Fashion stylist Anna Caselberg has the answers to styling your wardrobe. In her book The Closet Stylist, she offers style tips and wardrobe advice to help you dress to flatter, not only your body shape, but also your lifestyle and budget.
What I enjoyed most about Caselberg’s practical guide book is that her advice for buying clothes is based on dressing your best – your best – as you are right now. She believes that if we have the right pieces of clothing in our wardrobes, dressing becomes an effortless task. (Of course, that’s as it should be, but I am sure I am not the only woman to have had the experience of crying, slumped on the edge of her bed, because there is nothing – Nothing! – in her closet to wear.) The way to find the right pieces, other than picking up a copy of The Closet Stylist, is to know your body, know what suits it, and be realistic about what clothes fit, both you and your lifestyle.
Caselberg teaches readers how to use clothes to express who they are and how they feel. She uses models of all shapes and ages to demonstrate how to flatter hourglass, pear, apple, athletic, inverted triangles and petite figures. She offers extra titbits of advice such as how to overcome phobias, how to care for your shoes and how to organise your wardrobe. She also throws in her shopping secrets, encompassing all aspects of the dressing process.
Caselberg is New Zealand’s answer to Trinny and Susannah, but, in true Kiwi style, she comes with a little extra dash of no-nonsense practicality. The Closet Stylist offers not just guidance, but also inspiration and encouragement: the goal is more empowerment than appearance. In a world where so much is geared towards leaving women feeling inferior, I applaud women like Caselberg who come out and say “embrace you, beautiful you.” This is a fun, real-life style guide for every woman who has ever felt at a loss about what to wear, and for every woman who has not. Pick up a copy for yourself, or pass one onto a friend, sister or mother. Either way, give The Closet Stylist a chance to boost your fashion (and personal) confidence.
Anna Caselberg has been styling since she was ten years old. She has styled the pages of a number of leading New Zealand magazines and television personalities. The Closet Stylist is the culmination of 15 years of experience.
REVIEWER: Emma Codd
TITLE: The Closet Stylist
AUTHOR(S): Anna Caselberg
PUBLISHER: Penguin Random House
RRP: $40.00