"He was drafted into the Army, not always a congenial place for men who like curlicues and twists."

"Seemingly within minutes, he writes, 'I was the star of the camouflage maneuvers,' his helmet covered with a 'dazzling garden of flowers and grass.' When forced to march for hours, he pretended to be holding not a rifle but a bouquet of ostrich feathers. A general had him give classes to the officers’ wives in hat making... There is much to learn in this memoir about hat making."

From "Bill Cunningham, Style Maven, Leaves Behind a Memoir and It’s ‘a Real Dilly’" (NYT), a review of "Fashion Climbing: A Memoir with Photographs."

Military... millinery...