How to Dress: Your Complete Style Guide for Every Occasion - Gok Wan

...attempt to capsule and say how an outfit can be changed with a few simple additions (or subtractions). There's no attempt to address body shape or size. Every now and again there's a nod towards shape with a half-line comment that loose sleeves make your arms look slimmer or similar but the whole still fails to address body shape issue and how to make the most of what you have (or haven't) got.


If I'm honest you'll get far ...
...show where he's styling a woman with a similar body shape to you or simply picking up one of the many women's magazines that run a few pages of features on styling. "She" do a styling feature with clothes to suit particular body shapes and the Times (and Sunday Times) run age features with styling suggestions for 20s through to 50s. I'm certain that other publications will be doing similar things.



===Out ... more

I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting when Gok Wan's "How to Dress" caught my eye in the library. In a rather superficial way I enjoy watching Wan styling in his various TV shows and, if I'm honest, I'd actually rather like a bit of a session with him to get me out of my style rut (or should that be "lack of style" rut) and let me have a bit of fun for once. However, as it was a library book I decided that nothing ventured, nothing gained. Alas, this will be one of the quickest returns to the library ever.

Style? What Style?

The blurb on the back of the book would have us believe that the tome is packed with ideas and styling tips to help us girls decide what to wear. It's designed as an aid to find the perfect clothes for every occasion and to quote the man himself "think of this book as your very own one-to-one personal styling session with me". To be honest, it does none of this.

The book is written in a chatty style and you can hear Wan's inflection and mannerisms coming through in the written word. If you've ever seen him on television it's easy to hear his rather quirky voice and nature coming through in the text. The voice is direct and, if you don't want to feel that the text is aimed then this style is not for you, "Girlfriend". The content of the introductions to each section (around 4 pages of large type, well spaced font, probably amounting to no more than a page of a regular novel) is sound enough. None of the ideas are new or revolutionary and, if you've ever thought about styling or watched any of the many style shows then you'll have heard it all before.

After the introduction to a section you'll then find pages with a large picture of a model with a couple of lines underneath as to why their clothes work. Refreshingly, the models used are not all size zero (although if there are any over a size 10-12 I'd be surprised) and the styling isn't unachievable but neither is it inspiring. If there's one thing "us girls" know it's that what works for one won't necessarily work for another and it is in this regard that the book fails. It's all well and good photographing a few outfits that work but without direction as to what kind of body shape they are suited to you might as well be looking at a mannequin in a shop.

Similarly, tips on accessorising as so general as to be completely useless. "A simple ensemble will let oversized jewellery shine" is just one example. Great.

At the end of each section there are 3-4 pages of ruled print for your "notes". Again, I can't quite see the point here.

So. I've rather rubbished the format and overall content but it gets worse in my opinion. For a book that proclaims that it will banish the "what should I wear" dilemma even if the style were OK the content would still fall short.

Mutton Dressed as Lamb?

The book is broken into chapters; Underwear, Workwear, Going Out, Holidays, Weddings, Mums (and Beauty). Trouble is, none of these sections is really comprehensive (and as a whole they don't seem to hang together) and none addresses the ultimate issue of being a style guide for every occasion. There's no attempt to capsule and say how an outfit can be changed with a few simple additions (or subtractions). There's no attempt to address body shape or size. Every now and again there's a nod towards shape with a half-line comment that loose sleeves make your arms look slimmer or similar but the whole still fails to address body shape issue and how to make the most of what you have (or haven't) got.

If I'm honest you'll get far more styling tips from either spending an hour watching a show where he's styling a woman with a similar body shape to you or simply picking up one of the many women's magazines that run a few pages of features on styling. "She" do a styling feature with clothes to suit particular body shapes and the Times (and Sunday Times) run age features with styling suggestions for 20s through to 50s. I'm certain that other publications will be doing similar things.

Out of Fashion

The clothing directory at the back is simply a list of the clothes used and their sources (it would appear that the clothes were donated for the book rather than being selected as being the best in market). Whilst I appreciate that selling prices will quickly date a book it would be good to know which items were expensive and which were strictly high street. Trends change and I suspect that this is a book that will date very, very quickly. It's not got that classic feel to it and due to the superficial nature of the book it's just not going to stand the test of time.

It's good that there are stylists out there who are keen to have us ladies accepted as we are and who celebrates the womanly shape. Unfortunately, however, this book does absolutely nothing for Wan and his cause. If you are in your mid 20s, a city worker (although not necessarily professional), with a reasonable amount of cash to splash on clothes, then take a peek (but borrow it from a library as it's not worth bookshelf space) otherwise, leave alone.

Not Recommended - even to borrow

 

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