin it?
Linda was and still is the centre of the fashion storm, and she feels the same way I do. The fact that she was a fellow Canadian really meant a lot – we were strangers in a strange country. I’ve always been impressed by her incredible talent. Shortly after I was diagnosed with cancer, she called me to tell me she had breast cancer. Nobody knew this [at the time]. That means a lot to me. It gives me a lot of strength and inspiration.’ Just as I was finishing all my treatments, she called me again and told me her cancer had come back, and we connected. Any woman who has gone through breast cancer will really feel a sense of sisterhood – like a club.
Let’s talk about some of the costumes you mention in the book. I thought the way you wrote about your mom’s brown backpack at the beginning was really poignant.
This was one of the first accessories that really appealed to me. I knew the gravity of the matter even as a child. My parents had immigrated to Canada from Kozova (today’s Ukraine) and they had a large wooden box with a few precious items inside, one of which was this old, worn-out brown leather bag. It has photos of my parents when they lived in a displaced persons camp in Austria. There are also many black-and-white photos of family members, many of whom died in the Holocaust. I used to look at these photos when I was a little kid. I thought, wow, this is a family I never had. I never got a chance to meet them. I felt it was important to start the book with this because it really establishes who I am and it explains where I come from.
In chapter two, you write about moving to New York to pursue an acting career and the special underwear your mother gave you. Please explain.
Around 1971, the great Pierre Trudeau had a little fight with the press. They asked him a question he didn’t really want to answer and I think he probably told them to “go away,” but when he was asked what he said he claimed he said “fuck off.” It made the news and I couldn’t believe department stores were now selling Fuddle Doodle underwear. I bought these orange silk panties with a picture of the Capitol and the words “Faddle Doodle” on the crotch. When I moved to New York, maybe just a few months later, my mom said, “I’m going to take the $500 you made this summer and sew it into your underwear — because then no one will be able to find it.” I was thinking that would be the first place people would see it. But I said, “Okay, Mom, let’s go.” “I gave her Fuddle Doodles, and then she sewed a nice little cotton pocket on my butt. I got on a Greyhound bus to New York City with $500 sewn into my underwear.
What I loved most about this book were all the characters we met. As a TV presenter, you’ve interviewed many famous people – which stories impact you the most?
I’ve never spoken publicly about the Iggy Pop moment before. I’ve been interviewing people for a long time, and I’m proud to say that since I started reporting for CBC Radio in 1975, until now, that’s the only interview I’ve had to end. The issue with that interview was that I wasn’t dressed appropriately for that interview. I was spending Shabbat at my parents’ house on a Friday night, and one of my producers called me late at night and invited me to come to his show at the Danforth. There were only men there – there were very few women in rock at the time – and they all sat together after the show and got really drunk. A girl (like me) came in – she probably thought I was bourgeois. If I dressed like [a rock girl], I’m sure he’d look great for me.
I also loved the story that you were going to interview Madonna and you both arrived wearing the same Anna Sui bell-bottoms!
I was supposed to be interviewed by Madonna for her agency, but I was only allowed four minutes with her. I had never interviewed Madonna before, so I knew I had to wear something weird. I have a pair of sexy, sexy black velvet Anna Sui bell-bottoms. I mean, they’re not just bell-bottoms. I still have them. I came to her hotel room wearing nice pants, thinking I was the coolest girl – and there was Madonna sitting there, wearing the exact same black dress. I thought we would get along great. I said, “Madonna, I love your pants! We wear the same pants!” And she said, “Oh, do we wear the same pants?”
I remember the chapter where you interview Andy Summers in a hot tub in a bikini. Much of the book is a glimpse into a bygone era of celebrity and fashion journalism. It seemed strange at the time – didn’t it?
Oh, there’s no doubt about it. The world has become so politically correct. I had the best time on two shows, New Music and Fashion TV. I reached a level no journalist had ever reached before, and I did it all with impunity. We never took ourselves too seriously. Oh my god, we had so much fun.
