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Quintessential Style

CULTIVATE AND COMMUNICATE YOUR SIGNATURE LOOK

A helpful starting place for women seeking positive advice on how to define their signature style.

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

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  • Kirkus Reviews'
    Best Books Of 2015

This slim, to-the-point style manual helps readers become their own best image consultants.

Many style guides are prescriptive, insisting, for example, that every woman have a crisp white shirt and a tailored suit in her closet. But what if a woman doesn’t look good in white or a busy stay-at-home mom has no use for a suit? Rather than telling readers how they’re supposed to look, Beatty’s debut (written with White) takes a more individualized approach to developing personal style. “The depth of our beauty lies in our diversity,” she says. However, she doesn’t dismiss the importance of clothes: “Style is all about communicating who you are through the language of clothing.” Beatty focuses on helping readers express who they are through a signature style; in the process, they’ll improve their sense of confidence and self-empowerment. The book is aimed primarily at middle-aged women—the chapter on skin care focuses on the aging face, for instance—yet younger women just starting to discover their unique style can also benefit from Beatty’s clear, informative advice. The slim book can be read in one sitting, so readers can get to work putting the advice into practice right away. Simple work sheets, guidelines, and rules show readers how to craft a personal style statement, build a wardrobe, and become savvier shoppers, while inspirational quotes and anecdotes maintain reader interest. The helpful skin care chart guides readers through the dizzying array of available beauty products and helps them save money in the process. Yet some sections, such as the skimpy chapter on color, could use more explanation, and the body shapes chapter veers into the technical, requiring readers to take a lot of measurements to put the advice to work. Positivity dominates this style guide, urging women to enjoy dressing the body they have now rather than comparing themselves with celebrities or models.

A helpful starting place for women seeking positive advice on how to define their signature style.

Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2014

ISBN: 978-1627871297

Page Count: 154

Publisher: Wheatmark

Review Posted Online: April 21, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015

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THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...

Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").

Pub Date: May 15, 1972

ISBN: 0205632645

Page Count: 105

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972

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NUTCRACKER

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

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