Reviewed: The Little Black Book of Style

When Nina Garcia first introduced herself I was not optimistic.

Garcia, the fashion director at Elle magazine and a judge on Project Runway, is the author of The Little Black Book of Style which is being marketed as a practical resource for attainable elegance.

And it really is, if you can get past the author's note subtitled Where I'm Coming From, which discouraged me so much I actually put down the book in disgust and commenced with the sighing and eye rolling.

In those opening pages Garcia describes her childhood in Columbia during which her fabulously stylish mother enjoyed an enormous closet full of designer clothes and a live-in seamstress and her wealthy, debonair father pulled her out of school for ski trips and shopping in Paris and New York.

She almost lost me over those reminiscences because I despaired that she could offer any useful advice for this small town girl whose mother shopped mostly from the Sears catalog and whose father picked her up after school on Friday nights for the family's weekly trip to the Lindsay Square Mall.

Yes I read Vogue (and Elle) every month, but that doesn't mean I don't snicker over the articles featuring fantastically wealthy New York socialites lounging in their walk-in shoe closets, musing over the origins of their vintage Hermes Birkin handbags and spewing gratuitous drivel like "Every woman can be stylish if only she has confidence."

But if my working class background taught me anything, it's that when someone sends you a free book to review, you owe it to them to read it all the way through.

So picked it up again. And I'm glad I did.

It really is a charming little book and despite Garcia's precious upbringing, it's chock full of practical advice that girls like me can use. It's also sprinkled with whimsical illustrations, inspiring quotes, mini profiles on various fashion icons and snippets of fashion industry history that provide some background to the trends that have enslaved women this past century or so.

Garcia has some very specific tips on how to edit your closet, how to experiment with accessories and which movies to watch for style inspiration; these are tips that can be adopted and applied towards an instantly more fashionable you.

There were a few pieces of advice that my Irish peasant stock just couldn't allow me to swallow, notably her exhortation that everyone needs to invest in quality shoes from the likes of Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo. I was almost convinced, but after I cruised E-bay and saw that even bargain-hunters will pay $500 and up for a pair of those beauties, I realized that I need to pay my mortgage more. There is a middle ground between Christian Louboutin and Payless and I'm quite content to hang there with my buddies Aldo and Nine West.

On the whole though, I think The Little Black Book of Style is both a useful and entertaining read. It's the kind of book I would love to get as a gift and I think most women with even a passing interest in fashion will devour it.

In the two weeks since I finished this book, I have felt motivated to step up to the plate a little more, fashion-wise. I have gone through my closet, thrown out some things, tried on some new combinations and come up with a few new looks that I hadn't been able to piece together before.

I have honest-to-God received more compliments on my clothes in the last few weeks than I have in a very long time and I have to give some credit to The Little Black Book of Style and Nina Garcia.

And also my parents who, while not exactly fashionistas, did teach me to keep an open mind when someone from a different world speaks, because they might just offer some advice that works for me after all.

Comments

[metro mama]

I enjoyed the book also, but I too cannot swallow shelling out 500 big ones for shoes. Maybe it's a Lindsay thing? ;)

[nomotherearth]

I don't think my entire shoe wardrobe costs $500. Unless we're including the running shoes (they're kinda expensive). I could use some style, though.