How to Have Style

I have been a huge fan of Isaac Mizrahi for a long time and I couldn't wait to read this book. I knew he was hysterical but the jury was still out as to how much this book would truly tell me about "How to have style." Well, this book is unlike any other book on style I have read (and I've read them all!) It is not a book that just tells you what to wear. It is a book that teaches you how to find your OWN style and inspirations ... and isn't that what style is? Don't we all want to express our unique selves and not just wear the same thing we see on everyone else? Isaac covers lots of things - like hairstyles and color, outerwear,dressing for special events, jewelry etc ... and uses models that look like ordinary people and end up looking like extraordinary ordinary people with incredible style. There were lots of really new and creative ideas and suggestions that really gave me a fresh perspective and confidence to try some new things. Lastly, I was NOT left feeling like I needed to head out shopping to buy all the "Style" Isaac was talking about - actually I was inspired to get rid of a lot of stuff that I didn't really like or fit into. This enabled me to see what I really had and how I could mix it up in new and exciting ways. I reinvented a few amazing pieces with a $10-$20 trip to the tailor. If you love fashion (or struggle to find your "look") you will love this book!

This book did not meet my expectations.
I expected it to explain how to create your own style.
After seeing the author Isaac Mizahi talking on TV about
the book I was expectring a how to guide. I would not recommend this book. I normally pass my books on tom friends or give to
Goodwill. This book is going in the garbage and is the
worst review I have ever written for any book I have read.

I've always thought my wife as being stylish. I was browsing through a bookstore, and How to Have Style caught my eye. I thought she might enjoy it, and not be insulted or do me bodily harm. Much to my delight (and relief)she devoured the book from cover to cover and back again, telling me how it's given her completely new insights into putting an outfit together, and how to shop. I recommend this book as a great gift.

Issac generously offers invaluable information on finding your own style and ways to implement it. I love that he is never condescending or dictatorial. The book has great joie de vivre. And then there's Issac's "eye" for what looks good. It's an inspirational book.

If your girlfriends were to come around Trick-or-Treating, this is what you'd want to drop into their goodie bags!
Mizrahi's book is candy for the eyes. There are so many pictures - full color, not just sketches, on glossy pages. Plus, this book is both fun and informative. There is a certain richness, breadth and depth to the information, unlike a lot of the style books out there. Mizrahi's writing is a love letter to women. His approach is different from many stylists, who seem to only provide guidelines for dressing like themselves.
In this book, Mizrahi takes 12 women of varying ages - 20's to 50's - and body types, and transforms them into better versions of themselves. It's amazing how the women all seem to become more vivid and alive. Mizrahi does not dilute their personalities, either. Instead, he enhances them, e.g. the quirky woman wears a thick Russian fur hat; the shopaholic learns how to combine all her prints; the plus-size woman becomes an alluring femme fatale; the socialite stops playing it safe and dons couture.
What I really love is that because Mizrahi has the credentials and the expertise, he doesn't limit himself to the same tried-and-true fashion rules. He's sort of a Picasso of fashion. One blonde professional in the book comes to him with the safe, appropriate honey-blonde hair, and he transforms her with color - both by lightening her hair to a bold platinum (she then looks like Kim Novak) and moving her away from safe black to colors that enhance her features.
Mizrahi instructs the reader as to how she can be true to herself and yet break out of her own rut through the use of an inspiration board, a broad list of resources, and a helpful style workbook.
This truly is a guide to personal style. (The pictures of Mizrahi throughout the book are really cute, too!)