For as long as she could remember, Cassie Lane yearned to be somebody else. Not only was she socially awkward, she was odd-looking and her dysfunctional family were the type of people who bonded over stealing their Christmas tree every year.
Miraculously, at sixteen, Cassie’s prayers were answered and she got boobs – big ones! Suddenly the centre of attention, she went from gawky bogan to international model, strutting catwalks from Milan to LA. But beneath the gloss she discovered a world of exploitation, where living off your looks can attract as much scorn as admiration. Her search for a version of herself she could actually like took her from Hollywood parties, to an island ashram, and reluctantly back into the spotlight as an AFL ‘WAG’, a position where one wrong step can get you labelled a ‘slut’, ‘skank’ and ‘stripper’. In time the gawky bogan came full circle, and Cassie grew to understand that beauty is not about high cheekbones or a 24-inch waist. True beauty is found in the imperfect and vulnerable.
How to Dress a Dummy casts an unwavering eye at the myriad ways in which women are taught that they’re not enough. Smart, frank and very, very funny, Cassie’s is a bold new feminist voice.
