Customer Reviews

The Grown-Up Girl's Guide to Style: A Maintenance Bible for Fashion, Beauty, and More . . .

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

If you want to find lots of reasons why your body is inadequate, this is just the book for you. This book is NOT about maintenance! Maintenance would cover topics like skin care, exercise, hydration, sleeping well, etc. This book is about how disgusting you will look as you age; the author believes that women become frumpier, dumpier, and lumpier the older they get.

The advice on skin care is: don't get any sun. If you already have, too late honey! Facial expressions can lead to wrinkles over time, so get through every day as deadpan as possible. Sleeping? Lying on your side can leave "creases" from your pillow "even with silk sheets". If you must sleep, do it on your back. (She admits it is hard to sleep this way.)

The advice on just about everything else: cover it up. Under no circumstances should you wear anything that shows more than two inches of skin anywhere. This includes your neck; keep in covered with a scarf, even in summer. Shorts? Don't wear them, even in exercise, because you will have a visible panty line. Her advice for this is to wear thong underwear. Ouch! During a workout? Has she ever actually tried that?

In fact, if you must have parts of your body exposed, for instance during love-making, she recommends keeping the light turned off.

Fully half of the book is advice about what kinds of plastic surgery you will need, along with many other cosmetic dermatological procedures. For instance, to "plump up" your lips, you can have collagen injected into them, after which the surgeon sticks his fingers into your mouth to "move the silicon into the correct position - imagine silly putty!"

I kept waiting for her to mention the #1 most important factor in a gracefully-aged appearance: genetics. The word is not mentioned. The idea seems to be that if you are genetically prone to wrinkles, extra weight around the middle, or big ankles, either have surgery or hide all your "flaws". In fact the author is obsessed with how flawed women's bodies are in general.

If you are convinced that everyone in the world is looking at you and will actually care if you have veins in your feet, there is some good advice here.

For those of us who have more to do during the day than constantly touching up our makeup between dashes to the botox clinic, read just about anything except this.

My advice to the author would be to spend some of that surgery money on a good therapist who could help her find out why she thinks self-worth depends on how few wrinkles you have on your face.

I agree with the reviewers who were disappointed in this book. While it's beautifully presented and there were a few excellent fashion tips for "women of a certain age," there were so many "DON'Ts" that I ended up feeling worse about my aging body, even though I am not overweight and enjoy nice clothes. For starters, unless your feet and arms are model perfect, you are instructed not to wear open toed shoes, sandals, or sleeveless tops. If your neck is droopy, conceal it under a scarf. (Should I hide in the house all summer, or sweat it out in "cover-up" clothes and shoes...?)

Secondly, if the crisply tailored "working gal" look isn't your thing, then this book probably isn't for you. There is little room here for real personal style, unusual accessories, or free-spirited artistic expression. Yes, I also love white shirts, tailored pants and jackets, and other classics -- which are emphasized in this book. But is wearing a uniform what it's really all about? And yes, I know I don't look good in short skirts and shorts -- so I usually avoid them. Yet I don't think aging means I have to dress like everyone else. Where's the fun and freedom of personal style?

Apparently the Dove campaign for real beauty and pro-aging hasn't hit the fashion world yet, because this is not the only book or magazine that promotes such limited fashion options for the older woman. Most of us over 45 are still feeling as though we will never measure up to Madison Avenue perfection, and that we have a lot to cover up and be ashamed of. What a shame.

I really looked forward to ordering this book after reading the blurb about it & couldn't wait to read it when it arrived. The author is absolutely gorgeous & looks fabulous in the pictures, but after reading it I felt as though it was intended for a much older person than myself (I'm in my 40"s). She essentially says not to wear a bathing suit unless you're actually going to swim, hide all skin as it's aged & crepey, cover up - you're not your daughter! In checking to see what part of the country she's from I discovered she lives in California like me,where a lot of the women are in very good shape without horrible skin & hopefully look very attractive showing a little skin somewhere. While

I agree that 40 plus women should not attempt to look 20, the book made me feel as if I had passed the chronological point of being able to step out of my home unless discreetly covered basically everywhere & I truly hope that isn't the case! I actually ran into the bathroom while reading this, stripped down & looked at my skin & muscle tone, then consulted my teenage daughter on whether my look was inappropriate! I think that for some women this book will be enabling, showing them how to look attractive without being tarty, but if you've done the maintenance, this book will make you feel as if you're 330!

