Customer Reviews

How to Have Style

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

 

 

If your girlfriends were to come around Trick-or-Treating, this is what you'd want to drop into their goodie bags!
Mizrahi's book is candy for the eyes. There are so many pictures - full color, not just sketches, on glossy pages. Plus, this book is both fun and informative. There is a certain richness, breadth and depth to the information, unlike a lot of the style books out there. Mizrahi's writing is a love letter to women. His approach is different from many stylists, who seem to only provide guidelines for dressing like themselves.
In this book, Mizrahi takes 12 women of varying ages - 20's to 50's - and body types, and transforms them into better versions of themselves. It's amazing how the women all seem to become more vivid and alive. Mizrahi does not dilute their personalities, either. Instead, he enhances them, e.g. the quirky woman wears a thick Russian fur hat; the shopaholic learns how to combine all her prints; the plus-size woman becomes an alluring femme fatale; the socialite stops playing it safe and dons couture.
What I really love is that because Mizrahi has the credentials and the expertise, he doesn't limit himself to the same tried-and-true fashion rules. He's sort of a Picasso of fashion. One blonde professional in the book comes to him with the safe, appropriate honey-blonde hair, and he transforms her with color - both by lightening her hair to a bold platinum (she then looks like Kim Novak) and moving her away from safe black to colors that enhance her features.
Mizrahi instructs the reader as to how she can be true to herself and yet break out of her own rut through the use of an inspiration board, a broad list of resources, and a helpful style workbook.
This truly is a guide to personal style. (The pictures of Mizrahi throughout the book are really cute, too!)

I've always thought my wife as being stylish. I was browsing through a bookstore, and How to Have Style caught my eye. I thought she might enjoy it, and not be insulted or do me bodily harm. Much to my delight (and relief)she devoured the book from cover to cover and back again, telling me how it's given her completely new insights into putting an outfit together, and how to shop. I recommend this book as a great gift.

I have been waiting for this book for some time. Isaac Mizrahi has "made over" the style advice book genre. How insightful of him to help each reader understand that style comes from within. He advocates thinking things out when it come to developing a personal style. Think before you shop! Brilliant! The book is full of fantastic advice. It looks great. It is full of clever details. I love having his handwriting on the pages of the book.
As I said it is an essential book on your way to becoming your quintessential self!

Whew. That's something I never thought I say but I really have to question the taste level of this book. Most of the makeovers aren't good. One woman looks quite a bit worse than when she started out. Issac and his style team gave her a hideous bleach job that made her look ten years older. Another woman, who was seriously obese is dressed in shiny fabric that made her look even huger. I was really startled. Buy Tim Gunn or Nina Garcia instead. This was a waste.

Issac generously offers invaluable information on finding your own style and ways to implement it. I love that he is never condescending or dictatorial. The book has great joie de vivre. And then there's Issac's "eye" for what looks good. It's an inspirational book.

If you are looking for a book that tells you how to accentuate your good points and to hide your flaws (real or perceived), this is not it.
I've already had my hair cut and my make-up redone, but even after reading this entire book I have no better idea what would flatter me and my figure.
I do like the concept of creating your own personal style board to see what resonates for you, but how to apply that was missing for me.
While I've seen his designs and usually like them. I have to agree with the reviewer that criticized some of his style choices (I did like the bleach blonde she hated, though). I was hard pressed at times to pick what he thought were good outfits from the bad.
I'd suggest that you look through this book before you decide to buy it. It seems to have hit a chord with some women, but it sure didn't for me.

This is hands-down one of the BEST books on the subject of style and fashion that I've ever read ... and I've read a lot of them. Almost all seem to focus on "classic" styles that are supposed to look good on all women. They put me to sleep.

Thus, I had reservations about looking through this book in the bookstore, since I figured it too would be all about boring laundry-lists of "must-have" styles in dull colors. But I decided to look through it anyway, mainly because of Isaac Mizrahi, whose show on the Style Network was one of my favorites.

I was blown away by the creativity and inspiration in this book! It features real women of ALL different sizes, ages and ethnic backgrounds, made-over by Isaac and his style team in amazingly beautiful ways using many of the same, basic, classic pieces that made my eyes glaze over in other fashion books. Thus, Isaac uses styles that flatter most women, but changed around to suit different body types using different kinds of shoes, accessories, jewelry, scarves, etc. I ended up marveling at Isaac's extraordinary creativity even more than I did before.

One of the great things about this book is that it inspires the reader to go through her own wardrobe and see how to wear the clothes she already owns in new and different ways, instead of going out and buying more and more clothes. THAT in itself is something to celebrate! Especially during these days of economic hardship that affect so many of us.

I love this book so much I bought it here on Amazon, which I think has the best deals on it. It's a book you can give to pretty much any woman, of any age and body type. It's a book that celebrates women!

Which is pretty much why I adore Isaac Mizrahi. He has an obvious love and appreciation for women. I think this book is a showcase for that. :o)

There's no philosophy about style. There was a double truck layout with outfits owned by a client and comments by I.M. and I literally couldn't tell why he thought some were great and others were awful.

And I don't share his taste.

Although he makes fun of himself in the blurb, he and his assistants look so sloppy in the photos that one wonders why women are supposed to drive themselves crazy creating an illusion of glamour when the professionals don't even bother.

Well, I'm glad I didn't buy this book and checked it out from the library instead. There are a few cute ideas in here, such as keeping a bulletin board for inspiration or thinking about your personal style icons. Mizrahi is encouraging and feels that all women are beautiful. Women must think and believe that in order for them to have style.

However, I don't think a lot of the outfits pictured in this book are current. Mizrahi's taste is rather strange, really. I find books by Clinton Kelly or InStyle or Lucky magazines to be more up-to-date and resourceful.

This is the most exhilarating style book I've ever looked at. You'll enjoy it. It would be perfect if we could see Mr. Mizrahi give himself the IM treatment in the final chapter. Enough with those sneakers and schlumpy black clothes!