Customer Reviews

Dress Your Best: The Complete Guide to Finding the Style That's Right for Your Body

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I'm a big fan of Clinton and Stacy's show on TLC, What Not to Wear, so when I saw that this book was coming out, I was eagerly expectant. Well, it was definitely worth the wait! This book is SO much better than the book What Not to Wear (by the hosts of the BBC series, Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine). Although both books are organized in similar fashion -- identifying certain body shapes (or, in What Not to Wear, certain "flaws") and showing what works for that type -- Dress Your Best does it far better. I don't know why Trinny and Susannah did all the modelling in their book, because they certainly don't represent every common body "flaw". Dress Your Best chose real-life women (and men) and put them in outfits that REALLY made the most of their body types. Some of the transformations were jaw-dropping!! I loved the way the book dressed the three "extra curvy" (AKA pretty darn chunky) women. Just like on the TV show, Stacy and Clinton focused on the positives in these women's appearances and encouraged them to feel good about themselves -- something that society doesn't often do. Another bonus was showing three outfits for each woman and man -- work, weekend, and evening. Plus, with very few exceptions, the clothes they chose were stunning. The same can not be said, in my opinion, for the clothes modelled by Trinni and Susannah. Oh, and did I mention that this book is laugh-aloud funny, just like the TV show? The repartee between Stacy and Clinton translates really well to the printed page. All in all, this book goes to the top of my list of recommended fashion books, right along with the Lucky Shopping Manual. Buy these two, and you will always be dressed your best!

Like many of the other reviewers, I love Stacy and Clinton's TV show, and it has helped me greatly in weeding out pieces in my wardrobe and buying new clothes to replace them. When I discovered that they had published a book, I rented it from the local library immediately. In a way, I am glad I rented it rather than purchasing it.

I liked how the book not only broke down different styles by body type, but also used REAL people to demonstrate those body types. It was really easy to flip through and find the different sections that applied to my body type. As always, the information they presented for each body type was great, and the styles are pretty much guaranteed to work well.

However, the book needed improvement in several areas. First of all, only six pages are dedicated to each body type, and while those six pages are informative, it would have been more helpful if they had given each type a few more styles and pointers. For example, in the "curvy" section, Stacy and Clinton recommend a skirt suit, which is great, but they didn't give any pointers for people who want to wear trousers occasionally. The book would have been greatly improved if they gave two or three different looks for work, weekend, and evening.

Secondly, their suggestions were kind of static, meaning they assumed everybody works at a place requiring suits and trousers, everybody goes out for the evening in a cocktail dress, etc. Essentially, they did not make any attempt to curtain their wardrobe selections to individual life-styles. When they list at the front the "essential" pieces for a wardrobe, I found that several of them were really rather obsolete for me. I never go places where I need "evening" attire, for example. THE LUCKY SHOPPING MANUAL succeeds better in this respect because they give you alternatives and allow you to choose more or less of certain pieces for your needs.

Lastly, Stacy and Clinton have a habit of emphasizing the "quality over quantity" line, which does not always work out. Sometimes, people need to build a wardrobe from scratch on a budget, and spending 150 dollars on a cashmere sweater does not factor in. Also, not everything you buy really needs to be high "quality," which is something else the LUCKY manual emphasizes.

Overall, I highly recommend picking up the book from your library, jotting down notes that apply to you, and then as a supplement picking up the LUCKY manual. Grade: B-/B.

Let me start by saying that this is based on a show that I love but I put off buying this book because I wasn't really sure what to expect from it, especially when quite a few of the reviews said that only a few pages were devoted to each body type and so forth. Well yes, only a few pages were devoted to each type, but there were A LOT of types portrayed (more so than in any other book of this kind I'd ever seen before), and multiply that by three since they all came in petite, average height, and tall. In reality, since none of us fits into ONE type of body, I got much more information than one could've thought. For example, I'm curvy and petite but there were some suggestions from the larger on bottom section that I can definitely use to my advantage... and this is just the beginning, I went on picking up useful pointers from all over. Sure, you're definitely more of one certain body type than all the others and that's where you'll find the majority of your advice, but do browse through all the book because the useful tips are everywhere and you're bound to pick them up from all over, not just YOUR four or five pages.

Other than that, I enjoyed the rapport between them even in written form and admired them for having stripped down themselves to their swimsuits to model (no big deal though when they both look great). As far as that whole quality over quantity thing, it's not a rule cast in stone. I still am not too comfortable with the idea of buying sweaters of hundreds plus dollars (or suits in the thousand's area) so looking at the pictures came quite in handy when trying to recreate looks at some of my favorite stores. You can too. Enjoyable, useful book.

