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What You Wear Can Change Your Life
By Meg | October 11, 2007
I love the title of this book, What You Wear Can Change Your Life, because it is so true - and yet some people put more thought into what they’re going to watch on television than what they wear. In yet another book, Trinny and Susannah give great style advice from what not to wear, to what to wear, to when to wear it, to how to look better in photos wearing it. Accessories, skin care, grooming, and makeup are also covered.
However, I got to say that the authors tried to do too much in this book and as a result I find myself wishing that they would go deeper into the topics. A lot of it isn’t that different from their book What Not to Wear, which I prefer for style advice. I wish that they would just assume that we’ve all ready that book first, and then just write What Not to Wear 2.
And what’s up with their stance against black?
Black is the most abused and misused color (or non-color) of them all. It should be reserved for special occasions and funerals… We now call upon you to banish black from your working life. (p. 92)
Sure, a lot of women do overuse black. However, as I wrote recently, it is possible to Wear Black Without Looking Boring. In general, take their color advice (and the color advice of pretty much every style book) with a large grain of salt. While there are lots of good ideas on how to wear color, many authors bring a lot of emotional baggage with them when talking about color. Anyway, I’m not sure I want take color advice from someone who let a book be published with pages full of colored text (not to mention paragraphs that not well indented or otherwise separated). I know that they have a thing against black, but does any book really need to have sea-green text?
Ignoring the typography, the book is worth reading, but I much prefer What Not to Wear for style advice and I recommend that you get another book that focuses on any other topics you need advice on.
Tags: Books, Fashion, Reviews
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October 12th, 2007 at 9:51 am
I also disagree with their stance against black, and of wearing black with color. In fact, while some of their advice is helpful, if you were to follow every bit of it, you’d be pretty devoid of individual style.
October 12th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Agreed. When it comes to different styles and cuts, they’re usually right on, but I disagree a lot with their advice on color. Then again, I disagree with most people on color.
October 17th, 2007 at 8:03 am
I love this book, but I haven’t read the original “What Not to Wear”. I’ll try that one, too.
October 17th, 2007 at 10:11 am
Hi Toya,
If you like this book, then you’ll definitely like the original. It’s by far my favorite book by Trinny and Susannah.