What’s on My Bookshelf: Fashion Edition series part 5
The Ellements of Personal Style
Joe Zee and Maggie Bullock (forward by Roberta Myers), 2010
This book features 25 successful women and discusses their style. While these women range differently on their level of “celebrity,” these Elle magazine editors consider all of them to be fashionable.
What’s interesting, and kind of makes me laugh, is that I found a good chunk of the clothes featured in the book to be a bit jarring.
The outfits really reflect the 2010s and how eclectic I feel like the fashion was. That included so many prints and a lot of unexpected items paired together.
There are plenty of good moments, and I narrowed down 5 of my favorites:
- Tracee Ellis Ross comments on being “not into fashion, but into style.” That is a noteworthy statement and she can back it up. Present day, Tracee hands down has some of the best style in Hollywood. Also, having Diana Ross as her mother to look up to for style is a dream
- Christina Hendricks was someone I was so pleasantly surprised to find in this book. I know her from the show Good Girls, which I believe is outstanding. She dresses so flattering for her body type. The Marilyn comparison was perfect.
- Diane van Furstenburg is just an icon. I mean, she created the wrap dress.
- I was obsessed with the fact that Candiace Bushnell’s real life seems perfectly portrayed by Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City.
- I liked that the section on Estelle touches on her looking up to the style of people like Grace Jones and David Bowie. I love the idea of having a unique idol when it comes to your personal style, especially as a black girl. You don’t need to always copy the mainstream cookie-cutter girlies.
Kempress Closet 