Book review: Bazaar Great Style

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I have to say, I was a little disappointed by my read-over of Bazaar Great Style: The Best Ways to Update Your Look by Jenny Levin (of Harper's Bazaar). It's more of a glorified magazine than a style handbook.

I would, however, recommend it to anyone who really doesn't follow fashion, so, basically no one who reads this site. But you can always give it as a gift to your clueless friend/mom/sister/coworker, who could use a little helping hand in the style department.

It's actually a little frustrating to read because there is an abundance of pictures showcasing the "rules", but non of them are accompanied by a caption telling you where to get them! The pictures do hold the readers' interest, though, as they are more prevalent than actual text. This isn't an intellectual guide to style. And there are some great quotes by all our favourites designers like Coco Chanel ("a girl should be two things: classy and fabulous") and Yves Saint Laurent ("fashion fades, style is eternal"), which we can always work into our vocabulary.

The book goes through the usual (like the essentials that should be in everyone's closets - a LBD? Ya, I guessed that one too) to - my favourite, and most humourous - leaving your credit card on file at your favourite stores so you can skip the line or make purchases over the phone. Does anyone really not have that much time to shop?!

My favourite features from the magazine did make an appearance, like "Fabulous at Every Age", which outlines how to wear a trend at every age from in your 20's up to 70+, and I found the feature on finding a work-worthy wardrobe also good. But then such features were also followed by ridiculous ones like "how to wear jeans" - who doesn't know how to wear jeans?! Actually, now that I think of it that friend/mother/sister/coworker could maybe find this book rather enlightening...

The content features are as follows:

(1) The Basics - how to build the 'ultimate wardrobe'; the essentials; the basics; what to spend on and what to save on; and more.

(2) Personal Style - how to develop your own style; covers top fashion icons of yesterday and today; and the various fashion personalities (ie. Jackie Onassis and Jennifer Aniston as "classicists," Madonna as a "maverick," Kate Hudson and Sienna Miller as "bohemians," Halle Berry and Jennifer Lopez as "bombshells," and so on).

(3) Fabulous at Every Age - how to look your best at every age as well as top fashion icons in every age group.

(4) Celebrate Your Shape - how to dress for your shape; covers the various "shapes" as well as celebrity examples

(5) Office Elegance - dressing appropriately for work; office-wear essentials .

(6) Evening Glam - party looks; tips on dressing for that special occasion or night out.

(7) Casual Chic - casual dressing; building a casual clothing wardrobe; various casual looks; weekend style.

(8) The Best Extras - bags, shoes, jewelry, and more.

(9) Lingerie Essentials - building a basic lingerie wardrobe.

Final Rating: Make it a gift for that fashion-clueless girl who is just screaming for a make-over.

xx,
Kerri