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I expected so much from this book because of all the good reviews. I was disappointed not long after I started reading. I read on from cover to cover, hoping Jill Martins book would improve. I find some of her advice is accurate and true. For example suggesting to go to a Tailor to make your cloths fit right, and teaches about different fabrics and quality and more.

But some of the other advice in the book seems inaccurate and untrue when compared to other sources of information, and my own personal experience. For instance I am an avid watcher of a show on TLC called ‘What Not To Wear’ Jill Martin references the show in this book as recommended viewing.

{Personally, I think ‘What Not To Wear’ is a GREAT SHOW!!This is a book the hosts Clinton and Stacy wrote:

Dress Your Best: The Complete Guide to Finding the Style That’s Right for Your Body} So much of the advice from the hosts of that show, which Clinton Kelly and Stacy London give, is completely opposite of what Jill Martin says in her book. I tend to believe the advice from Clinton and Stacy more than this ‘Fashion for Dummies’ book because I’ve seen it work on TV before my own eyes, plus I’ve tried their advice and found it to be true myself. {Just look at photos of Stacy London & Clinton Kelly and see how well they dress!! Then look at the photo’s of Jill Martin and how badly she dresses. Her photos are on the front and back covers of this ‘Fashion For Dummies’ book, and see how badly she dresses compared to Stacy and Clinton. Now who would you take advice from? {More on that later….}

Here are some of the the things in my opinion, and according to Stacy and Clinton who give opposite advice to some of the suggestions In this book. Jill says “Buy things you like. Even if you buy an item at a time, after a while they they’ll start to match up.” I think this is bad advice, this advice contradicts what Stacy and Clinton say, they say something like this ‘always try to buy complete outfits, don’t just buy single pieces that don’t go with anything.’ here’s another one. Jill in her book says short waisted women should “avoid dresses with a WAISTBAND. If you do need a belt, choose a narrow one that’s in the same colour as your outfit to minimize the attention to the waist area.” What!!!! I don’t believe this advice!!! And I know Clinton and Stacy don’t either. I happen to be ‘short waisted woman’ myself and I wear wide belts and they look great! I get sincere compliments!! Clinton and Stacy are always recommending belts, even wide ones, {especially in COLOURS}for ANY WOMAN weather she’s short waisted or not to “cinch in” the waist. Is Jill saying in her book that just because we have short waists we should never draw attention to them with a belt?!! Hog wash.

There is also advice in her book saying that LONG DRESSES are good for women of SHORT STATURE/HEIGHT to make them look taller, {I believe this is WRONG ADVICE!!}Clinton and Stacy always discourage women, especially short ones from covering their legs to the floor. They say it will make that women look SHORTER. I am short and I find this to be true. I never wear long floor length dresses because it makes me look as if I have no legs. I find Clinton and Stacy’s advice ‘Short ladies: don’t wear skirts or dresses past your knees’to be true.

There’s an illustration somewhere in Jill’s ‘Fashion For Dummies’book showing someone wearing wide HORIZONTAL stripes on her shirt, and unbelievably JILL DOES NOT POINT THIS OUT TO BE A FASHION NO-NO, and most people know by now that it is a BIG ONE!! How could a fashion stylist suggest for anyone to wear HORIZONTAL STRIPES???? There are many more contradictions I found from what I Know to be true. But Jill Martin is entitled to her opinion even when I and others disagree with it. Personally, I didn’t find this book very useful for myself.

One more thought…I was struck by how UNFASHIONABLE this ‘stylist’ Jill Martin looks in the photographs of herself on both the front and back covers of the book. Isn’t her look supposed to be representative of what it is to be fashionable?

Lets start with the Front Cover:

The white sweater she was wearing with dark jeans on the front cover make her look top heavy and thick in the waist area. The long necklace she is wearing is all wrong for that sweater. The style of the necklace is wrong,and so is the colour of it! the colour of the necklace doesn’t ‘pop’ at all, it just disappears boringly into the sweater. Some shine or colour would have been a better choice, not white on white. The tiny sparkling blah coloured evening bag combined with the casual day outfit is sooo wrong! She needed a big leather bag with a pop of colour! Not that dinky little thing with a day outfit.

On the back cover:

She’s wearing a black dress that is both too long {it cuts part of her legs off in a rather ‘Amish’ way -which is just fine..IF YOUR AMISH!!!} and the neckline is all wrong for her. That square neck looks bad on her, makes her look like a football player around the shoulders. And what about that ugly HORIZONTAL STRIPE sweater?? it looks bad #1 because it has horizontal stripes, and #2 because it looks straight out of the 1980′s and not in a good way….another reason why I won’t be taking fashion advice from someone who dresses herself like that…..my honest opinion.
Rating: 2 / 5

Loved this book ! If it only had been written sooner, I may not have made the fashion faux pas I did. My wardrobe would be better suited for me, my style (classic, according to the test) and my body type. I would probably have saved lots of money and have more room in my closet for things I would actually be wearing. So, I am making a resolution pre-New Years: Fashion for Dummies will be my new bible. Thank you, thank you, thank you. It will also be THE gift I give this year to everyone for the holidays. It’s a guaranteed confidence booster. Sherry Wells
Rating: 5 / 5