Customer Reviews

Shop Your Closet: The Ultimate Guide to Organizing Your Closet with Style

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I was looking forward to reading this book after learning about it from some fashion magazine, but I unfortunately I have to agree with the other negative review on here. (I'm surprised there's only 1 so far!) I too am unsure what the other reviewers are raving about...

Here is the synopsis of the book:

- Throw out or donate a lot of your clothes
- Make a list of every clothing item you owe (who has time for this?!)
- Go out and buy yourself a whole bunch of new clothes
- Build your own shelves to organize your closet (I, for one, cannot build my own shelves)

The book re-hashes a lot of old/stale advice such as throwing out clothes you have not worn in a year, not using wire hangers, folding sweaters, not keeping your clothes in plastic from dry cleaners, etc. There are a few useful sections, such as advice on packing for a trip, and instructions on selling old clothes on Ebay (although nowadays it's almost impossible to sell clothes on Ebay unless they're designer duds for a deep discount price), but overall, this book was a waste of my time.

This book is surprisingly light on useful information. I only picked it up because of a feature in InStyle Makeover magazine. I was impressed by the little tidbits of information the book author provided. But the book itself was a HUGE disappointment. I expected to see more information on how to really make the most of your closet space, as well as restyling clothing and seeing your old clothes in a new light. It had almost zero content concerning truly 'shopping your closet'. I'm befuddled by the high reviews - it makes me believe the reviewers are all friends of the author and therefore unobjective.

Save your money and purchase Closet Control by Barbra Horowitz instead. It's far more comprehensive and covers everything this book does and so much more. I found it in a bargain bin and if I'd realized it was superior before buying Shop Your Closet, I could have saved a lot of money.

I must admit I was rather disappointed after reading this book. I bought the book with the intention of the title "shopping my closet" and instead found the author going through giving the basics of organization of not just a closet but other household areas. While her writing style was light-hearted and fun, I wouldn't recommend this book if you are someone who feels they have a closet full of clothes, shoes and bags yet never the right thing to wear as this book does not help you with that. I would recommend The One Hundred by Nina Garcia or for a good organization book, Peter Walsh's books.

This book is fabulous for anyone that has been hoarding clothes and has lost track of what is in their closet or for anyone that has limited space. Melanie provides tips for organizing your closet in clear easy steps with pictures and diagrams and gives you the motivation and guide to stop procrastinating. I loved the tips for keeping clothes in their best condition and for travel. Her advice can easily be used in other areas of the home that need organizing also. Particularly her travel/packing tips are helpful, practical and realistic! I highly recommend it!

I really can't imagine what the reviewers who have given 5-star ratings are impressed with. There is nothing here but common sense. The tired old advice to go through your clothes and make three piles: keep, donate and throw out. Advice to get rid of lots of clothing, and decide what you need and go out and buy it. I had such high hopes for this book and kept reading, hoping to come up with something useful. There was one little piece of information that I hadn't heard: In order to make ironing easier, put your clothes to be ironed in the freezer so that they will pick up some moisture. This won't help me since I have about two square inches of free space in my freezer, but it may help someone.

The title of the book is misleading. To me, the idea of "shopping your closet" is taking the clothing you already own and adding a few accessories to create a fresh look. This book is about physically building and organizing a closet . . . and the rest of your house. There is almost nothing on fashion and style, just a few paragraphs that are laughably simplistic. Also there are no pictures or photos, just stock ones for the beginning of each chapter. I was intrigued by the title and am so glad that I waited to check it out from the library. It's pretty much junk.

This book has such an attractive cover! And the idea of shopping your own closet sounds like such fun. This book actually covers more than just making your closet and contents more attractive, it talks about organizing your pantry and other parts of the house too. Not sure if that's a good thing or not.
I was disappointed with the lack of creativity in the layout of the data on each page. Too much text, not enough use of dialogue boxes, or charts, or sidebars. I was hoping for more of a 'workbook' style where you could note down closet measurements, and get down to work. This was more of a book of tips. But the information provided is good, useful info, just spread a little thin.

Shop Your Closet is great for those who want to do it yourselves. It's not as detailed though (eg. only 2 body shapes mentioned Apple and Banana. Where's my Pear shape???) and quite-American focused. It does have a very useful section about constructing your own closet though with useful measurement guides and tips. This part is her business forte I think and it shows through.

Maybe I misunderstood the concept of this book but I was hoping for some insight about how to acquire a better eye towards using items in my closet, putting things together that I hadn't thought of, ideas for altering existing clothes to update them, adding accessories to existing items, etc. The book had a lot of very same-old, obvious information about sorting through your clothes, determining body type, what kind of hangers to use. Although the subtitle of the book is "organizing your closet with style" I really didn't learn much about "shopping" my own closet or how to determine what is flattering on me. Really no new or exciting ideas or information at all. And the chapter on how to build your own shelves...seriously? Overall, a waste of time and money. I wish I had read the reviews before I bought it.

This book needs to be entitled "Your Closet" instead of "Shop Your Closet". I thought I was buying a book with ideas on how to better utilize what's in my closet not a $15 book telling me why I need a closet. Poor purchase.