Jean Queen Diane Gilman has the electrifying life story and the empowering life lessons you need right now. Diane found her greatest success at age sixty, when she sparked a denim revolution: designing blue jeans for real women with real bodies. She’s sold nearly nineteen million pairs of her DG2 jeans on HSN and created a sisterhood of seven hundred thousand women who feel too young to be old.
With raw candor and humor, HSN’s top fashion star reveals how she turned personal heartbreak into trailblazing success—and how her struggle with breast cancer became her bridge to love. Diane’s twenty-five secrets for a vibrant, visible, relevant Act 3 will change your life. Recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a fun memoir, a well-written story of triumph in the face of setbacks. I had not heard of her before seeing this book on NetGalley (thank you for the review copy!) but enjoyed her focus on helping older women live life with passion.

My expectations were low. Firstly, I had never heard of Diane Gilman, and I feared there would be a lot of psycho-babble or worse. US readers will probably know the name right away. Diane became a millionaire in her 60s after creating a line of blue jeans especially for Baby Boomers. The range, DG2, became a sensation on a TV selling channel.

Diane was always keen on fashion and design and as a teenager created embellished jeans by hand that were worn by Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

Her book is partly autobiographical with the last chapters giving her 25 Lessons for Life. Diane has always lived life to the full, and prides herself on being energetic, colourful and exuberantly dressed.

She has some profound learnings and lessons for mid life women. She tells us to embrace our age of illumination, and uses data and real life examples to explain how older women often shine in their later years, becoming entrepreneurs, as she did, and carrying a torch for a successful and joyful final act. We don't hand over that torch either. We carry it to the end.

Of the phrase "Diamonds are Forever," she adds: "The girl is the diamond. Created by pressure, polished and buffed, given a shining second chance at life."

Diane Gilmore's life hasn't always been easy. She sold a range of washable silks and was naive about the business arrangement which meant she lost the right to use her own name as a brand. She ignored a mammogram that suggested a dark shadow, and three years later, in her 70s, discovered the cost of ignoring it when she found she had to battle breast cancer.

I found the book very uplifting and inspiring. For a cynical Brit who doesn't care for advice or self help books, that's quite an accolade.

This title will be released on November 29.

This book is all about “dropping” famous musician names.. Extremely boring. If you enjoy reading about someone who has been with famous people, this is your book. Otherwise, move on.

I was hoping from the title that this book would give fashion, beauty and lifestyle tips for aging women. That’s not really what this is. I had never heard of Gilman but apparently she sells jeans on HSN. This is her memoir and it also feels like a very long infomercial for her jeans. I’m sure it will be a good read for her fans but I ended up just skimming it because I didn’t get much out of it. Much of it also deals with her breast cancer battle so women dealing with that may connect with the book there too. The 25 secrets is just a few pages at the end and they’re kind of basic life advice.

Two stars for it was okay for me.

I read an advanced reader copy for purposes of review.

I don’t usually enjoy many memoirs, but this one was one of my very favorites! It was so witty it kept me hooked!

From abused child to the queen of home shopping blue jeans sales, Diane Gilman’s life has been filled with challenges and triumphs, setbacks and success. Claiming her biggest business success after passing the age of sixty, Ms. Gilman sets out to encourage readers fifty-plus to live their best life without feeling invisible or irrelevant.

Diane Gilman’s story is impressive as she faced and conquered personal, business and health challenges with optimism, courage and strength. From rocker chick in the 1960s to Jeans Queen in 2022, Ms. Gilman shares it all…losing the love of her life, losing the legal right to use her own name on her designs, fighting breast cancer in her seventies. And through it all, designing clothes from blouses to washable silk fashions to blue jeans for women with real bodies.

The writing is personal and upbeat, seeking to connect with the reader, offering twenty-five tips for a energetic and visible Act 3 of your life.

It’s an easy read and you feel like Ms. Gilman is chatting with you and sharing her secrets and tips. I may just have to check out some DG2 jeans!