Things a Woman Should Know About Style Things A Woman Should Know Series

Things a Woman Should Know About Style Things A Woman Should Know Series

User Ratings and Reviews

1 Star Waste of your time.
This book is awful. I consider myself pretty undemanding of my light reads - if I’m wasting time reading while I’m cooking or taking a bath, just about anything will do. I’ve spent an hour on a magazine for diabetics, for pete’s sake, and I’m not even close to having diabetes. So I thought I would enjoy this book, since I can be quite girly.

But this book is awful. The author writes in short one-liners obviously intended to be heavy with wit, insight, and knowledge. But she totally and completely bores me. I can’t even bear to resign this book to reading while cooking or bathing - I’m just going to re-sell it. And that’s something I NEVER do. I still have biology textbooks from college because I couldn’t bear to get rid of a book!

I found myself disagreeing with so much of what she said (like the idea that you should almost always wear a little black dress, and that red is the color of sexual predators). She contradicts herself (like when she says that a black shift dress is perfect for a garden party, and then only a couple pages later says that only pastels are appropriate for a garden party - and specifically warns against black). Some of her information is just flat-out wrong (like when she says that going up a cup size on your bra automatically makes your band larger even if you keep the same band number - I am in the lingerie business, and I promise that she is mistaken).

This book also seems horribly dated even though the copyright is from 2003. She warns against buying the latest, trendiest power suit with large shoulder pads (this isn’t the 80s! I wouldn’t even know where to find something like that anymore!) and says that there is no such thing as a heel over 6 inches (recent fashion has absolutely proved otherwise, even totally outside of the “stripper shoe” realm).

If you have zero style knowledge, this book will misguide you. If you know even the slightest bit about style, this book will bore you. If you are a normal woman who has a basic understanding of style, you will laugh out loud at some of the suggestions she makes. Don’t waste your money!

3 Stars Bought on a whim. Only reason to buy it.
I picked this up at a local shop and I have to admit I found the author’s English attitude and dry sense of humour quite whimsical.

However, as other reviewers have pointed out, it’s an explanatory magazine essay in book form, though interspersed with quite wonderful quotes, such as « Une robe n’a de sens que si un homme a envie de vous l’enlever, je dis bien l’enlever pas l’arracher en hurlant d’horreur. » (Trans: A dress makes no sense unless a man wants to take it off — that is, to remove it, not tear it off howling in horror.) And there are a few deliciously dishy tips, such as how to have a signature scent no one else has — go to a cheap chop in France and buy their (invariably cheap) house scent, and then sadly tell those who compliment you on it that “it’s not available in this country”.

In sum, I cannot frankly recommend it to anyone, but not because of a flaw of the book itself per se, it’s because it’s written both at an advanced level (making it insuitable for those ladies who are still looking desperately for style à la Audrey Hepburn at Top Shop) and at an elementary level (making it insuitable for those ladies who are looking for a way to seem a touch more soignée, rather than staying too safe and Sloane-y).

However, this is coming from an American, and for all I know, British women are actually listening to Susannah and Trinny, so perhaps it suits in the home market?

5 Stars Classic style, explained
This terrific little guide should be on every woman’s shelf - especially those who want to transform their ultra trendy wardrobe into one that may be still “on trend” but kicked up a notch, sophisticated and chic. In others words, grown up.

4 Stars A Book Every Woman Should Read
I really enjoyed this book. It contains many quotes from fashion icons as well as helpful hits. You will be able to learn what is appropriate to wear and when it is appropriate to wear it. I read through the whole book and loved every page. Every woman should read this book and they will always be in style.

4 Stars great way to put your priorities in place
This book is full of many things we instinctively know… but it helps to hear them spelled out in plain English.

So if you have a tendancy to splurge on purple bell bottoms on sale and green fluo platform sandals (that spend 3 years in the back of your closet never worn until you chuck them), this book is for you.

I find it a good reference every now and then, to help keep my fashion priorities in place. And when I encounter a fashion victim hottie, it helps me to keep perspective and not go out and buy those pink suede cowboy boots.

Buy/More Info