What is your favorite book about style?

Gigi

Do you have a favorite book about style, fashion, or beauty?

My favorite is The Triumph of Individual Style (http://www.amazon.com/The-Triu.....1563672693). But I will also confess that it is the only style book I have read to date! :^) I liked it because it was built around examining your own body and how you can "echo" your own body traits in your clothing. For example, the authors have you analyze your facial structure to see if you have generally straight lines or curvy ones, and they show you how you can echo this in clothing details. They also show how you can mimic your bone structure (large, medium, or small) in your choice of handbag, jewelry, and footwear. In short, it provided me with a lot of new ways to think about clothing.

What is your favorite book?

10 years ago

Book Club

21 replies

Latest reply was from Gaylene

Veteran

My favourite is probably My Mother's Wedding Dress, but that's an essay collection about clothes vs an advice book.

10 years ago

Suja

Veteran

One of the first ones I read is probably still my favorite. The Lucky Shopping Manual. Super helpful in understanding what to pay attention to when fitting clothes and how to build a wardrobe.

http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Sh.....&ie=U

10 years ago

Adelfa

Veteran

I love this question! I have many favorites! Probably my #1 all time is Hot Tips by Frances Patiky Stein, published in 1983. Her whole book is about building capsules around basics and then endless recombining of pieces. It always inspires me. If you look the book up, the cover is very misleading!

10 years ago

karymk

Veteran

I have met Carla Mathis on several occasions and I think her book is a master work. I love her comparisons of women's features to art works... She is an amazing lady.

10 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I haven't read very many style books. I do have the Triumph of Individual Style but haven't yet dived into it fully.

But the one that probably got me interested in fashion in the first place is a very old book that my mother owned when I was a little girl -- reissued not long ago -- by Edith Head, the Hollywood fashion designer. How to Dress for Success. Poring through it as a little child, I learned so much about fit, flattery, and function.

It's old now, and I'm sure the language is quaint and outdated. But the basic suggestions are just as sound: Dress for the life you lead. Make a list of all your activities and figure out how often you do each and what you need to wear for each. Pay attention to your body type.

All the kinds of things we learn on YLF. And she was a cool, specs-wearing lady, too!

10 years ago

Helena

Veteran

I really like the InStyle one (which sadly I somehow lost; must be hiding somewhere with all the odd socks and Barbie shoes). It had some really great, practical tips on things like where hems should fall, where sleeves should come to, what to wear to different occasions, packing lists, etc. I used it all the time and might replace it.

I also like the David Zyla one, just because I like how he talks about color in terms of your personal make-up rather than a "season" (I'll say only about 1/2 the book was useful imo though) and just bought the Bobbie Thomas one, which I also like, even though it's pretty basic (prob. too basic for experienced fabbers), she delves into some of the pyschological issues around style which is were I am at right now.

10 years ago

Liz A.

Veteran

Oh I love this idea for a thread. The only style books I've read so far are Trinny and Susannah's What Not To Wear and The Body Shape Bible. I read them both many years ago. Some people don't like Trinny and Susannah, but these two books really changed my approach to clothing.

I'm desperate to read The Triumph of the Individual Style, but it's so expensive!

10 years ago

retailgirl

Veteran

I think the best ones are the Chic Simple series and also the British What Not To Wear. I have a lot of style books, but they date quickly.and I know the must haves are a trench, white shirt, LBD etc. But two other books that are great are Love, Loss, and What I Wore by Ilene Beckerman and The Language of Clothes by Alison Lurie. Not style manuals, but a good read for anyone who loves clothes and style.

10 years ago

biscuitsmom

Veteran

Liz, check and see if your local library carries it (they can usually order from many in their systems) or if you want to keep a copy, its available here for less than half-price regular retail http://www.amazon.com/Triumph-.....itle_2_pap? or keep checking ebay I have to say my favorite book, hands down, is Sal's Already Pretty one http://www.alreadypretty.com/book, it's fabulous!

10 years ago

Gigi

Veteran

Liz, I didn't buy the Triumph book but ordered it through interlibrary loan at my library (like biscuitsmom was talking about). Your local public library should be able to do that for you. It took me a couple of times to get through it, so I had to return it at first and then re-request it.

I'm looking forward to checking out the books suggested on this post! Thanks, everyone, for chiming in!

10 years ago

LoveSarahDub

(website)

Active Member

I'm more into the "coffee table" or collection type of fashion literature than I am the advice books. I feel much more inspired seeing such beauty compared to trying to seek advice (that's what YLF is for! Haha!) A few of my favorites include:

Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty by Andrew Bolton is BEYOND fabulous, just as dark, rebellious and brilliant as McQueen himself.

