Confession: I am not a fashion plate.
Surprised?
Why ever not?
Despite my not-so-fashionable tendencies (inwardly, I’m really a denim jumper and birkenstocks-with-socks wearing Mom, with a patchwork vest thrown over top for good measure), I adore reading books on fashion, “style”, what-have-you.
Books like Nina Garcia’s Look Book.
Garcia’s Look Book tells the reader “what to wear for every occasion”–from when you’re asking for a raise to going on errands around town to Easter dinner to jury duty. Garcia covers it all.
Pick this book up, stick a sticky note in the most often used sections, and hope that you have a REALLY large clothes budget.
Maybe some women have this many clothes, but I certainly don’t. I briefly contemplated making a list of each of the items “called for” in each of Garcia’s “recipes”, but it took me only two or three pages to let go of that notion. It’d take forever.
So it’s not exactly the most practical book.
But it can’t be denied–it is a fun book. It’s fun to revel in the options one has with clothes, to imagine having to decide what to wear to a black-tie dinner, to read little anecdotes about others’ fashion faux pas and brilliant successes. And Garcia does have a good feel, after all, for the “vibe” you want to put off in different scenarios.
No discussion of this book would be complete without a mention of Ruben Toledo’s illustrations: lipstick tubes, fun shoes, and complete do’s. These illustrations are just great.
Yes, this is just the sort of book for a not-so-fashion-forward gal such as myself, who nonetheless likes to sink into a world of glamor through the pages of a book. Glossy illustrations, out-of-my-world scenarios, and just the tiniest touch of celebrity.
It’s the kind of book I love to check out of the library but would never dream of buying for myself.
Take it or leave it according to your preference.
Rating: 2 stars
Category: Fashion Advice
Synopsis:Garcia tells you “what to wear for every occasion.”
Recommendation: Not so useful for what it’s billed as (unless you have an enormous wardrobe), but fun if you like perusing glossy illustrations of glamor.
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=D I should probably read this book but I don’t have the motivation to go clothes shopping. I have few clothes that I love well.
I’m trying to be even more practical this pregnancy by only buying a few things (which I’ll no doubt wish to BURN in a few months time!) One item I bought this time was a red sweater which I keep getting compliments about as being “Very Christmas-y” and to which I always think, “Christmas!? It’s PRACTICAL! It just so happens to be red. You’ll be sick of seeing me in it come Valentine’s day.”