Accessories

A silly, unnecessary book
If you really need a book to tell you that it takes just as long to put on nice looking and better fitting clothes as it does to put on clothes that are bad looking and ill-fitting, or that you should wear a suit to an interview, then this book is for you.

The message is good: you can look presentable in a short amount of time with a little bit of planning and fashion sense. But you could get the same information from reading a fashion magazine article or watching one episode of What Not to Wear for free.

Here's what is wrong with this book:

Much of it is not realistic:
Example #1: "Frumpy to Foxy: Bedtime" shows the frumpy girl with no makeup, curlers in her hair, flannel pajamas and thick socks. The foxy girl has makeup on, her hair straightened and pulled back, with a spaghetti-strap lace-trimmed silky nightgown that looks more like a slip, and mule-slippers with kitten-heels. There are reasons we go to bed without makeup (hard on skin), with hair set (to look good in the morning), and with flannel pajamas and thick socks (TO BE WARM AND COMFORTABLE FOR SLEEPING). This advice only possibly helps if you will not be alone and you happen to live in San Diego or Miami.

Example #2: "Frumpy to Foxy: Casual" shows the frumpy girl with a T-shirt, old sweat pants, thick socks, and sandals, eating noodles. The foxy girl has on more makeup, lacey underwear peeking out from her matching sweatsuit with nice sneakers, reading a book. There are reasons we wear old clothes to relax and eat in (in case we spill food and so we don't get nice clothes dirty if no one will see us), no bra (comfort), and thick socks (to be warm and comfortable), sandals (to slip off and on). Are we being advised to read a book instead of eating lunch so we can look good?

Illustrations use trickery:
Okay, I am a little obsessive, but I did a quick analysis of the feet in the illustrations, erring on the side favoring the book's integrity. However, I found 10 out of the 25 (40%) frumpy to foxy example illustrations showed flat shoes as frumpy compared to shoes with a heel as foxy. And another 10 out of 25 "frumpy" feet were drawn noticeable larger than their foxy counterparts. Not all, but many of the illustrations show a slimmer foxy as compared to a thicker-framed frumpy.

Then there's an ad for Stila on the last page. What brand of cosmetics one uses is irrelevant. Maybe this is a clue as to why this book was even published in the first place.

Summary: A silly, un necessary book I wish I had not spent good money on (at full-price, sigh). I would recommend Trinny and Suzannah's books from Britain's What Not to Wear for some real advice. These women walk the walk; they show themselves looking frumpy and then foxy, hiding figure flaws AND showing that it takes the same amount of time to look foxy as frumpy.

super cute and fun
this book is great to get ideas about what to wear, and what not to wear, for specific occasions. The illustrations are fun and the styles are timeless. Great for all women! I bought one for my mom too!

Gives you quick outfit ideas...
The book does give you quick outfit ideas, but nothing you didn't already know. It's probably safe to say that the books isn't worth it.

Making pretty practical
I really enjoyed reading "Frumpy to Foxy...". It is written with a nice mix of humor and pragmatism. The tips were very helpful and easy to implement. One great feature of the book is that it give money-saving tips, including how to make your own versions of expensive store-bought beauty products. I found that I already owned many of clothes and products needed, I simply used the suggestions in the book to pare down my wardrobe and make-up supplies to that which was most useful.

Not enough information...
This book is cute, and nicely written but doesn't offer enough information to assist the reader in making appropriate clothing choices, nor enough pictures/examples to use as a guide. So the reader is feeling no better off than before, I mean it's a start I guess...but for the little information that is provided it's not worth the price.