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How to be Fabulous: Sustainable, second-hand style on a shoestring
Defy trends and unlock your personal style with How To Be Fabulous, a new breed of fashion guide that dives into the world of pre-loved clothing and inspires you to get creative on any budget.Learn all the insider tips and tricks from ex-vintage dealer, podcaster, writer and fashion aficionado Charlotte Dallison, including how hunt down true vintage and secondhand gems hone your authentic style build a budget that lets you maximise your buying power shop for your size in vintage or create magic with good tailoring care for your pre-loved pieces so they last (another) lifetime.Sprinkled with sparkling expert tricks, gorgeous illustrations and sage tales from Charlotte's own vintage adventures, this stunning little fashion guide will become your new style bible.Featuring advice from fashion experts Claudia Chan Shaw and Cassidy Zachary of the Dressed podcast, Refinery29 co-founder Christene Barberich, Amy Ambrams of The Manhattan Vintage Show and lipstick queen Poppy King.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 28, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 30, 2024
Note: I read the hard cover edition from Affirm Press, but I've given up on selecting the right edition on Goodreads for new books. Do what you will algorithm.
This book is better than many, although if you are looking for truly sustainable and on a shoestring style you'll need to look elsewhere (eg advice to drive across town to your previous trusted drycleaner before a party... ummm, really?).
Good points:
- If you are in Australia, there are places in the shopping directory you might actually be able to get to regularly. Yay for a local guide!
- It covers budgeting.
- It does (briefly) cover care of clothes, mostly that you should do it, not how to.
- It does recommend a smaller collection of better clothes bought second hand, not doing a 'haul', repeat wearing etc - love to see it.
- The sourcing information (on-line, auctions etc) is really comprehensive.
- I was bemused to find anything older than 1993 is now 'vintage', but why not!
The rest:
- The definition of shoestring here is quite a bit more disposable income than my definition, so if you really are on the edge this book may well be disappointing. You are unlikely to have the means for designer consignment shopping.
- There's a lot of talk of dry cleaning - not sure how paying a lot of money to have your clothes tossed into a chemical bath with a lot of other clothes is good for you, your clothes or the planet.
- Overuse of the word 'authentic', and in style terms here it seems to be mean 'settled'. As in your teenage experimentation is / was not 'authentic'. I think it's likely as authentic as any other public presentation of self.
- Un-historical 'historical era' section - there is so much fashion history available now rehashing these tropes seems lazy.
- Fashion foundations - I've seen worse, at least there was no LBD or Breton t-shirt. But spare me the camel wool overcoat and the trench coat. I have to go out in the rain in my winter coats. Wet wool smells horrible, real rain will soak through and it takes a long time to dry. And is looking like everyone else in a trench coat 'authentic'? Also, buy sunglasses to protect your eyes, especially in Australia.
But I am being picky, I did like the book and it does contain useful information and an interesting selection of photos. It was almost 4 stars.
This book is better than many, although if you are looking for truly sustainable and on a shoestring style you'll need to look elsewhere (eg advice to drive across town to your previous trusted drycleaner before a party... ummm, really?).
Good points:
- If you are in Australia, there are places in the shopping directory you might actually be able to get to regularly. Yay for a local guide!
- It covers budgeting.
- It does (briefly) cover care of clothes, mostly that you should do it, not how to.
- It does recommend a smaller collection of better clothes bought second hand, not doing a 'haul', repeat wearing etc - love to see it.
- The sourcing information (on-line, auctions etc) is really comprehensive.
- I was bemused to find anything older than 1993 is now 'vintage', but why not!
The rest:
- The definition of shoestring here is quite a bit more disposable income than my definition, so if you really are on the edge this book may well be disappointing. You are unlikely to have the means for designer consignment shopping.
- There's a lot of talk of dry cleaning - not sure how paying a lot of money to have your clothes tossed into a chemical bath with a lot of other clothes is good for you, your clothes or the planet.
- Overuse of the word 'authentic', and in style terms here it seems to be mean 'settled'. As in your teenage experimentation is / was not 'authentic'. I think it's likely as authentic as any other public presentation of self.
- Un-historical 'historical era' section - there is so much fashion history available now rehashing these tropes seems lazy.
- Fashion foundations - I've seen worse, at least there was no LBD or Breton t-shirt. But spare me the camel wool overcoat and the trench coat. I have to go out in the rain in my winter coats. Wet wool smells horrible, real rain will soak through and it takes a long time to dry. And is looking like everyone else in a trench coat 'authentic'? Also, buy sunglasses to protect your eyes, especially in Australia.
But I am being picky, I did like the book and it does contain useful information and an interesting selection of photos. It was almost 4 stars.
December 16, 2024
You know when you read someone fabulous and all of the sudden YOU start to feel super fabulous???? That’s this book. This is one of those books that makes you feel like, not only can you create an incredible look on verrrry little (and it shows you exactly how to do that), it also gives you a sense of style. I almost forgot I had a fashion voice, and then this book came along and I started to feel excited about popping into thrift stores and coming out feeling incredibly powerful in terms of how I present myself in the world. Charlotte Dallison is a hidden icon. I would follow her absolutely anywhere and this book is going to be with me forever. I am giving it to all my friends this Christmas!!!!
May 9, 2024
Solid walk through vintage fashion. The book is a whirlwind tour through finding your own style, budgeting, different eras, and finally buying and selling vintage. While the buying and selling takes up less than half of the book, the other parts are still worth a read through and tie back seamlessly into vintage fashion. There are also a lot of gorgeous photos. A light, breezy read without much depth!
February 26, 2024
Some great tips to be more sustainable in our fashion choices, and top create a style that suits us.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews