10 Steps to Fashion Freedom: Discover Your Personal Style from the Inside Out

This is an extraordinary book. Having read many books on style, this is the first one to assert that style is something that must be discovered and developed - not envied and copied. The book requires a fair amount of reflection and written work, and those looking for "quick tips" (like the reader who complains the book won't help a stay-at-home mom choose a "power suit" for a school board meeting) are unlikely to find the easy answers they seek. But really, aren't there enough style books like that already? And isn't it true that we picked up a new style book because those kind are just so limited and formulaic? I am disheartened by some of the reviews for this book. The same reader above is full of excuses as to why fashion just won't work for her - having an "image" is for artists, for entrepreneurs. Not for mere employees who risk the wrath of a pink slip for wearing a new belt. How ridiculous. I'm a doctor - there are few professions as conservative as that. There is no job I can think of in which expressing your creativity to some degree is a bad thing. We all have "limits" placed on how we dress; nowhere in the book is there a recommendation to fly in the face of common sense and decorum. The same reader takes offense to the authors' assertion that elastic waistbands, oversized pockets and patch pockets are unfashionable. Well, they ARE unfashionable. But, the reader laments that they are comfortable, useful. Maybe. But fashionable? That's why the book isn't called Ten Steps to Comfort Freedom. This reader assumes that the authors don't know what it is to really "work" (presumably like she does). And she laments that style may take time - even ironing! - "and who has the time for that these days?" she asks. I guess the answer to that would be: someone willing to put aside a bit of time because they think their appearance matters. This reviewer has already decided that she can make no wardrobe or image changes because of the extreme physical demands of her job, the dictatorial condemnation of her bosses, and a belief in comfort and convenience at all cost. What this reader needs is not a new style. She needs a new life! Another reader claims that the authors "insist" on shopping at high-end stores. That just isn't true. However, there's few of us that won't admit we wish we'd saved for a really good pair of shoes, rather than the four cheap and trendy pairs we now never wear. I have used this book to transform my way of dressing and shopping - I still shop at Walmart; I just shop there smarter now. This book isn't for everyone; if you're looking for pictures, be advised that there isn't a one. But if you're looking for photos of fashion, buy a magazine. Rest assured, if you're motivated and willing to do the work, you WILL find your unique personal style - and that has nothing to do with whether you shop at Walmart or Rodeo Drive.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to every man or woman who:-compares their insides to other people's outsides -doesn't feel good about the way they look-cannot find the key to expressing their true self in clothing-wants to overcome old body and clothing messages and-is ready for an inspirational and evolutionary change.Malcolm and Kate have taken thier years of professional experience and turned it into a one-to-one personalized teaching in the 10 lessons in their book. They guide you with compassion, skill, and respect through deeper levels of self-knowledge, self-awareness, and self-appreciation.From that, they help you distill your new knowledge into a concise - and practical - understanding of how to express your inner qualities in your outer dress. They empower you to make changes slowly, gently, and with great enjoyment.I had fun doing the lessons and learned a great deal. After three months, I now find other areas of my life improving as well.So do yourself a favor and do the work they suggest to reap the rewards. Malcolm and Kate offer you an evolutionary and inspirational aproach to true self-expression. This book is a gift.

I really enjoyed this book and can recommend it to anyone interested in the great personal debate of what to wear, when, and where. Given the nature of the subject-matter most people are probably wary of another dose of superficial trivia, the type of dogmatic "do's and don'ts" that abound in most magazines, the standard "wear this-you're in, wear that-you're out" material. Instead this is a thoughtful, practical book that helps you develop and, therefore be comfortable with, your own personal sense of style. This book is based on the principle that it is not simply what you wear but more importantly, how you wear it. While it does provide plenty of advice on your clothing options it focuses first on helping you determine your own feelings and beliefs in relation to your appearance and the image you want to convey. As such, it is quite an introspective look at fashion -it seeks to bridge that gap between what we may all aspire to in seeking to look our best and what we can also be at ease with, and so carry-off effectively.Well-written and structured, the authors take you through a step-by-step process on this personal discovery (it's fun and relatively painless)-do join in and make the effort as the reward can be a better-informed and more confident, relaxed "you" on that next shopping trip or that next dressed-up occasion.

Malcolm's and Kate's 10 Steps to Fashion Freedom is not a fashion manual. It is a subtly philosophical and, at the same, highly practical self-help book and, as such, it is more rewarding, but also more demanding, than it appears at first glance. But even if you cannot muster the self-discipline, self-knowledge and commitment and, perhaps, honesty required to complete all 10 steps - even if you read the book as some might read the Bible - you will still draw great benefit from it. Most chapters are an entity in themselves, every paragraph in parts the sort of knowledge and wisdom based on a wealth of experience which most of us are unable to acquire on our own. These are lessons for life. My favourite part of the book is "closet analysis". This is an ongoing purge, cathartic and liberating. A final word. I gave the book to a French friend, who, like many of her compatriots, has this innate and seemingly unfailing sense of style. I half expected her to telephone to tell me that there is nothing in the book she didn't know already. She didn't. She phoned me to tell me how fascinated she is by Malcolm's and Kate's analysis of what is "current, fashionable or trendy" and - guess what? - that she's clearing out her closet. The best of us can learn ...

If you are looking for color charts, pictures, or hints to disguise figure problems, you'd better look elsewhere. There's not a single picture to be found. In fact, I'd file this book under "psychology" and not "fashion." Here's why:This is not a formulaic approach to style, as are most books of this type. People are not pigeonholed into a "winter" color shade, or labeled as "pear-shaped," and then given recommendations accordingly. Instead, this book tackles what might be the most difficult, yet heroic task of all: identifying a person's true, inner style, or "statement," and then finding ways to make the outside covering of that person match the inside, and in the most flattering way. Making this match allows a person to live more freely in their true style, thereby tremendously boosting self-esteem.Yes, it sounds pretty new-age and the exercises presented could be at home in a counseling or therapy setting. But it's no secret that a person's identity, and the way that identity is presented to the world -- and furthermore, the way that identity is *received* by the the world, all have a profound impact on that person. After all, at its most basic level, fashion and style are all about communicating a message -- that the person is wealthy, rebellious, sexy, young, whatever. This book just helps people to discover what message they want to send out, and how to transmit an accurate message.This is not to say that this is the *only* book you'd need on fashion. I'd use this book as a starting point to discover what statement you want to make. Then, all the other fashion books with pictures are most helpful in getting creative ideas on how to get that statement across.