Customer Reviews

How to Be a Hepburn in a Hilton World: The Art of Living with Style, Class, and Grace

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

For a heart-to-heart of a different kind, Jordan Christy's How to Be a Hepburn in a Hilton World: The Art of Living with Style, Class and Grace (Hachette) is the kind of advice book most every generation needs. Unfortunately, the people who most need Jordan Christy's advice - the skanky girls who use Paris/Britney/Kardashians as role models - would probably never pick up this breezy book. But for young women trying to figure out how to navigate a world where immodesty and agressive sexual behavior rules, Christy's smart, sweet book of advice is like pep talk from someone who is channeling a combo of Miss Manners, your wise grandmother, and yes, Audrey Hepburn.

With chapters discussing topics like language, friendships, clothing and dating, you'd think this book might read like a giant, pruny scold from an never-married aunt born during Queen Victoria's reign. But Christy writes with the bubbly confidence of someone who is navigating these waters NOW, and has made the choice to rise above vapid shallowness. She tosses store names (Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters) and sprinkles pop culture references (Ashton Kutcher) into timeless advice like "don't call him - wait for him to call you".

In fact, those date-stamped "right now" references may give this book a relatively short shelf life. But for young (20-35) women trying to figure out who they're going to be, Christy's cheerful wisdom may be just what they need right now to march into their tomorrows with class and a cute pair of shoes.

This book is timely and oh so needed right now. Young women are struggling with mixed messages and signals from the media and society. Many women resent being lumped into the Hilton category, but see little in the news that applaud behavior that is not slutty, stupid and raw. There are many smart women doing amazing things in business, medicine, humanitarian work etc. But the headlines are full of brainless, dingy sex starved bimbos. I applaud the author for keeping it classy and for writing a cute, hip manual on maintaining self respect and pursuing success without compromising values. This book is an enjoyable read filled with humor and interesting quotes from successful young icons. Keep this book in mind when purchasing high school graduation gifts or to tuck into your daughter's duffle bag when she is packing for college.

I will start off by saying that I saw the author on The Today Show the week this book came out, so with that and the fact that I ADORE Audrey Hepburn and greatly admire her, I was provoked to purchase this book.
I not a teenager anymore, but am 22 so only 3 years younger than the author so I felt like I could still get some pointers from her considering that I'm still in college at the moment and not the business world.

There are a lot of things I liked about this book. Many of the things the author talked about I felt myself - like when she mentioned how these "stupid girls" seemed to start appearing at school while she was in junior high. I can totally relate to this as well... I distinctly remember a few girls in my class that wore thongs poking out of their leather pants and leopard bikini underwear poking out of their jeans, all while going after practically any guy that looked at them. I felt like I was the only one that was remotely conservative and wanted to wear cute clothes and not "slutty" ones. To this day, I still feel this way. Though, of course, I did notice some things here and there mentioned in the book that I am certainly guilty of and should brush up on.

Though I liked the book I must address I few things that I did not like and found a bit "conflicting" (I guess you could say) with myself and own experiences that the author seemed to over look.
1. She starts off the book by saying that every woman can have class and dress with grace, regardless of income. Yet, when she gives fashion suggestions as to wear to buy clothes, she mentions stores like J. Crew, Banana Republic, etc. I went on their websites to look at what they had -- we're talking $70+ tops. Then I thought 'Well, maybe there will be some more reasonable stuff on sale.' Not to my finding - the cheapest was maybe $35. Being limited with my spending by being in college yet, I limit myself to tops $20 or less. So, for me, her suggestions don't suit my lifestyle. Maybe after I get a career and have been working a few years, but I still can't quite see myself buying clothes that expensive frequently. I am still upset that Steve and Barry's went bankrupt. They had great prices with quality-fitting clothes that were classy looking.
2. Keeping in mind what I stated in #1 - it is REALLY difficult to buy clothes as a teenager and young female. I'm sure that the author understands this to an extent (though she never mentioned it), but it is very difficult to find clothes at a reasonable price that COVERS EVERYTHING. I don't know how many clothes I have purchased that look long enough or fit long enough when I purchase them, but after a few washes, they shrink and pretty soon either underwear is easily popping out of my jeans or my stomach is slightly showing and I find myself pulling down my tops (I'm also a bit on the tall side I might add, though not tall enough for tall sizes).
3. Just by reading this book I can tell that the author clearly and extravert, however, the trouble is that some of the advice she gives is directed to extraverts. Being totally realistic here, an introvert is not likely to host parties all the time - that's an extravert thing to do. Whether you host parties or not does not necessarily determine class, style, and grace. I doubt Audrey hosted parties on her own (she was clearly an introvert and even stated how acting as an extravert in Breakfast at Tiffanys was very difficult for her).
4. It is also clear that the author was one of those females that dreamed about her wedding since the age of 3. This is obvious by reading her comment on how she had her wedding colors picked out since age 4. What she overlooked, again (just as in #3), was that not all females are like herself. Not every female begins planning her wedding at the age of 6. I think if she avoided advice according to her own personal preferences of extraversion and wedding planning, she could attract more positive reviews and readers.

Other than that, I think its a great book -- I totally believe all the things she said about makeup, dieting, clothes, language, etc. Yet, I still walked away with something beneficial. She write as if she were your friend and doesn't make it come off as offensive at all. In fact, she even makes it known that even she hasn't been perfect in all of the things she advises either. It really makes the reader not feel as bad and get them discouraged.