The Anatomy of Fashion: Why We Dress the Way We Do by Colin McDowell.

Rockin': The Rockabilly Scene by Andrew Shaylor.

Hippie Chic by Lauren Whitley.

...by the way, all of these are on Amazon!

10 years ago

JenniferAnne

Active Member

I really enjoyed Rare Bird of Fashion: The Irreverent Iris Apfel http://www.amazon.com/Rare-Bir.....iris+apfel ..Also both Sartorialist books by Scott Schuman.

9 years ago

Mary Beth (formerly LBD)

(website)

Veteran

I bought Trinny and Susannah's "What You Wear Can Change Your Life (omg, nearly 10 years ago), and the color charts were eye-opening. I think I still have it somewhere. I greatly enjoy their tongue-in-cheek humor. I later bought their earlier book "What Not To Wear", but didn't find it nearly as good.

I love the TV show "Mad Men", and I loooove The Fashion File, by Janie Bryant, who costumes the show. I've moved away quite a bit from retro, but I still have this book, and I like to get it down from the shelf and flip through it sometimes while I soak in the bathtub.

Some of you will probably groan, but I also enjoyed Victoria Beckham's book, "That Extra Half An Inch". I admire her style greatly, because I find it unapologetic and unrepentant about being fancy and expensive, even in jeans.

By far, my favorite fashion/style book is one I spotted on my first trip to Paris in 2011, Fraulein, by Ellen von Unwerth. I felt like my eyes were opened in Paris, to a whole sort of lifestyle I wanted to explore. The photos of this book were a visual summary of that. I got back to the States, and I found out the book had a $1000 price tag - yikes!

Later in 2011, they reissued the book in a smaller size, for a fraction of the price, and my wonderful darling BF bought it for me for my birthday.

There are assorted magazines I have bought and kept because I love them and I look at them sometimes for ideas and inspiration:

Dress to Kill December 2011. It is called the 'Couture Issue', but it featured a lot of the fetish trend, which I loved, and continue to love.

Vogue Paris 90th Anniversary Issue - the one with the black lace mask. I can't remember when it came out - it is at my place, and right now I am at the BF's place.

Vogue Italia with the Oil Spill fashion editorial. It shocked a lot of people, but I thought this editorial was beautiful.

Vogue Italia August 2014 with the flamenco cover.

Carine Roitfeld Fashion Book Issue 2: Dance

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9 years ago

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I recently read Betty Halmbreich (spelling?)'s memoir and quite enjoyed it. She has worked in personal shopping at Bergdorf Goodman's for decades and is over eighty.

As far as more practical books, I remember the Chic Simple books with great fondness, as well as the book coauthored by Olivia Goldsmith, Simple Isn't Easy. I've still got both of the Trinny and Susannah books which are both good.

I'll probably think of more but those are the ones that come to mind right away.

9 years ago

jenanded

Veteran

Looking Good by Nancy Rix... and it has been recently re released. Talk about detail... its not as glam as other books mentioned to date, but it really teaches sooo much.

9 years ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

The Triumph of Individual Style may be my all time favorite - the use of art principles and examples of artworks is just amazing.
I liked Kendall Farr's books.
I read this book Less is More, which helped me understand the concept of minimalism as a design principle (as opposed to a closet limitation).
Secondhand Chic was really helpful in understanding clothing construction.
I have basically read any style book I get my hand on, and enjoy many of them, especially the older ones. I find shocking my eye a bit helps train it.

9 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Kendal Farr's books are best by far, in my opinion. She is extremely bright, dry, eloquent (an English major too), a fashion professional, and cuts to the chase in a non-condsecding and genuine way. She's also not trying to be "your pal" in the book - a writers tone that I do not enjoy reading, yet you feel her warmth. Have also met Kendal a few times, and speak to her quite regularly.

http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-S.....&ie=U

http://www.amazon.com/Style-Ev.....#038;ie=UT

9 years ago

Anonymous

I've read quite a few and have learned something from each. If I had to narrow it down to only one, it would be The Triumph of Individual Style. Kendall Farr's books are great, too.

9 years ago

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

I have a few of Kendall Farr's books. I really enjoyed them and found them useful where as many others I've just passed on.

9 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

The Preppy Handbook. A feat of analysis and categorization.

9 years ago

Gaylene

Veteran

I've never been very enthused by style books, but, oddly, the one that made an impression was Stacey London's "The Truth About Style".
http://www.amazon.ca/Truth-Abo.....0142180408

I didn't much care for Ms. London's TV persona, so I was surprised at how much her take on fashion resonated with me--style as a form of liberation and empowerment. Reading her book solidified the idea in my mind that, instead of "tips", what I really needed to do was figure out how I felt when I wore certain outfits.

9 years ago

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