Customer Reviews

Does This Make Me Look Fat?: The Definitive Rules for Dressing Thin for Every Height, Size, and Shape

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I Really loved this book! I found the information extremely useful and wonderfully accessible. (The illustrations and quotes are great fun too.) I'm recommending it to all my friends! I Can't believe the reviewer who was going on about how superficial it is to care about what we wear. What planet is she from? She totally missed the point of this book and what the author is trying to say. In fact, it doesn't sound like she read the book at all. The author clearly points out that of course, we should love ourselves as we are, but that it only makes sense to choose the clothes that make us look our best. How we dress clearly reflects the way we feel about ourselves. Why would anyone---execept, of course, the reviewer---want to wear clothes that are not flattering? If she wants to look unsightly, that is certainly her priviledge and she has my blessings. But for the rest of us, who would like to put our best foot forward---no matter how fat or skinny we are--and present ourselves in the best light, this book is a treasure. It really helps you figure out which clothes will make you look great and which clothes won't. It's as simple as that.

Your husband wouldn't dare tell you. Your girlfriend might not either. But Leah Feldon will! Filled with refreshing anectodes and jammed with information, "Does This Make Me Look Fat" gives you all the information you need to make good fashion decisions! You can look slimmer, taller, more elegant and better proportioned. Leah explains what styles work best for different body types, colors that slim, optical illusions that add sleek elegance, selecting a bathing suit without angst and much more! Her section on accessories covers everything from shoes that make your feet look clunky to belts that pack pounds on your waistline! She even includes information on what to look for in a quality garment and how to wear your hair for best effects. But Leah goes beyond telling you what will look best she explains in great detail why it will look best. So when you go shopping you will know what to look for. Interspersed throughout the text are interesting quotes from celebrities like designer Isaac Mizrahi and actress Minnie Driver. I would like to have seen some actual photographs of clothing but the line drawings included are helpful. The book is informative and an enjoyable read. I recommend it. But if you read the book and are still not sure if a garment makes you look fat just ask your mother!

This book does succeed in telling women how to create an unbroken line of monochromatics, which creates the illusion of a longer, leaner body. However, it is not in the books's scope to tell you how to flatter your unique shape. If you are a woman who is round all around, or thick top and down without much waist definition, these tips will work great. However, any curvaceous woman, like a pear or an hourglass, might wish to purchase "The Pocket Stylist" instead, as the advice there is not to make you look leaner as much as flatter your existing body type. As an hour glass, these tips made me look boxy, much leaner, but boxy as though I were shaped like a ruler.

I recently came back to this book, and decided to edit my review. Basically there are two kinds of fashion advice books: lots of photographs and not much text, or the text-heavy, sparsely illustrated. Both are useful, and you need some of each. This is one of the latter. You won't find current photos in color. You will find line illustrations of freakishly elongated girl-women, with legs three times their torso lengths. Useful for illustrating terminology; not useful for showing how something makes you look fatter or thinner. Where this book excels is in general principles. It will tell you to wear a short sleeve T with the sleeve ending at or above the narrowest part of your upper arm. Advice like this works no matter what the current style is, and these principles will work whether it's 1960, or 2007.

This book is not without problems. Despite the 2000 publishing date, it seems curiously outdated in some places. Does anyone still remember the knee-length knit vests that Bea Arthur wore as Maude, thirty years ago? Feldon apparently does. It's like the low-rise bootcut pant was never invented, either. All the pants shown are high-waisted, pleated and straight or tapered. Feldon also describes herself as a black-aholic. Most of us probably already have tons of black in our closets, and may be a little tired of it.

These detractions don't spoil the book for me, however. Feldon gives advice for women with short waists and long waists (and tells you how to determine which one you are), pear-shapes, large busts, and other variations, and most of us will relate to at least one of these types, and can benefit from advice in this book. If you get nothing else from this book remember: If it's in a fabric that is stiff, bulky, or shiny - it will make you look bigger. Take a look at your coworkers and see what I mean. These are rules you can use, right now, right where you are.

Feldon mixes some useful information about clothing construction, color, and line in with her other advice, but most of the book is devoted to exactly what the title suggests: making you look slimmer. Her advice on "dressing thin" works only if you have are heavier than you'd like but not curvy; if you have curves, the straight-up-and-down line, with no waist definition, will only make you look heavier by obscuring your thinner parts. If, like me, you are happy with your basic shape but would like to look your best, you will have to glean the useful information and discard the rest. Forget her advice about basing your wardrobe on black unless you want to look older, more tired, and outdated. Most people look better in a less stark dark neutral such as navy, brown, or army green. (And if you think black fades into the background, notice how someone in all-black stands out against the typical pale sidewalks and buildings of the city or the light greys of some offices; their contrast with their background can make people look larger, not smaller.) The emphasis is on very classic styles, mostly for work, and some of her choices are outdated, as mentioned below (Maude vests are the most hilarious example.) The book combines useful with not-so-useful advice. It's worth buying second-hand or borrowing from a library.

With 3 kids and a full-time job, I haven't had time to pay much attention to fashion for years. And unfortunately my body has changed a lot over the years and my clothes weren't looking so great on me. So I went on a book spree and bought this book and several others. This was by far the worst of the lot. There's just not much to it. Feldon returns to one idea over and over -- that to look thin you should wear monochromatic outfits. That's pretty much it. The books "The Pocket Stylist" and the What Not to Wear crew's "What You Wear Can Change Your Life" are far more informative books books on style for your money.

Finally, a book that effectively gives me the information I need to personalize my wardrobe! It does not take long to realize the impact that this book will have on your personal and professional life. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking to improve their overall appearance.

Nobody is better than Leah Feldon in giving practical, workable and reality-based advice. I have read several of her books and each one takes a different point of view but always with the same theme: how to make clothes work for you. This book has simplified my life even more and has helped me to further organize my clothes around the way I live my life. A good value for the money.

Thirty years ago, I would never have given much thought to a book of this nature. Just about anything and everything looked good as long as I took my height and body shape into consideration. Well, unless we want to look like Bo-Peep, there comes a time, particularly as we age, when we can often use a little help in "the looking good department". How many times have you absolutely adored the sleek, stunning ensemble in your favourite boutique only to discover that once you tried it on and looked in the mirror, what appeared was one of the Seven Dwarfs in disguise, a miniature Humpty Dumpty or a beanpole with knees?

I read this book when it first appeared in print and now I know, even before I try an it on, whether an outfit will look good or not. The book advises what clothing designs, fabrics, colours and styles to stay away from and which ones will enhance appearance and mask imperfections. This book is absolutely fabulous and one any woman who wants to appear as a "well-dressed, pulled-together, style-conscious person" would not want to be without.

Buying this book was the best money I've spent on fashion in years! Great advice. Made me understand just where I've been going wrong and set me on the right track. Even my friends have noticed a difference in my dressing---everybody keeps telling me I look great and insists that I have lost weight. And truly, I have not lost a single pound---just bought a couple of new outfits following Leah Feldon's advice! I have to admit I'm enjoying this immensely. I highly recommend this book to everyone!