Sigh (semi-book review).

There is a part of me that loves books that tell me how to get dressed. The same part of me that had to get kicked in the shins before the rest of me could cancel my Glamour subscription a couple of years ago. As I have determined that spending time on my appearance does not make me a bad person, these parts of me have learned to coexist a little better now, and thus I picked up the following from the library:



Let's start with the good. Isaac Mizrahi is a funny guy. The ladies he makes over are legitimately different shapes and sizes, and they all come out of it looking gorgeous. It makes me want to go buy lots of skirts and start dyeing my hair again. It is a fun little book, like reading a magazine with fewer weight-loss tips. The pictures are gorgeous and well-shot.

However, most of these ladies have a darned good start and there is just a level of inapplicable-ness (yes I just made that up) to the real world that I can't get over. Yes, fire-engine red lipstick and a lacy bra peeking out of your button-down are very stylish and dramatic. But who the hell can wear that stuff to work? It's just too unreal - yes you look great as a platinum blonde, now either make peace with your roots or prepare to drop beaucoup bucks at the salon every three weeks for touch-ups. Lots of people would look better in miniskirts and heels than in baggy jeans. But they have to live in the real world. Isaac, you gave me no real-world options here. I do not live in a photo shoot. You are not showing me how to have style for my everyday life. I can have style on a Saturday night when I'm all dolled up, I need to figure out how to add it to the rest of my life.



So in sum, not a bad book as long as you're getting it from the library and don't expect any really useful advice. I mostly like looking at the pictures. And wondering what I would look like as a platinum blonde.