Scan barcode
alannajane's review against another edition
2.0
2 stars.
Interesting concept - the idea of discovering how people feel about themselves by how they dress, and what is lurking inside overflowing closets. I liked the use of case-studies to introduce each concept, as well as the interweaving of psychology and wardrobe choices. Many topics made me introspective of how I present myself to the world.
What I couldn’t abide - and why I knocked 3 stars off - is because of the continuing “need” to always buy more and the blatant disregard of both the environment and devastating global effects of fast fashion. In the logos chapter, the author could have talked about how most celebrities can’t afford the brands they are being paid to wear either. She could have talked about the vast waste of only wearing things once and how we all don’t need more than a few great pairs of shoes.
Ultimately, buying more and simply trashing what you no longer want could have been replaced with a chapter on the myriad ways that we can all strive to create a much smaller environmental footprint via our wardrobe. In so doing, this could have been an important book. And yes, I realize that this wasn’t the focus of this book. But, by turning a blind eye to these important current issues, the author was basically negligent in presenting the whole picture. Fashion is the second biggest polluter of Earth and continuing to make wardrobe-building decisions without this knowledge is incredibly ignorant.
Interesting concept - the idea of discovering how people feel about themselves by how they dress, and what is lurking inside overflowing closets. I liked the use of case-studies to introduce each concept, as well as the interweaving of psychology and wardrobe choices. Many topics made me introspective of how I present myself to the world.
What I couldn’t abide - and why I knocked 3 stars off - is because of the continuing “need” to always buy more and the blatant disregard of both the environment and devastating global effects of fast fashion. In the logos chapter, the author could have talked about how most celebrities can’t afford the brands they are being paid to wear either. She could have talked about the vast waste of only wearing things once and how we all don’t need more than a few great pairs of shoes.
Ultimately, buying more and simply trashing what you no longer want could have been replaced with a chapter on the myriad ways that we can all strive to create a much smaller environmental footprint via our wardrobe. In so doing, this could have been an important book. And yes, I realize that this wasn’t the focus of this book. But, by turning a blind eye to these important current issues, the author was basically negligent in presenting the whole picture. Fashion is the second biggest polluter of Earth and continuing to make wardrobe-building decisions without this knowledge is incredibly ignorant.
greenblue22's review against another edition
4.0
This book inspired me to clean out my closet as never before, and also to see that people read a lot more into how we look than I realized. It's not like I didn't know that, but I can see my own signals clearer and understand better what others are seeing. Will I never wear sweats to the grocery store again? I won't go quite that far but I am already making a few changes. The book is well done but geared to women more than to people in general. That makes sense since women's appearance is more closely scrutinized than men's.
laurenc18's review against another edition
3.0
This book dragged on as it was many cases of people changing their wardrobe but no actual tips to help the readers. It was interesting to think about and hear the stories but overall not a huge fan.
yuliia_trevi's review against another edition
4.0
I thought it was interesting, it revealed a lot about myself and made me think about things from different perspective.
rmardel's review against another edition
2.0
I suppose I expected something with a little more depth and analysis. Most of the book is rather obvious, shallow, and geared more toward what your shopping habits reveal about you.
librarian_nic's review against another edition
2.0
This book needs an update NOW. Either that or save yourself the reading time and skim the epilogue for a summary.
I loved the idea of this book, but it catered to women who are likely married or older than 40, stuck in an assumed functional wardrobe rut. Not suitable for 2021.
For a modern fashion psychology book, try Dawnn Karen’s Dress Your Best Life.
I loved the idea of this book, but it catered to women who are likely married or older than 40, stuck in an assumed functional wardrobe rut. Not suitable for 2021.
For a modern fashion psychology book, try Dawnn Karen’s Dress Your Best Life.
lukrezya's review against another edition
2.0
If you've read any books under the categories of style guides, de-cluttering or closet organization, the concepts are nothing new. The author writes in a straightforward style, with bits of Psych 101 tidbits thrown in. One picky item for me is that I did not like the East Coast bias and the scorn held for the relaxed West Coast style in the later chapters; there will always be regional differences in clothing, so why alienate people who have a different fashion perspective?
The checklist questions in each chapter are interesting, but I do wonder if most readers would make the connections in their own lives and take action without the help of a professional counselor to walk them through the discovery process. I would've liked to see a case study where she spoke with a normal person who didn't need the therapy element. In terms of data, I'd like to know if there were regional, ethnic, international, or generational differences, and how those differences may manifest. The readers got a brief glimpse in the "dress your age" chapter, but nothing really substantial to grab onto. It also would have been great if the author would've championed charities would could use these extra clothes: Dress for Success, Cinderella Project, Goodwill, et cetera. I think that's a wasted opportunity to help readers let go of whatever s in the closet.
Overall, this seems like an interesting book to check out from a local library, but not necessarily buy.
The checklist questions in each chapter are interesting, but I do wonder if most readers would make the connections in their own lives and take action without the help of a professional counselor to walk them through the discovery process. I would've liked to see a case study where she spoke with a normal person who didn't need the therapy element. In terms of data, I'd like to know if there were regional, ethnic, international, or generational differences, and how those differences may manifest. The readers got a brief glimpse in the "dress your age" chapter, but nothing really substantial to grab onto. It also would have been great if the author would've championed charities would could use these extra clothes: Dress for Success, Cinderella Project, Goodwill, et cetera. I think that's a wasted opportunity to help readers let go of whatever s in the closet.
Overall, this seems like an interesting book to check out from a local library, but not necessarily buy.