I had such high hopes for this book. I was so excited when it came in the mail today that I'm over halfway done with it. I'm 20 years old and am more than capable of behaving like a lady, but I was curious to see how the author worked the ideals of Audrey Hepburn's by-gone era into modern literature.

What I got instead was complete and utter garbage.

Instead of focusing on Hepburn (which I am sure is the reason over half of the people purchased this book), the author instead does a good deal of name-dropping, talking about her own life, calling other women stupid (this book's first chapter is entitled Stupid Girls), and generally making fun of/bashing anybody who DARES to have a different opinion than herself. The author is so much more Hilton than Hepburn that it's almost UNFATHOMABLE.

It's also distinctly against any sort of progressive ideals/feminism and directly states that if you DARE to call a man who gives you his phone number, you are stalking him and he is a "poor boy" who NEEDS to run away from you. She also idolizes men pursuing women in cases where the women repeatedly rejected him, and then finally gave in to his incessant demands for dates. This has double standard written all over it, and it's sickening.

If I had a daughter, I would rather her bedazzle her cell phone with pink rhinestones than read this garbage any day of the week. If I could give it less than one star, believe me, I would.

I was hoping for protips on being classy, but this is just a slut shaming tirade. The writing is tedious. I already bought the book; surely it is obvious I am not invested in being a tramp? Yet I'm still reading chapters about why it's a bad idea.

What I find most obnoxious is that this isn't an etiquette book but an excuse to rant about the author's hatred/insecurity regarding "stupid girls." It's entirely possible to establish the value of poise and class without dragging other women through the mud. The true foundation of courtesy is to respect others, and there's none of that here.

Kindle formatting is sloppy to boot.

Containing some good tips such as read, set goals, and smile, the author was constantly bashing things like The Hills and push up bras then recommending them in the next chapter. Her unending criticism of people whom she refers to as "the stupids" irritated me to no ends. While I am not a fan of MTV, hot pink lip gloss, or chasing after guys I still find calling someone stupid is not the way to go. What bothered me the most was instead of focusing on kindness and compassion for others, just as the late Ms. Hepburn was famous for, the author was more focused on her write-ups on people, mostly based on their clothes and not their hearts. She failed to realize that you shouldn't always judge a girl by her skirt length.

I was encouraged to order the book by Amazon's usually spot-on tagging of what I like to read. This book is definitely for a very young and not particularly intellectual or sophisticated audience. I will forgive the match this time; but must admit I was very disappointed. The book is shallow and is not aimed to the reader who might want to explore historical versus contemporary standards of chic which is, unfortunately, what I expected of the title and recommendation. I guess I am dated by the fact that I didn't understand that Hilton in the title meant Paris Hilton!

In Jordan Christy's world we are at war. There are two camps, The Hiltons and Hepburns, and women must declare allegiance.

To be fair, I never finished this book, but I found the first half badly written and disheartening. What the author seems to have forgotten is that grace and kindness will always be welcome and that if "stupid girls" are filling up tabloids avoiding them is as simple as avoiding tabloids. I find it interesting that she harps on putting class back in People Magazine and US Weekly, but never suggests picking up Vogue or W. When discussing the benefits of behaving with style, she tells the reader to think of our grand-daughters, and make them proud, even if you're not having fun. In doing so Christy makes acting graceful sound like a long uphill battle with no payoff. And her descriptions of the classy life, pizza, jeans, chick-flicks on repeat, sound miserable. While the Hiltons of the world love to go out, that's no reason for the Hepburns to forsake having fun!

When I see someone who's classy or graceful I'm drawn to their kindness and authenticity, and that's not hard emulate. However, Jordan Christy's misplaced superiority left me uninspired, and wishing that this clever title had been given to a better book.

The title got my attention immediately.
I have always held Audrey Hepburn as my style ICON. My prom and wedding dresses were all 'Hepburnesque'.

So, it is with great pleasure that I say that Jordan Christy did a marvelous job. She presented a crystal clear picture on how to pattern ourselves after classy, graceful, strong, intelligent women.

I was prepared for it to be a boring manual-style book, but I loved her style of writing. Not too preachy or condescending. Though, she didn't mince words either. It felt like a really close girlfriend giving you advise for your own good.

I pray that the message in this book catches on. If I see one more popstar photographed with no underwear on I might . . .oh wait, that wouldn't be ladylike to say.

Keleigh Crigler Hadley author [...]

Although the title was catchy, a more appropriate title would have been "How Not to be a Tramp". Christy brought upbeat cheerfulness to her writing, but the book is less about refinement than it is a pep talk for baffled, indignant coeds who can't understand why their late (drunken) nights, party-girl Facebook pages and skimpy clothing are putting off potential employers and nice, decent guys.

When you have to start with explaining WHY it's a bad idea to dance half-naked on tables, progress takes the form of being able to get fully dressed, learning to apply non-hooker-style makeup and beginning to generate a sense of respect for self and others... not an "art of living with style, class, and grace."

Although everything Christy said was valid, and she clearly brings the heart of a practical, compassionate girlfriend trying to help another girl out to her writing, I'm not sure this book is positioned to be successful. Those who really need the message are unlikely to either read it or be persuaded by its common sense. Those who will read it looking to improve their classy selves will find nothing in it they didn't already know.