Eccentric Glamour: Creating an Insanely More Fabulous You (Hardcover)

by Simon Doonan (Author)
Key Phrases: glamorous eccentricity, glamorous eccentricities, eccentric glamour, New York, Euro-glam Gypsy, Shelley Winters (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Entertaining and bitingly witty, Doonan (Confessions of a Window Dresser) calls upon the women of America to embrace their inner potential for dressing idiosyncratically, conventions be damned. But in making clear his fondness for vulgarity and bits of bad taste, he is clear about the downright hideous: fannypacks, for instance, are close to blasphemy. Doonan is uninhibited in revealing certain truths many outside the fashion industry tend to throw in its face: yes, there is more to life than clothing, and yes, the world of high style is often "depressing." Before one praises him for single-handedly unveiling the dirty underbelly of Fashion Week, it's worth noting his reliance on heavyweight figures such as Iman, Isabel Toledo, Lucy Liu and Hamish Bowels to provide their own insights via mini-surveys. Entertaining anecdotes from Doonan's life pepper the text, though his own style can at times be flippant or offensive (as when musing on how he would dress were he a butch lesbian).
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Review
"Who better than Simon to write about glamour and eccentricity? He is both!!!!"

--Diane von Fürstenberg

"Simon Doonan is a modern Noel Coward with a dash of Auntie Mame and Liberace thrown in for good measure!"

--Michael Kors, Project Runway

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 edition (April 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416535438
• ISBN-13: 978-1416535430
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #281,276 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh-out-loud funny, May 1, 2008

By	New York Foodie - See all my reviews

I adored this book and was sad when I read the very last page that my time in the company of the wonderful Simon Doonan was coming to a close. Rarely have I literally burst into laughter while reading a book (causing quite a commotion on the airplane!). This is not the book to pick up if you're looking for a list of must-haves for your wardrobe. Instead, it celebrates those glorious creatures who throw fashion advice to the wind and unabashedly embrace their own unique, personal style--whether Vogue agrees or not. A true delight!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simon, Are You Listening?, April 15, 2008

By	Tiger Lily "book store owner" (Athens, GA) - See all my reviews

Where are all of the gushing reviews for this book?! Maybe I'm a speedier reader than most but I would assume anyone who's read this would immediately get online and share with the world what a hilarious gem this is.

Charming, self-deprecating, outrageous and dead right about fashionable people and popular culture, Simon Doonan is THE man I'd want at my dinner party. By page 100 of Eccentric Glamour I had to put it down because I was shaking with silent laughter at every word. Literally every "of", "the" and "and"!

Please, Simon, please let your next book be a compendium of all the columns you've written for the New York Observer. Thanks for making this world your own.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Funny but deranged, April 10, 2008

By	Jennifer Downing (CA, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book contains an _entirely serious_ chapter about exorcising spirits from vintage clothing.
It contains advice that it is occasionally good to dress up as Queen Elizabeth (tiaras! gloves!).
Just to be inconsistent, it also contains many good observations (why does everyone want to look like Pamela Anderson, punchline to the world?), and some perfectly good advice.
There's also many short, fashion-oriented interviews with people--like Dita von Teese--who make the world a more interesting place by dressing (as in the title) "insanely."
Fun book, but use with caution....