Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass Phase [Hardcover]

Jen Lancaster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 2009

The hardcover debut from the New York Times bestselling author- the prequel to Bitter is the New Black.

In Pretty in Plaid, Jen Lancaster reveals how she developed the hubris that perpetually gets her into trouble. Using fashion icons of her youth to tell her hilarious and insightful stories, readers will meet the girl she used to be.

Think Jen Lancaster was always "like David Sedaris with pearls and a super-cute handbag?" (Jennifer Coburn) Think again. She was a badge-hungry Junior Girl Scout with a knack for extortion, an aspiring sorority girl who didn't know her Coach from her Louis Vuitton, and a budding executive who found herself bewildered by her first encounter with a fax machine. In this humorous and touching memoir, Jen Lancaster looks back on her life-and wardrobe-before bitter was the new black and shows us a young woman not so very different than the rest of us.

The author who showed us what it was like to wait in line at the unemployment office with a Prada bag, how living in the city can actually suck, and that losing weight can be fun with a trainer named Barbie and enough Ambien is ready to take you on a hilarious and heartwarming trip down memory lane in her shoes (and very pretty ones at that).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Funny girl Lancaster has crafted a successful career by honing the breezy, bloggy style she first exhibited in Bitter is the New Black; her latest, in part a backhand to the resurgent 80s fashion trends, is sure hit resonant, hysterical notes for anyone who came of age in the era of the Preppy Handbook. Authorial voice is at the heart of Lancaster's charm, and she chronicles her early 20s-blunders from fashion and finances to academics and retail jobs-with a candor that few will be able to resist. Lancaster confesses to a fascination with plastic (the material, not the credit card), gloating over her impressive new Liz Claiborne bags, and difficulty finding faithful friends, even (especially) in her Greek affiliations ("Even though I read Seventeen and Glamour every month, I'm already thought of as the Jean Jacket Jackass in my rush group"). Falling somewhere between David Sedaris and Laurie Notaro, Lancaster's goofy charm will no doubt continue to win fans, as well as influence the next generation of sardonic, winning, self-effacing memoirists.
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About the Author

Jen Lancaster is a former vice president at an investor relations firm.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 365 pages
• Publisher: NAL Hardcover; 1 edition (May 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451226801
• ISBN-13: 978-0451226808
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #349,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jen Lancaster is a former vice president at an investor relations firm and a New York Times bestselling author.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hard to recommend, May 24, 2009

By 

Elizabeth A. Hein "Elizabeth" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass Phase (Hardcover)

I have read all of Jen's books. Bitter was amazing! I told tons of people to read it and not one was disappointed. Pretty in Plaid sadly I will not be giving a hearty recommendation for. I agree with another review, chapter one was a gas! And there were moments of great stuff in this book, but not enough to make you want to turn the page. I am sad this book did not live up to my Jen standard. Read her first two, maybe her third but take a pass on this one.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jen... Have You Been Reading My Mail?, June 30, 2009

By 

Sparkle (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pretty in Plaid: A Life, A Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending,Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass Phase (Kindle Edition)

I hesitated in buying this book thinking that going back to Jen's childhood could not be nearly as Snarky and hillarious as doing such adult things as pretending you have a homeowner's association and that you are the president. I saw that other readers didn't love this one as much, so that made me hesitate too. Boy, was I wrong and I'm so glad I read it.

I found this book delightful and HILLARIOUS! Now, that could be because I think Jen and I are about the same age, with a very practical, middle class up-bringing, therefore have we have many of the same experiences and perspectives. If you are a child of the 70's & 80s and remember Kristy McNichol, Jordache Jeans, Polo shirts and Michael Jackson, you may relate too. She walks readers through her real first job and how she though she was RICH! Didn't we all? When you hit the 20k's in salary.. woo hoo!! until you have to pay rent and a car payment. Then the first time you heard people talking about "Their Lewie" - not know ing it wasn't a dog or an uncle, but a Louis (As in Louis Vuitton).

Jen feels like a Facebook friend I don't personally know very well, but because I read her posts and see her photos, I feel like we are BFFs. I think this book is worth the read. Just be prepared to remember who you were at that time. The entertainment lies not only in Jen's story, but who the reader was at that time in their own history.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Plaid Not Her Color, September 2, 2009

By 

L. D. Merkl (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass Phase (Hardcover)

The publisher got greedy and the author got lazy. (Success can do that to you.) With the triumph of three books, someone got itchy to make some more dough and I guess a prequel sounded like a good idea, as well as a surefire moneymaker.
JL's grammar and high school years are a bore. It also reads like she made it up -- so much for the memoir part.
The book gets going more than half way through when JL goes to college, but didn't really capture my interest until the story about the yellow argyle sweater. That is class Jen.
The stories of her professional life don't hold a candle to her temp stories from the second book.
Then the book just sort of ends with..."and you know the rest...Bitter Is The New Black...blah, blah, blah."
I understand she has three more books in the works. I hope she puts effort back into those.