Commander in Chic: Every Woman's Guide to Managing Her Style Like a First Lady

by Mikki Taylor

With her “classic with a twist” sensibility, Michelle Obama oozes chic! Mikki Taylor, one of the nation’s foremost authorities on fashion, beauty, and style, has taken Mrs. Obama as her muse, to write the book women who admire them both have been waiting for, Commander in Chic.

The nation’s major networks, radio stations, and newspapers call on Mikki Taylor not only to discuss the “Obama look” and its feverish impact on style, but to hear Taylor’s own smart advice on looking polished and pulled together. She’s been privy to Obama’s style philosophy as well as that of countless celebs through her longtime role as beauty and cover director at Essence magazine, where she collaborated with Obama’s team on fashion and beauty choices for prime photo shoots for the magazine.

Now Taylor is sharing the keys to the Obama look with her diary-like observations, tips, and Mikki-isms (her short, ultra-clever style aphorisms) for women everywhere. Mikki knows we all want to possess a signature look and a wardrobe of bankable pieces that allow us the kind of versatility where we never have to worry about what to wear again! Consider Commander in Chic as your personal style diary—one where you’ll find everything you need to know to possess great style—simply, effortlessly, and for keeps.

Cover-to-cover, the book is full of stunning photo-graphs that take the guesswork out of what works. Every chapter in the book shares the kinds of concrete information and inspiring style ideas that not only make getting dressed a fabulous experience, but define what will make you a woman to remember! Here is everything you need to know about style—from your glossary of high-performance hair products and “do how-to’s” to the best makeup finds and techniques to what you need to know to grow your nails long and strong to the most polished hues for all skin tones. In “The Gam Slam,” Taylor tells you how to work summer-pretty legs year-round—from how to keep them even-toned and satiny smooth to vein-free.

Mikki took great care in talking to the experts about what we need to know to manage our lives from the inside out—from our mental and physical health and wellness to the importance of self-nurturing. As a result, you’ll find guiding principles on diet and exercise for the various stages of your life—from age twenty and beyond. You’ll also find the critical information you need to know to nourish your well-being so you can continue to be the empowered woman you are called to be.

All in all, Commander in Chic is a gold mine of information that will inspire you—from head to toe, inside and out—on how to truly style, now and for years to come.

Genres: Nonfiction, Fashion

192 pages, Hardcover

First published November 29, 2011

About the author

Served as ESSENCE Magazine’s groundbreaking Beauty & Cover Director and am now the Editor-at-Large.

Mikki Tay­lor is the quin­tes­sen­tial author­ity on all mat­ters regard­ing beauty and style. From A-list celebri­ties and world-renowned cover mod­els, to women in-the-know, Mikki influ­ences all types of women with her vision of beauty and style. She has devoted a life­time to help­ing women man­age their inner and outer beauty and inspir­ing them to own their lives to the fullest.

For 30 years, Tay­lor served as ESSENCE Magazine’s ground­break­ing Beauty & Cover Direc­tor, and is now Editor-at-Large for the pub­li­ca­tion. In addi­tion, she is the Founder and Pres­i­dent of Mikki Tay­lor Enter­prises, LLC, which serves as a hold­ing com­pany for a num­ber of ver­ti­cal busi­nesses, includ­ing Satin Doll Pro­duc­tions, a full-service image build­ing and con­sult­ing divi­sion, and MT Com­mu­ni­ca­tions, a strate­gic com­mu­ni­ca­tions and brand­ing company.

Tay­lor has offered beauty and style advice through all types of media, includ­ing broad­cast, dig­i­tal and of course, print out­lets, which cul­mi­nated in her wildly suc­cess­ful book, Self-Seduction: Your Ulti­mate Path to Inner and Outer Beauty (Bal­lan­tine Books/One World). This tri­umph left read­ers crav­ing more, there­fore the sequel, Commander-in-Chic: Every Woman’s Guide to Man­ag­ing Her Style Like a First Lady (Atria Books/Simon & Schus­ter), will be hit­ting store shelves on Novem­ber 29, 2011.

Tay­lor has joined forces with AMBI Skin­care, a divi­sion of John­son & John­son Con­sumer Prod­ucts Com­pany, as the brand’s newly-appointed national spokesper­son in an effort ded­i­cated to empower, inspire and cel­e­brate women of color. AMBI Skincare’s 45-year her­itage as the trusted brand for even-toned, beau­ti­ful skin per­fectly com­ple­ments Taylor’s 30-year career as a renowned beauty expert. This alliance will pro­vide women with the tools and resources nec­es­sary to feel beau­ti­ful inside and out.