What a disapointment. I was hoping for some comprehensive "What not to wear." (great book) combined with other similarly great style/maintenence advice geared for the "grown up girl". Instead, this book is a room temperature wash of superficial useless advice "don't show your cellulite or your droopy cleavage", "cover your toes if they aren't perfectly groomed" and "get plastic surgery when you start to look your age". I paid for this!!?? The cover model used throughout the book is lovely and the photographer did a great job, but this model does not reflect the advice given by the author (who peppers her pictures throughout the book as well). If you look at the pictures of the author compared to this model, you will see what I mean. Except for the decent photos (and there aren't alot of variety), this book reads like a handful of old 80s style/fashion magazines. Save your money.

Wow, I think Christine Schwab is pretty harsh about what women after 40 can or can't wear, etc. This books seems to be aimed at women mid-fifties and up or else she knows a lot of REALLY old looking 40 somethings! I am early forties as are most of my friends and none or us are losing our hair, need lubricants or have to cover up every area of our bodies. I was disappointed about how much she talked about cosmetic dermatologists and plastic surgeons and how much work she has had done. I think a lot of us want to go the more natural route now especially after seeing what having "work done" has made the faces of Farrah Fawcett, Meg Ryan, Melanie Griffin, etc. look like.

I bought this on a whim and I regret it now. There is nothing really useful in this book, just lots of broad generalizations (no short sleeves for over-40s ?????). The pictures are odd- many of celebrities, and other full page photos with no descriptions, and they don't seem to be related to the topic of discussion. If you want to get suggestions for how to look stylish and age-appropriate, this book won't do it.

I'm glad I got this out of the library instead of buying it. There are lots of great photos, but far too many Don'ts and not enough Do's! And I came away feeling like there's absolutely NOTHING I can wear. I mean, I'm almost 45 and I know I don't look that fabulous in shorts (despite not being overweight, and despite spider-vein treatments) -- but I am NOT going to give up wearing them in hot weather, especially at the beach! I'm also not going to give up short-sleeved tops in hot weather, either. And I'm sick and tired of hearing about how every over-40 woman in this country (except me) is getting Botox, Restylane, surgery, etc. The fact that Ms. Schwab has had a lot of these procedures makes me lose respect for her.

This book has some gorgeous pictures, and I appreciate the author's sense of humor in sharing funny photos of herself and her fashion mistakes over the years. But in the author's worldview, women should cover from head to toe as they hit 40, and leave any baring of skin to our younger sisters. She gives some celebrity examples. Yes, some are unfortunate, but I thought Christie Brinkley looked fine baring her arms. I have the urge to introduce the author to my 60-something yoga instructor or some of the women at my gym. All of them look fab and can bare as much skin as they want, as far as I am concerned. Certainly I understand about not dressing like a 20 year old, but aging does not mean that you can't have a great shape. It seems a really old-fashioned view to have. I do wonder why the author can't get past it her narrow view of a number and embrace life a little more?? And, hey, even if you don't have super pumped arms, feel free to wear a sleeveless top and be comfortable. It seems silly to insist otherwise in the 21st century.

If you're looking for a book that is more "fashion" oriented, this isn't it. The fashion advice is more "what not to wear" than suggestions of what to actually wear - and I need it spelled out! Advice offered primarily concerns camouflage - bad arms, ditch the sleeveless tops - but I suspect Schwab's standards are pretty high - I didn't see anything wrong with Christie Brinkley's arms in the "don't" photo...

I found the other sections on hair, makeup, health interesting - specific products and tips are given but not a lot of how-tos - Schwab pretty much tells you the basics and leaves it to you to use the tips/info in a way that suits your tastes best.

The section on cosmetic surgery is honest if not a little depressing...this kind of thing gives me the creeps but if you have the desire and the money, I guess that's the world we live in now. Her advice on various procedures will steer you in the right direction.

I bought this book after seeing the author on TV. I got the impression from the TV spot that the book was filled with constructive photos and ideas for the over 40 woman who wanted to dress fashionably but not look like her teenage daughter. How disappointed I am to have received the book last night and find this not to be the case. While there are some valid suggestions and mentions to women over 40 with style, there is also a lot of the book given to the author's recommendations from cosmetic dermatologists to plastic surgeon's to her own need for personal lubricant (please! did we need to know that?) I am returning the book today! What a great idea and a poor execution--