A Celebration, a Book Review, and a Giveaway!

This is my 200th blog post! I’m so excited about that – I never thought I’d reach that point! It’s also almost the third anniversary of my current job, which amazes me as much as it excites me. I’ve never had a job this long, and to be starting my fourth year just blows me away. (Yes, I worked as a dresser on Broadway for 7 years, and toured with Disney on Ice for 3 years before that, but different shows = different producers = different supervisors = etc etc etc. Not the same.)

So to celebrate, I am combining a book review with my first ever Giveaway! I’m giving away the book I am reviewing! How fun is that?! But wait – what book is it, you ask? Let me show you:

If you are a long-time regular reader of this blog, you have probably already heard me talk about my friend David Zyla and his book, The Color of Style. I’ve asked him for advice on fabrics, and even attended a fashion show at the National Arts Club that he emceed. I really love his book on color, because it helps each individual find the colors that work best on them, based on the colors in your eyes, hair, hands, etc., and for what reasons (i.e., your formal, romantic, and dramatic colors, what that means, and when to wear them). I’ve seen it in action, so I know it works. And I’ve slowly adjusted the colors of my wardrobe to fit “my” colors. I’ll review it for you someday to better explain all that.

My older copy of Color Your Style, titled The Color of Style, along with color chips I picked based on the book’s advice. (Apparently they’ve redesigned it since I bought it in 2010!)

So now he has teamed up with Eila Mell, a fashion journalist who has also published a book with Heidi Klum, to create How to Win at Shopping: 297 Insider Secrets for Getting the Style You Want at the Price You Want to Pay. Sounds good to me! David is a pro shopper, too – on the few days I worked with him on “All My Children,” we were surrounded by racks and racks of things he had purchased over the years for the characters. Fun!  But having worked as a shopper for shows, I know how hard that type of work is. So when a pro offers up tips, I’m always happy to read them!

The book is small and tidy, broken down into categories, each page full of advice. The topics run from analyzing your closet to more strategically shop, shop alone (sorry girls!), proper undergarments, determining how well made a garment is, to dressing for job interviews and dates, to buying clothes for your man (I’d never even try, frankly). I would quote some but assume there are copyright laws…  Suffice it to say, even if you think you know it all, you might not – I learned some really good tips in this book! David told me that his best piece of advice is to look for the clues in your closet so you know what you are shopping for. My closet is a bit ADHD, since it seems all over the place! No, I can see some themes – florals, stripes, teals and raspberries mixed in with grays and blues and browns. I know that I always gravitate towards floral prints, no matter what the runways tell me are “in” patterns. I will probably never be seen in an animal print blazer. It seems like obvious advice, but at the same time, its taken me a while to embrace what I love, and not try to dress like someone I’m not.

I would love to put this book in your hands, so I am going to give it away! Here are the rules:

1. Leave a comment on this post telling us the worst shopping advice anyone ever gave you – and how soon  you realized it was bad advice!
2. I will take comments until midnight on Friday, February 13th. If you post after that, too late. Surely it won’t take you that long to remember bad advice.
3. On February 14, Valentine’s Day, I will use a random number generator to pick the winning comment. (That is, if I get 8 comments, it will pick a number between 1 and 8.)
4. Then I will let you know that you won! Yes, I will ship internationally but can’t guarantee how long it will take to arrive!)

If you are interested in fashion and shopping even slightly as enthusiastically as I am, you should play along! Help me celebrate my 200th blog post, and my friend David’s new book How to Win at Shopping, by trying to win it!