Tay­lor has been fea­tured on many tele­vi­sion out­lets, includ­ing: The Oprah Win­frey Show, The View, TODAY, Week­end Today, The Early Show, NBC Nightly News, EXTRA, Inside Edi­tion, E! Enter­tain­ment Tele­vi­sion, CNN, TV Guide Chan­nel, VH1, Style Net­work, Life & Style, WE– TV, CBS 2 Morn­ing News, The Insider, the Style Net­work, Pure Oxy­gen, BET, Mo’Nique’s Fat Chance and TV One. View­ers also received a weekly dose of Taylor’s pos­i­tive influ­ence on VH1’s high­est rated debut series Fla­vor of Love Girls: Charm School, which pre­miered to more than five mil­lion view­ers. Each week, Tay­lor served as the voice of rea­son and com­pas­sion as she imparted to the women hon­est, valu­able infor­ma­tion, insight and tips to help the con­tes­tants— and the women who watched the show—live a bet­ter, more pro­duc­tive, pride-filled life. She also served as the host of the TV One series Makeover Manor.

One of Taylor’s most trea­sured expe­ri­ences was a trip to South Africa, at the spe­cial invi­ta­tion of Oprah Win­frey, where she served as an instruc­tor to 149 girls ages 12–14, at the Oprah Win­frey Lead­er­ship Acad­emy for Girls as part of its Arts Work­shop 2007. Tay­lor taught a course called Cel­e­brat­ing Your Unique Beauty & Style, a three-part work­shop that addressed prac­ti­cal and time­less ele­ments of social graces and the essen­tial basics of inner and outer beauty, and Your Best Shot, a ses­sion which taught the skills to insure a phe­nom­e­nal photograph.

In 2007, the Black Retail Action Group (BRAG) hon­ored Tay­lor at its 37th annual schol­ar­ship and awards din­ner, acknowl­edg­ing those who have pen­e­trated and embraced the world of beauty in a sig­nif­i­cant way both in front and behind the scenes. Sh

Reviews

[Stacey Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a pretty rough year, this book legitimately healed me on a spiritual level. It teaches you how to carry yourself with poise, as Mrs. Obama does, as well as offers practical tips on beauty and fashion as means of self-expression and self-care.

[Limeminearia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really read this so much as admired the many pictures of Michelle managing to look athletic, radiant, classy and normal-ladyish, all at the same time.

[Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book!

Let's start with the photos. Stunning! I loved the variety, from casual to very formal. Mrs. Obama always looks so stylish, but seeing how it's all put together from the clothing pieces to the accessories is a smart way of looking at each part and how to put them together to make a style statement.

Ms. Taylor's comments highlight that our chicness includes more than just our clothes and makeup. Having a healthy life, eating healthy and exercising, is just as important to our chicness. The flow and content of the book make this more than just a fashion book, it's a lifestyle book.

[Kia Speaks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid, easy read. Surprisingly, it hadn’t aged much. Lots of relevant checklists on basic items to have in your wardrobe and vanity.

[LiteraryMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mikki Taylor is a leading authority on beauty, fashion and style for women of color. She shares the key to Mrs. Obama's look in Commander in Chic: Every Woman's Guide to Managing Her Style Like a First Lady.

Commander in Chic is a nugget of info in hardcover book format that will inspire your fashion from head-to-toe. Like FLOTUS' style, there are classic tips with a twist that you can create from items already in your closet. The photographs and detailed chapters explain how easy it is to possess a signature look and to build a wardrobe of "bankable pieces."

I am not usually into fashion books and much prefer reading fashion magazines. However, the colorful cover caught my eye and before I knew it, the book was half read in one sitting along with notes and highlights on dress code, bold colors, shape, texture, nails and more. My favorite part of the book are the Mikki-isms (short, clever style aphorisms) that I plan to write on sticky notes—Being Mary Jane style—in my closet.

If you are thinking of a makeover or looking for a new style, I recommend reading Commander in Chic for ideas and tips.

Literary Marie of Precision Reviews

[Roberta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The photos of Michelle Obama in Commander in Chic are stunning. I have shared this book with an 87 year old friend who still loves clothes and a disabled African-American woman on Medicaid with hardly a wardrobe at all but who adores Michelle Obama. And I pored over it myself. Obama is so very creative with color and style, obviously a vibrant and healthy woman, and so photogenic. Even if you don't read the written part of the book which features many health and style tips particularly for African-American women, it is a beautiful book. Recommend!

[Nancy P · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I really liked were color photos of Mrs Obama wearing the clothing described in the author's text.

What I did not like was the way Mikki Taylor referred only to women of color. There was not one word about those of us who are "A Whiter Shade of Pale." Come on, she's our First Lady too. And we are just as interested in trying to look our best as sistas are.

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love our first lady and admire her moxy. There are dozens of fabulous pictures that showcase the style and class of Mrs. Obama. The tips and Mikkisms are general and things that I've seen before. While its a quick read it wasn't unique for someone who has knowledge of the fashion industry.

[Lativida Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. First and foremost, I really liked the fact that it was not a photobook, but instead a how -to guide on First Lady elegance. This is definitely a must -read for the young professional woman looking for more conservative, mature look that is not fussy.

[Virginia Singleton · Rating 1 out of 5]

the only thing I liked about this book were the photos of Michelle Obama. I didn't learn anything new or helpful to creating or maintaining my personal style.