If you love fashion, then chances are you know about Isabella Blow.  Oddly beautiful and eccentric, she was always easy to spot with her Philip Treacy hats and haunting eyes.  Born of aristocratic ancestry, her life was not as easy as it would appear on the surface.  She began her thirty-year career in fashion as Anna Wintour’s assistant at Vogue and had an eye for fashion.  Her unique taste is credited with launching the careers of Philip Treacy and Alexander McQueen. It’s so sad that her beloved Alexander McQueen and she shared the same fate of ending their lives in suicide.

Blow by Blow: The Story of Isabella Blow is written by Isabella’s husband, Detmar Blow.  The two met in 1988, were engaged sixteen days later and remained married until her untimely death.  With the help of Tomy Sykes, Detmar Blow paints a portrait of Isabella that few have seen.  They give insight to the behind-the-scenes- world of fashion and high-society.  The enduring love that Detmar felt for Isabella comes through in his writing and this book, a last act of a lifetime of love.

Blow by Blow: The Story of Isabella Blow is available for purchase on Amazon.com.

Wake up, Muffy, we’re back.

In 1980, The Official Preppy Handbook hit shelves with a tongue-in-cheek guide to the ins and outs of living life as a prepster.  Lisa Birnbach, one of the authors of The Official Preppy Handbook has joined with Chip Kidd to update the guide for 21st century living in True Prep.

Reading True Prep is like going back in a time machine.  Yes, it’s been updated for the present but so much of being “prep” is tied to the past so it’s impossible to not feel like your watching an 80′s John Huston film with teenage kids wearing polo shirts with their colors popped.  Every facet of life is covered, from famous prepsters, what to wear, what to eat, and what to do for a living.  Lisa Birnbach’s prose are matched with Chip Kidd’s illustrations to literally giving you a how-to guide to living the preppy life.  True Prep would make a great gift for anyone who is a prep or aspires to be one.  It’s also great for a collection of fashion books as it breaks down everything from brands and when/where to shop to achieve the preppy look.  True Prep is available online at Amazon.com.

It’s not their shoes, scarves or lipstick.  It’s this:  French women don’t give a damn.

-Debra Ollivier

I’ve always been enamored by French culture – the language, the food, the fashion, the kisses – I love it all!  So, when I received What French Women Know About Love, Sex, and Other Matters of the Heart and Mind, I dove right in as if I were going to find out the secrets of the fountain of youth. When I think of French women, I think of stylish, sexy women who eat whatever they want but are always looking tres chic. Who wouldn’t want to know the secrets of French women?

What French Women Know did not disappoint.  It was a very quick read and was written by Debra Ollivier, an ex-pat American woman who married a French man and relocated to Paris.  As an American woman in Paris, she was able to distill the differences between French and American women so that we Americans could get a little bit of that je ne sais quoi.

Ollivier discusses all facets of life -  men, love, fashion, cuisine, motherhood – and lets us in on the belief systems that reveal themselves through French womens’ actions.  It was refreshing to see a different approach to life – one that embraced the positive and the negative – and spurred women to enjoy life to the fullest.  I really enjoyed What French Women Know About Love, Sex, and Other Matters of the Heart and Mind, and I will definitely be making some adjustments to the way I think and behave.  What French Women Know About Love, Sex, and Other Matters of the Heart and Mind is available for sale on Amazon.com.

*I received a copy of the book from the publisher to review.

Most of my recent reading has been of either 1) business literature, 2) inspirational reading, 3) self-improvement, or 4) product labels. But when the opportunity arose to receive and review a book with:

“a tough middle-aged Midwestern woman (not your usual heroine) who’d gotten herself out of a violently abusive marriage (the hard way), and who now works out her demons by dishing out justice for other women who are being victimized by abusive partners,”

I was more than intrigued. I have a soft spot for survivors and thriving post-abuse, and an atypical heroine plus butt-kicking wrapped up in a summer read made it sound even better.

A Bad Day for Pretty is meatier than your average beach read, but doesn’t get too deep that you’d be sobbing beneath your sunglasses. Described as a “crime novel,” I was happy to read a touch of mystery in both the crime plot and characters’ lives without being too scary, forced, or cheesy. The story follows Stella Hardesty, a fiftyish badass who takes justice into her own hands, fiercely protects her loved ones, and deals with her own insecurities and personal growth. While A Bad Day for Pretty is the second of Sophie Littlefield’s novels revolving around Stella, there is enough background and new action for readers to easily dive into the sequel.

As the story progressed, I found myself getting more into the interactions between characters and the potential underlying issues. Questions are raised not just about the crime at hand, but also about self-confidence, romance, what’s right, and moving on. I enjoyed stepping into the Midwestern small town and reflecting while Stella did on the mystery and self. For anyone looking for something new to read for the summer, consider A Bad Day for Pretty, available now on Amazon.com.

Image Layout: Avee

Reading is Sexy: Bad Shoes & The Women Who Love Them

Growing up in a home where my mother covered the floor of her closet with pumps, sandals, flats, and more shoes than Imelda Marcos could shake a foot at, it’s no wonder that at 25 my shoe collection is nothing to play with. Being that my closet is filled with heels ranging from 3 ½”- 5”, I was quite skeptical when I began reading Bad Shoes and the Women Who Love Themby Leora Tanenbaum. While I do not plan on trading in my Calvin Klein platforms for a pair of Aerosoles, I have been convinced to be a bit more practical when deciding which shoes to wear to work versus the ones to wear on date nights.

Leora Tanenbaum is no stranger to shining a light on some of the everyday issues that plague women in this seemingly modern age, her first three books dealt with slut-bashing, cat-fighting, and women reclaiming God. As a feminist writer, it seemed only natural for her to tackle to phenomenon of perfectly sensible women wearing shoes that are unhealthy in the name of fashion and feeling feminine. In the attempt to issue a much needed wake up call to the stilettoed masses, Tanenbaum enlists a bevy of experts on feet, fashion, and the Carrie Bradshaw wannabes who walk Manhattan in Louboutins to the detriment of their bodies.

Most fashion girls won’t be persuaded by Tanenbaum’s assertion that Carrie Bradshaw is “a desperate, disempowered character” and that her closet of clothes and shoes is representation that she is unable to plant her feet firmly on the ground. They also won’t turn down a pair of Manolo’s because they read that the pointy toe box and ultra slim heel is representative of a phallus, or of society forcing us to confrom to another unattainable standard of bueaty that we are too image conscious to ditch.  They will however stop in their tracks when they read a quote from Vogue’s  Uncle Andre calling for them to stop being fashion beasts and get real.

I, for one, am over the mania for the high, high heel. Too many career women look like a herd of fashion beasts, aping one another in impractical shoes. -Andre Leon Talley

Overall the book is not a call for us to burn our heels but for us to become more informed consumers. Hopefully if you know that the brand new pair of shoes you just spent your entire paycheck on will eventually make your feet look like a Hobbit’s, you will think twice before wearing them all day, every day. For me, while cleaning out my closet is not an option, I have begun to notice how the pain in my feet is connected to the pain in my lower back and that a set of $12 insoles can keep that pain at bay without me having to kick off my flat boots(falts without arch support are jsut as bad for your feet as heels) the second I leave work.

The author of Bad Shoes & The Women Who Love Them, Leora Tanenbaum.

In celebration of the launch of the book, publishers Seven Stories Press is offering ladies the opportunity to win a signed copy of Bad Shoes and the Women Who Love Them along with a free pair of shoes from wither Naot or Thierry Rabotin. For more deatils on the contest go to www.sevenstoreis.com.

Bad Shoes and the Women Who Love Them can be purchased at amazon.com.