Who would go to a hot spring with a man these days? I was 50 years old and a mother of two. When I told my mother she was very embarrassed. But when I interviewed him for New Music magazine in the early 1980s, he wasn’t wearing pants. Twenty years later, I was hosting a fashion TV show and he suggested we do another bathtub interview – but this time, I should accompany him. I did, and it was a wonderful moment… until his hair caught fire. He set up little wishing towers around his hotel room to set the mood, and when he drank cosmos and smoked marijuana, his head was tilted back and his hair was on fire.
I also want to talk about some of the iconic fashion designers you have met during your career. The chapter about your red Alexander McQueen shoes and your relationship with them was special to me.
I’ve always loved McQueen and always felt like I had a special bond with him. Maybe he makes everyone feel that way. I’ve had some great interviews with him over the years. He’s funny and a little mischievous and I love him for that. I couldn’t really afford anything by McQueen, except one day when I was in Jeffreys in New York, I saw a pair of little red McQueen shoes on sale. They’re amazing. I bought them before I went to Vancouver to cover the Olympics and I took them with me thinking I’d wear them walking around the stadium. Then I woke up and I found out that McQueen had committed suicide, and I couldn’t believe it. My fashion TV producer called me and said we should come on the broadcast. So I put on my McQueen shoes and stood there with a heavy heart.
You write about your breast cancer journey in the book, particularly how style played a role in the experience. I know you experimented a lot with hats.
I’ve always loved hats. When I was a little girl I had to wear a little straw hat with a grosgrain ribbon, and I remember going to Paris wearing a brown hat with a big pheasant feather attached to it. But sadly, I stopped wearing them along the way. When I was going through chemotherapy and my hair started falling out, I went out and bought a red wig – because I thought, if I have to be a redhead, this is it! But when I got home and put it on, it didn’t feel real. So, I started wearing hats. I was surprised when a wonderful milliner in Toronto named David Dunkley gave me a little black newsboy hat. It really touched my heart because my mother loves wearing these hats. My dear friend Louise Kennedy, who is one of the greatest designers of all time, also gave me a beautiful, bright magenta hat. I started wearing these little hats and I felt really good about myself.
Have you worn any of these hats after chemotherapy?
You know, I didn’t. Funny thing: Sometimes I put it on before I go out and I’m like, this is great. But then I’m like, no—my hair is thicker now. Things represent a time in your own life that you don’t necessarily like to think about, but you don’t want to relive it.
I also loved your story about the Elsa Peretti Tiffany & Co. silver bracelet that you lost during a chemo session and that is now in the possession of someone who needs it.
It all depends on how we choose to look at something. I’ve worn that bracelet for over 25 years. I had just finished treatment at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and I realized I’d forgotten my bracelet at the hospital. At first I was upset. But then I thought, how can I take this and turn it into something positive? I realized that maybe I had found my strength; my cancer had been successfully treated, and I was on a journey that I wondered if I would ever finish. So I thought, I don’t need that bracelet for empowerment anymore. I hope other people can find it, and I hope it empowers others.
Finally, we want to talk about the most worn item in your wardrobe today – the badge you received when you were awarded the Order of Canada in 2013.
It’s my most treasured accessory. I wear it all the time because it reminds me that I shouldn’t rest on my laurels. Of course, it symbolizes a lot of the work I’ve done in my career, but it also motivates me to keep moving forward. It also reminded me of the time when Stephen Harper’s wife, Laurene, invited me and my daughter to attend a ceremony at 24 Sussex Avenue. I remember lying in bed the night before I was awarded the Order of Canada and feeling so proud that I’m the child of immigrants and genocide survivors and was sleeping at the home of the Prime Minister of Canada. It’s an incredible feeling.
One last question. What do you hope people take away from this book? Is there a specific mission?
I hope people will feel a sense of how I felt about this outfit and start thinking about their own wardrobes. Wardrobes can tell us about ourselves, and they can tell others about themselves. On my upcoming book tour, people are asked to bring an article of clothing or accessory that they can talk about. Hopefully this will give people a chance to talk about beautiful moments in their lives and special memories related to the clothes in their wardrobe.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
