All You Need to Be Impossibly French: A Witty Investigation into the Lives, Lusts, and Little Secrets of French Women


Helena Frith Powell - 2006
    More than an eye for fashion or a taste for elegance, the French je ne sais quoi embodies the essential ingredients for looking and feeling beautiful.With wit, whimsy, and wonder, British expatriate Helena Frith Powell uncovers the secrets of chic living in All You Need to Be Impossibly French, a cheeky guide to releasing your inner Frenchwoman. Delving deep into a mysterious realm of face creams, silk lingerie, and shopping-as-exercise, Powell reveals how French women stay impossibly thin and irresistibly sexy by achieving the maximum effect from the minimum amount of effort. Forget diet and inspiration books and style guides—this is all you need to embrace the wisdom of French living, and learn how to turn every day into la petite aventure.

I Love Your Style: How to Define and Refine Your Personal Style


Amanda Brooks - 2009
    Smart, glamorous, media-savvy and remarkably practical, Amanda has spent her entire life constructing a unique, eclectic and intimately personal sense of style. With classic roots, bohemian flair, a taste for designer luxuries, and a love for bargains everywhere, Amanda has looked to every imaginable source of fashion inspiration-from high-fashion runways and magazines, to thrift stores and classic movies, to her neighbors in downtown New York and old family photo albums. In I Love Your Style, Amanda helps women of all ages begin to cull through the frighteningly vast world of fashion, from its staid basics to its trendiest moments. I Love Your Style is a sumptuous full-color look-book and style bible, complete with more than 400 classic and modern photographs, that will both empower and inspire women to dive into the challenge of defining, or refining, their personal style. With fully illustrated chapters, sidebars, shopping lists, and personal stories devoted to a range diverse styles and shopping techniques-Classic, Bohemian, Minimalist, Street, High-Fashion, Cheap Chic, Vintage-Brooks walks readers through every angle of the fashion world, from the basic pieces and accessories that define a style, to the small details, combinations, and adaptations that can make it your own. With its focus on embracing creativity, personal history, originality, and the freedom to pick and choose aspects from any distinct "style"-and with no "rules," "commandments," or lengthy lists of "don′ts" in sight-I Love Your Style is a must-read for budding fashionistas, or anyone who finds herself frustrated in front of the mirror each morning.

Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior


Judith Martin - 1982
    Your niece swears that no one expects thank-you letters anymore. Your father-in-law insists that married women have to take their husbands' names. Your guests plead that asking them to commit themselves to attending your party ruins the spontaneity. Who is right? Miss Manners, of course. With all those amateurs issuing unauthorized etiquette pronouncements, aren't you glad that there is a gold standard to consult about what has really changed and what has not? The freshly updated version of the classic bestseller includes the latest letters, essays, and illustrations, along with the laugh-out-loud wisdom of Miss Manners as she meets the new millennium of American misbehavior head-on. This wickedly witty guide rules on the challenges brought about by our ever-evolving society, once again proving that etiquette, far from being an optional extra, is the essential currency of a civilized world.

Emily Post's Etiquette


Peggy Post - 1922
    Features twenty new chapters that cover such areas as Internet behavior, raising well-mannered children, dating, post-September 11 travel etiquette, tipping, and observing religious ceremonies.

The Official Preppy Handbook


Lisa Birnbach - 1980
    Looking, acting, and ultimately being Prep is not restricted to an elite minority lucky enough to attend prestigious private schools, just because an ancestor or two happened to arrive here on the Mayflower. You don't even have to be registered Republican. In a true democracy everyone can be upper class and live in Connecticut. It's only fair. The Official Preppy Handbook will help you get there.

The Truth About Style


Stacy London - 2012
    Now for the first time in print, London turns that expert X-ray insight on herself.Like the women she’s transformed, London has plenty of emotional baggage. At eleven, she suffered from severe psoriasis that left her with permanent physical and mental scars. During college, she became anorexic on a misguided quest for perfection. By the time she joined the staff at Vogue, London’s weight had doubled from binge eating. Although self-esteem and self-consciousness nearly sabotaged a promising career, London learned the hard way that we wear our insecurities every day. It wasn’t until she found the self-confidence to develop a strong personal style that she finally became comfortable in her skin.In The Truth About Style, London shares her own often painful history and her philosophy of the healing power of personal style—illustrating it with  a series of detailed “start-overs” with eight real women, demonstrating how personal style helps them overcome the emotional obstacles we all face. For anyone who has ever despaired of finding the right clothes, or even taking an objective assessment in a full-length mirror, The Truth About Style will be an inspiring, liberating, and often very funny guide to finding the expression of  your truest self.

Encyclopedia of the Exquisite: An Anecdotal History of Elegant Delights


Jessica Kerwin Jenkins - 2010
    It’s an homage to the esoteric world of glamour that doesn’t require much spending but makes us feel rich.Taking a cue from the exotic encyclopedias of the sixteenth century, which brimmed with mysterious artifacts, Jessica Kerwin Jenkins’s Encyclopedia of the Exquisite focuses on the elegant, the rare, the commonplace, and the delightful. A com­pendium of style, it merges whimsy and practicality, traipsing through the fine arts and the worlds of fashion, food, travel, home, garden, and beauty.Each entry features several engaging anecdotes, illuminating the curious past of each enduring source of beauty. Subjects covered include the explosive history of champagne; the art of lounging on a divan; the emergence of “frillies,” the first lacy, racy lingerie; the ancient uses of sweet-smelling saffron; the wild riot incited by the appearance of London’s first top hat; Julia Child’s tip for cooking the perfect omelet; the polarizing practice of wearing red lipstick during World War II; Louis XIV’s fondness for the luscious Bartlett pear; the Indian origin of badminton; Parliament’s 1650 attempt to suppress Europe’s beauty mark fad; the evolution of the Japanese kimono; the pil­grimage of Central Park’s Egyptian obelisk; and the fanciful thrill of dining alfresco.Cleverly illustrated, Encyclopedia of the Exquisite is an ode to life’s plenty, from the extravagant to the eccentric. It is a cele­bration of luxury that doesn’t necessarily require money.