I also bought this book because the love the show, but I was disappointed to see that the content is sparse. You basically find what category you best fit under: Short/Average/Tall and your body shape. Then you find your chapter, only to see that there are ONLY 6 pages on your size. There are NO examples of clothing (like in the Lucky book), except for the ones on the models. They only had 3 photos per model-- casual, office and evening... Clearly they need more coverage on say, accessories, makeup, hair, and everything else they cover on the show. The only thing that I did like was the fact that they used plus size models to represent women of all sizes. DO NOT GET THIS BOOk if you need examples of what clothing to buy. BUY Sam Saboura's Book, which focuses on women of all shapes and sizes, and provides clothing examples, pictures, and even covers accessories, undergarments, etc. You won't regret Sam's book like I did this one.

Clinton Kelly and Stacy London did a great job in making dressing your best super simple with examples of different body types, and what to wear to accentuate your look, without difficult piles of information to sort through. What I like most about this book is its simplicity! It shows more of what "to do" so that you can easily (and inexpensively) dress for any time of the day or night, and any occasion, so that the clothes are perfect for you, as opposed to trying to twist your body into a look that might not be right for you.
It's a nice book and very helpful for finding the right clothes that are perfect for your body type. Well done!
Barbara Rose, author of Stop Being the String Along: A Relationship Guide to being THE ONE and if God Was Like Man
Editor, inspire! magazine

This book is the best of it's kind.

It is simple and to the point. It's going to change the way I approach shopping for clothes. Stacy and Clinton work to make people look good no matter what their shape or weight or height or figure flaws.

When I saw some of the pictures of people (in their underwear) I thought, "No way are they going to make this person look good!" But I was wrong every single time. The people look good. They look together. It made me feel good just to see the change. What I think Stacy and Clinton are about is that they want people to feel good about their bodies no matter what(or where) their problem areas are.

What they show us in this book is that we all really can have our "outsides" match our "insides."

I really wanted to LOVE this book since I am fan of the show, but I must be honest and say that once you find your own body type, the book is pretty useless. There is limited information on style itself (beyond body type) and limited information on where to shop, etc. You'd honestly come out cheaper going to a local bookstore (i.e. BORDERS), grabbing this book, looking up your body type, taking a mental snapshot of the info and putting the book back on the shelf because that's all you'll be able to do with it once you get it home.

I will keep and use as a reference guide for friends and family with OTHER body types, but as a guide to consistently refer to over time, it is very limited. This is more of a BASIC BEGINNER's guide. Don't expect this one to be full of dog-eared pages from consistent use. The Lucky Style manual has MUCH more depth. If you're like me, and you rely on product reviews to help make purchasing decisions, take solace in the fact that I wouldn't steer you wrong.

I really enjoyed this book. Stacy and Clinton keep things simple and help you understand how to dress the body you have, not the body you anticipate having 6 months from now. They can seem really unkind on TV, but I must say that they come across really well in the book--teaching people to accept who they are. I think it's a healthy message, and overall the book is well written. I also admire the approach they took in choosing a wide array of body types to "dress up." Most people will find their body type represented here. Hooray for all the brave models. The before and afters look fantastic!!! Yet the looks are realistic and achievable by the average person. It's a fun read!

Clinton Kelly and Stacy London's brand of upbeat, frank, and intelligent advice translates well into a full-color, glossy text on dressing any body type to look your best. The authors divide female body types into various categories such as "Bigger on Top, Overall," "A Little Extra In the Middle, Tall," "Curvy, Petite," "Not Curvy, Average Height," and so on. Men's categories include "Barrel-chested," "Tummy," "Tall," and "Small-framed." There is no "right" or "easy" body type, and all of the models appear both in undergarments and fully clothed in work, weekend, and evening outfits. The advice focuses on what to do, rather than "don'ts," and everyone in the book does look their best, no matter their body type.

One of my favorite aspects of the book is that both Clinton and Stacy stripped down and put their body type up for examination and advice, and they admitted that appearing in the near-nude was a challenge, even for them! The authors also remind readers to dress for how they look now, not for a goal body weight. Looking good in the present will help you reach body improvement goals.

The only negative about the book is that one, or at most two, of the chapters are going to be relevant to any one reader. This is a 250-page book, eight of which will address your particular body type, with an excellent introduction and glossary.

The hosts of TLC's What Not to Wear seem to be very good friends and you believe you could be friends with them too. That quality is transferred into this book with great color photos and tips for dressing real bodies. They say in the introduction that ANYONE can dress to flatter their body. I was skeptical until I saw that they actually showed bodies short, tall, medium, overweight, underweight, top heavy, bottom heavy, thick in the middle and everything in between. They even cover men's fashion. And they don't appear patronizing to anyone regardless of their size or shape.

If you can't find real life tips in this book for how to choose clothes that flatter your figure, you're not going to! Good job, Clinton and Stacy!