Women's Wardrobe

I bought Chic Simple Women's Wardrobe when it first came out, and had reason to pull it out again when my wardrobe needed a complete overhaul due to weight loss. To my delight, the advice and the styles contained within are as fresh now as they were eight years ago. If you're looking for good, basic advice on how to build a classic wardrobe, you won't go wrong with the Chic Simple philosophy, and this book is a wonderful embodiment of it.

Beautiful color photos make this book visually interesting, and solid information makes it more than a comic book for grown-ups. The writing style is breezy and inviting and accessible to everyone from fashion-conscious teens to single-again midlifers.Season-by-season, the authors serve up strategies for developing a functional wardrobe from the odd assortment of garments that clutter many women's closets. Tried and true looks are emphasized for their versatility and longevity, but they are supplemented with numerous helpful hints about changing the looks with accessories and tailoring them for occasions. The authors discuss shoes, underwear, handbags, and jewelry among other items--the whole clothing gamut.The photos typically feature upscale designer garments but the authors make it clear that the look is important, not the brand, as less expensive clothing styles frequently follow in the footsteps of their more illustrious relatives. "Women's Wardrobe" is about finding your personal style, not about making Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren wealthier.There are plenty of tips to make weeding out your closet less painful, and good advice on determining what replacement items to buy. (Forget about buying colors according to what "season" you are--most people can wear most colors if they know what they're doing.) Attention is paid not only to actual calendar seasons, but to regional influences and body types. "Women's Wardrobe" is great fun, useful head to toe, under to outer. Make sure you take it as a starting point, though, and not as the final say in cultivating a personal style. But after a sensational start like this book, who would want the fun to end anyway?

I found this book to be timeless and extremely helpful, not at all trendy. Unlike the fashion mags which are outdated one week after they go on sale, this book gives tips on how to build a year-round wardrobe from the ground up, with basic, timeless fashions and advice on how to coordinate tops, bottoms, shoes. It is a big help for those of us who are shopping addicts and tend to buy trendy clothes and accessories only to find we don't have a thing to wear 4 months later. Also try "Dressing For Occasions", another Chic Simple book. I would not recommend this for fashionistas in the big cities or women with an interest in lots of inexpensive trendy up-to-the-minute items.

I have looked for years for a definitive guide to building a wardrobe of chic, classic clothes. This is it. I sew most of my clothing, and this has been a wonderful guide and inspiration for me. I took the good basic pieces I had in my closet and have slowly added to them using the authors' wonderful advice. I now have a beautiful wardrobe, I look sophisticated and polished, now matter what the occasion, and I never look into my closet any more and think "I have nothing to wear". It has even helped me find just the right accessories to go with my beautiful clothes. I would recommend this book to sewers and non-sewers alike. It can make a real difference in the way you look, and eventually, the way you feel about yourself. I am much more confident when I know I look great!

I used to just have a jumble of clothes-with few outfits and nothing to wear! This book helps you pull together peices for a rich, classic, long lasting look. The photos are beautiful and the clothes are magnificent (and expensive!) but once you see the look you'll be able to reproduce it at your own budget. It also offers plent of information to help you recognize quality clothes and accesories. After reading this book, I threw out half my closet and began to build a timeless, upscale wardrobe!