Parisian Chic: A Style Guide


Inès de La Fressange - 2010
    Inès de la Fressange—France’s icon of chic—shares her personal tips for living with style and charm, gleaned from decades in the fashion industry. She offers specific pointers on how to dress like a Parisian, including how to mix affordable basics with high-fashion touches, and how to accessorize. Her step-by-step do’s and don’ts are accompanied by fashion photography, and the book is personalized with her charming drawings. Inès also shares how to bring Parisian chic into your home, and how to insert your signature style into any space—even the office. The ultrachic volume is wrapped with a three-quarter-height removable jacket and features offset aquarelle paper and a ribbon page marker. Complete with her favorite addresses for finding the ultimate fashion and decorating items, this is a must-have for any woman who wants to add a touch of Paris to her own style.

The Curated Closet: A Simple System for Discovering Your Personal Style and Building Your Dream Wardrobe


Anuschka Rees - 2016
    Style and minimalism blogger Anuschka Rees presents a fascinatingly strategic, prescriptive approach to identifying, refining, and expressing personal style and building the ideal wardrobe to match it, with style and shopping strategies that women can use every day. Including beautiful full-color fashion photography, infographics, and activities, The Curated Closet is a useful guide covering everything women need to know to fully realize their individual style and create their perfect functional and beautiful wardrobe.

Balancing in Heels: My Journey to Health, Happiness, and Making it all Work


Kristin Cavallari - 2016
    

Change Your Clothes, Change Your Life: Because You Can't Go Naked


George Brescia - 2014
    In this groundbreaking how-to book, style expert George Brescia shows you how to transform yourself from the inside out.More than a style guide, this revolutionary book by a seasoned stylist teaches a method of conscious dressing that begins with a powerful internal change. Instead of just grabbing for whatever’s on hand, you’ll learn to set your goals for the day, determining how you want to be perceived, and then dress in a way that helps manifest those intentions. Change Your Clothes, Change Your Life reveals the true power your clothing has to affect your life, showing how this second skin impacts your job prospects, your romantic life, your income, and even your deepest sense of self. Translating his styling methods into a philosophy anyone can apply on her own, Brescia also delivers tips and tricks of the trade to help convert even the most hapless dresser into a happy and educated shopper. Because the goal is to have you not only looking great, but feeling more confident, too. From major closet overhauls to a whole new philosophy on color, this is a comprehensive manual for anyone who’s ever looked at her closet in despair. Accessible, direct, honest, and thought-provoking, Change Your Clothes, Change Your Life takes an eye-opening look at the intersection between our clothing and our emotions, hopes, and dreams, showing us how improving our external appearance can have life-changing effects on how we’re perceived by others—and more importantly, on how we perceive ourselves.

In the Kennedy Style: Magical Evenings in the Kennedy White House


Letitia Baldrige - 1998
    Within a few short years, Jacqueline Kennedy's natural elegance and taste would completely transform how the White House -- and America -- entertained. With French cuisine in the State Dining Room and Pablo Casals playing in the East Room, Jackie created some of the most memorable occasions in White House history and set a standard for hospitality that the whole country would emulate.Now Letitia Baldrige and White House chef Rene Verdon have collaborated to recreate some of the most famous evenings of that storied era. Through Letitia Baldrige's intimate, behind-the-scenes recollections, complemented by seldom-seen photographs and memorabilia, these glittering parties are brought to life once again. And with five original menus and over 35 authentic recipes by Rene Verdon, carefully adapted and tested for modern kitchens, everyone can now experience some of the atmosphere of those magical evenings inspired by Jacqueline Kennedy.

The Fat Girl's Guide to Life


Wendy Shanker - 2004
    Written in Wendy's wonderfully funny and candid voice, The Fat Girl's Guide to Life provides thought-provoking insights, statistics, and body-image resources intended to restore a realistic standard of beauty and self-acceptance to the 68 percent of American women who wear a size 12 or larger. The Fat Girl's Guide to Life invites you to step off the scale and weigh the issues for yourself. Wendy Shanker is one of US Weekly's Fashion Police and was the resident humor columnist for Grace Woman magazine. She's appeared on Oxygen, Lifetime, VH1, CNN, The View, and The Ricki Lake Show, and has written for Glamour, Self, Shape, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and MTV. She lives in New York. "This frank and funny look at living large in America will resonate with any woman who has obsessed over her body image (and who hasn't?)."-Chicago Sun-Times "Thank heavens for Wendy Shanker: She's written a manifesto for all of us who are sick of obsessing over our bodies."-Seventeen "Jagged little pills of body-image wisdom."-Allure "This send-up of the thin-is-in mentality is funny enough to make even diehard dieters consider replacing their baby carrots with Krispy Kremes. Anyone who has ever tried to lose a pound will gain confidence and a sense of humor from Shanker's story."-Publishers Weekly

That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels and Everything in Between


Victoria Beckham - 2006
    Victoria's personal guide to feeling confident and looking great every time you step out of the front door.

The Little Book of Skin Care: Korean Beauty Secrets for Healthy, Glowing Skin


Charlotte Cho - 2015
    You’ll love pampering your skin at home and learning the secrets behind the “no-makeup makeup” look we’ve seen and admired on women in the streets of Seoul.With the knowledge of an expert and voice of a trusted friend, Charlotte’s personal tour through Korean beauty culture will help you find joy in the everyday beauty routines that will transform your skin.