I went through the book and then felt somewhat like the other reviewer that this book was written mostly for someone else. If you are the type of person that wakes up in the morning and don't know who you are until you put on a particular look, then this book is probably for you. To me, and maybe I missed something here, but to me, this book seems like it is written for someone who lives their life from the outside in. That is to say, they do not know who they are until they establish a certain look through their wardrobe that they select in order to know who they are.
Personally, if I were having someone design clothes for me, I would hire someone who could know about me and what my lifestyle was so they could design a wardrobe around who I was - not fit me into a wardrobe to define who I am for the day. I think the book has some merits already mentioned by some of the other reviewers, but I think this book lacks some of the variation and detail I would have expected. Such as what type of colors and designs around the neckline, shoulderline, waste line, hip line, and so on. I think this is what many women have questions about and many women seek a fashion statement that is mostly their own. While the book brushes the surface of these topics and the body types (straight, apple, pear, hour glass) and so on, it does not give a further examination of the subject and is more about frills and thrills than it is about practical wardrobing. I feel it is written on a level for juveniles and teens or early twenties. Not enough goes into practical work, play, dinner, entertaining, etc., the types of wardrobing that can be dressed up or down. Exploration of color is not even investigated nearly enough.
Now, the thing that makes this book worth while are the beautful illustrations by Robert Best. Robert Best is the Barbie fashion designer and he is also the illustrator that does the Barbie Calendars every year. His beautiful illustrations are more than just fluty garnishes in the book, they make the book's image and shape and statement. The creativity in the fashions are absolutely surpurb and for me, make the book worthwhile, even though all the figures he created are pencil thin and dreamlike without a basis of reality in their form. Even the illustration of "Joan" from Mad Men is devoid of her full curves, thus evaporating the opportunity to go beyond the stereo typical Barbie figure. The illustrations are indeed beautiful and dreamlike models that look like our beloved Barbie - now what fashion saavy woman doesn't like Barbie? There is a small credit statement to Robert's work in the back of the book and a credit statement on the inside front page but I think it could have been far more prominant in the book for the amount of incredible illustration work he did which is almost on every page. His work makes the tone and character of the book. Sorry he didn't get the notariety he was due for all the work he did. His illustrations are magnificant and give character and a great image of the book.
The messege of this book seems to be to break out of your current styles and have some fun with your wardrobe. It has lots of ideas to get people outside of their current mold (such as wearing lavish hats and lacy high heeled shoes) but not enough information to cover practical everyday wear for work, for executives, for recreation, for dining, etc. Robert Best creates the imagination while the author creates the inspiration to break out of the mold and try something provocative, frivilous, and daring.
The repeating idea in the book is that you don't know who you are until you put on that special wardrobe so you can be "somebody" special that you want to be for that day. So I missed the point of the book I guess. I was looking for a book that could put the fashion around me, a style that could express a bit of who I am, not prop me up into the fashion clothes for the day to define myself. This is where the rub kept occuring for me. Many of the suggestions are overstated and full of glam. Great to look at but hardly practical. I did learn a few things and although I wouldn't take the same approach as the book, I did get some ideas which I can certainly use as a basic idea to tweak towards my own objectives. Since the author's experience is dressing up actors and actresses for their shooting, I can understand completely her approach. But for the rest of society, it is a bit brief and not very practical. Great if you are still searching out who you are and need a fashion statement to get you out of a wardrobe funk. It seems to me that the premise is to awaken your inspiration and get out there and do something different.
That being said, the book is beautiful and fun, very girly, and great conversation book to have on the coffee table or nearby for those girly guests at tea time or to add to a collection of fashion illustration books. Robert Best's illustrations and interviews with the actresses make it worth it for me.
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Miss Multiplicity
Beautiful book, but nothing new
Reviewed in Canada on July 1, 2011
