37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What we all hope the fashion magazines would do, July 17, 2007
This review is from: Before You Put That On: 365 Daily Style Tips for Her (Hardcover)
This book covers everything from what is in your purse to the bottom of your shoes. Its 365 calendar day style makes it ideal to impart a lot of information efficiently; at first, you may focus more on the beautiful graphic pages that help you put together twelve fool-proof outfits (one per month). The second time through the book you may focus more on the general style improvements--adding a Pucci print; how to incorporate animal and Ethnic prints into a wardrobe without looking costumey. Finally I went through the book as it was intended, one page per day, and chewed over the food for thought Lloyd Boston gives: investing in an elegant pen that can reinforce a good impression; taking care of clothing and shoes properly; when to shop for coats and swimsuits.
The author provides something very few fashion books do: specific outfit construction ideas that are generic enough to fit anyone's wardrobe. His multitude of combinations helps you rearrange what you already have into something stylish and classic, making it easy to incorporate new and trendy pieces in with your elegant staples. It does what we all hope those fashion magazines will do for us every month.Practical and useful, it will expand your wardrobe without you buying a thing.
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37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I refer to It All the Time, October 3, 2006
This review is from: Before You Put That On: 365 Daily Style Tips for Her (Hardcover)
Of all the style books I have purchased (which would be about a dozen--I try hard), this is by far my favorite and the one I turn to the most. Lloyd Boston gives direct, helpful, daily advice to anyone and everyone who is willing to learn. I have had so many compliments on my wardrobe--almost daily compliments--since I have tried to put into practice his suggestions. It is not hard to do, you do not have to figure out what style you are, what colors are best, what season, etc.(Although if you want to do that, Trinny and Susannah's newest book is handy for that.) It also does not have to be that expensive. You may have a lot of what he suggests already. It is his mixing and matching that makes the outfit. Reading the book is like having a stylist in my bookcase, waiting to help inspire me. It is friendly, readable and not condescending in its approach. Although not every day's suggestion is useful to me, overall the book is more than I expected. I highly recommend it.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
It can be good, but needs a serious index and some good editing., July 7, 2010
This review is from: Before You Put That On: 365 Daily Style Tips for Her (Hardcover)
BEFORE BUYING THIS, DO BROWSE THE TABLE OF CONTENTS!!! You will see why below. If you are up for it, there really are some worthwhile insights but it will take serious effort to dig them out. I like this book, but only since I took the time to create my own index based on several categories of tips, and wrote them in as my own index on the back page and back cover.
I find the book uneven in quality. Some tips are worth the price of the book for a single insight.
But other entries are an absolute waste of space. Feminist history tidbits for example praising female politicians or astronauts. When I want that, I prefer a book on the subject, not sprinkled into something else altogether. That type of touch feels forced, kind of like Lloyd thought that the audience was in need of a serious infusion of politically correct sound bites.
Then there are the horoscopes. To which I plaintively question why????? Or how about the weird little pop quizzes scattered through the book for no apparent reason. It feels extraordinarily scattered and distracted as a result.
That overall scattered and distracted feel is assisted by the strained and forced tip/essay a day for a year concept. The table of contents is particularly hard to navigate since it lists every single day, every single tip title as if they were a chapter unto themselves.
While I applaud his seasonal tips, it is impossible to remember WHERE the good tip you read a while ago was. Was it last month, or was it 3 months back??????????? That table of contents won't tell you since the tips are often labeled with some very cutesy titles and with all 365 of them in there, it makes browsing the table of contents an endurance contest. And that makes plowing thru the herstory, horoscopes, and pop quizzes all the more irritating.
Since I bought this book, I rarely feel like a daily consult which is how the author intended the book to be used. More like a once a year speed read.
However I DID do something that makes this book a keeper for me at least for a while, and that is the personal index of tips mentioned above. That and a quick trip thru the book with a highlighter for stuff I want to remember. Which is about 1/8 of the book. That actually isn't bad for a "how to" type of book, which is usually needed only for a few good ideas, leaving the rest alone.
My only other comment relates to the irritation of seeing a picture of the author on each month's divider page. Was it really necessary? This makes the book feel a bit like a vanity press project and brings to mind Christopher Lowell's self absorbed books on decorating which feature multiple posed pics of that deadly author on every page. Thank goodness Lloyd kept it down to once a month.
However if this ever goes into paperback, somebody at the publisher should gently take him in hand, cut the vanity photos, maybe include a few more of Lloyd's better ideas and create a reasonable index. Ditch the herstory pc soundbites, the horoscopes, the pop quizzes. There would be more than enough room now for a decent index.
And perhaps organize it by season, not by month.
I do agree with another reviewer who pointed out that if you need a tip a day pointing you to elegance and style, get Frederic Fekkai's book A Year of Style. That is one I actually do haul out and read every month to grab the seasonal goodies.
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