The Pocket Stylist: Behind-The-Scenes Expertise from a Fashion Pro on Creating Your Own Unique Look

The Pocket Stylist: Behind-The-Scenes Expertise from a Fashion Pro on Creating Your Own Unique Look (by Kendall Farr)

This slim red volume wouldn’t quite fit into your pocket, but it is a wardrobe staple. It provides advice that doesn’t date: how to choose the classic building blocks for an amazing wardrobe. Once you have the skeleton, then you can just add one trend based item to a look to keep current.
Farr says, and I agree, that finding a good tailor is essential. She goes so far as to say that “great tailoring… is the single most critical factor in raising your style profile”.

A recurring theme is choosing fashion to fit your body type. Farr is adamant that any women can look good if she dresses to what she looks like now, not waiting until she’s the size she wants to be. Theoretically I agree with this, but for those on a limited budget this just isn’t practical. Why spend a lot of money on clothes you’ll only wear for a few months?

One tip from this book that I intend to try as soon as I can is the use of a clothing steamer to remove creases. So many fabrics just don’t cope with an iron but still need creases removed. And I have to admit I just like the idea of waving a magic wand in my closet and the clothes appearing perfectly pressed.

The Pocket Stylist is not so much of a fun read as, say, "Fashion Babylon", but it’s recommended to those who are really starting from scratch in improving their wardrobe. For the more fashion savvy, the advice is probably mostly what you’ve already worked out for yourselves.

Prada for McDonalds

Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster (by Dana Thomas)

For an insight into how the big luxury designer brands are marketed, this book is an amazing read. It’s not a quick afternoon read, but for an in-depth look at the industry you can’t beat this book to curl up for an evening in front of the fire.

Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Chanel and Christian Dior used to be the domain of the exclusive ultra-rich but in more modern times these brands have become far more accessible, to the point where middle aged house-wives sport a Louis Vuitton handbag to shop at Coles, or school girls have a Burberry scarf wrapped around their neck to the local football match. Even I can (and do) pull a Chanel lipstick out of my handbag and many are perfumed by Burberry without ever having the means to visit the clothing racks at the Burberry boutique. “Your lips, at least, can be dressed by Dior” sums it up perfectly.

Deluxe explains the marketing strategies behind the big companies and how the phenomenon of luxury for the masses was born. It contains an absolute wealth of gossip and dinner table anecdotes including the amazing savings at designer discount mall outlets (unfortunatly not located near my home).

Also fascinating is how the brands are made, with the truth told about where your exquisitly handcrafted piece was actually made (factories in China anyone?). Deluxe also spills the beans on which brands are still made in Europe or France by the original craftsmen (yes, some still exist).
I highly recommend this book, but do splash out and get the hardcover version. It’s somehow wrong to read about the big designers in a paperback!

Looking up the skirts of the world’s most glamorous industry

Fashion Babylon (by Imogen Edwards-Jones and Anonymous)

Truth as fiction - Fashion Babylon contains true stories told by insiders who wished to remain anonymous condensed to fit six months in once fictitious designers life. It’s very easy read, it reads as rollicking chic-lit but the real fun is guessing the real-life name behind each anecdote. Do you know which stories relate to which models and designers? Leave a comment and let us know!

One amusing anecdote about Posh Spice (who is banned from the front row of Fashion Babylon’s collection) occurs in the Gucci office: Tom Ford bails up Gucci’s publicist to complain that Posh is being photographed wearing their clothes. He wants them to stop sending her samples. The publicist replies “I’m not, she’s buying them.” Tom still wants her OUT of Gucci!

Also interesting was the importance of Net-A-Porter to the designers. I’d always thought that the online stores were a poor second cousin to the boutiques but apparently this is not so. Net-a-porter is an extremely valuable client to Fashion Babylon’s designer meriting champagne, lunch and vip treatment. I certainly find myself shopping for clothing more and more online. I wonder if regular real-life stores are a dying breed?

Fashion Babylon reveals the reason why designer clothes are available only in small sizes. Because of the extra fabric used it costs twice as much to make a size 16 as a size 8. The book also says that the small sizes sell first leaving the larger languishing on the racks, although I have found the opposite to be true when shopping.

This is a fun, easy read giving just a glimpse inside the world of the designers.

 

That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything in Between

That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything in Between (by Victoria Beckham)

 

“That Extra Half an Inch” is a revealing and practical book on fashion, beauty and style. Victoria shares her secrets on dressing for special occasions, everyday wear, accessorising, holiday tips and making the most of your wardrobe. Whether you’re getting ready for work, a night out on the town or even doing the school run, this is Victoria’s personal guide to feeling confident and looking great every time you step out of the front door.”

 

This book is heavy on the glossy photographs and they’re all of Posh! This is vanity publishing at its best, although the book itself is well produced with thick glossy paper, charming illustrations (if you overlook the photographs) and a pink bookmark (every book should have one).

 

There’s plenty of good advice in That Extra Half an Inch. My favourite was “remember: nothing is more expensive than the thing you only wear once”. Posh says she doesn’t use a stylist which makes her fashion mistakes seem more forgivable. At least they’re her mistakes, not her stylist’s.

Yes, this book is just a 311 page self-promotion, but that’s what Posh does, and she’s good at it (rather like Paris Hilton).

 

Her inspiration comes from Grace Kelly, Jackie Onassis and Audrey Hepburn apparently. I’m a bit confused. What does the left hand side outfit have to do with the right hand side one? But Posh doesn’t always get it wrong.

 

Posh waxes lyrical about the joys of the pencil skirt and here I whole-heartedly agree. This is a shape that flatters every figure and the high waisted varients are very forgiving to a new mothers figure too (yummy mummys will know what I mean here).

 

She gives much advice that should not need to be said, but sadly does, such as don’t let your underwear show over the waistband of your jeans and don’t wear a lacey bra under a tight t-shirt.

Beware Aussie girls if you’re looking for specific clothing inspiration from Posh as she seems to get every second piece from Topshop in the UK, although they do ship internationally now. To be safe, order larger than usual and have your tailor alter so it fits perfectly. They can always make a garment smaller, but going larger is often impossible.

 

Whatever her mistakes, Posh undeniable loves fashion and, to give her due credit, she’s photographed constantly and every little slip broadcast around the world. I’m not sure I’d like my gardening clothes posted on the internet and critiqued. Her book was a fun read and a look at how she’s like to be perceived by the world at large.