The Cheap Date Guide to Style

by Kira Jolliffe, Bay Garnett

Forget makeover culture, forget slavishly following fashion diva dictates, forget your insecurities—forget everything you’ve ever read in fashion magazines! This guide shows you that the secret to finding your inherent natural style is to have fun and be inspired. Kira Jolliffe and Bay Garnett, clothing aficionados and editors of Britain’s hit Cheap Date magazine, show you how to build your style without going broke, going mad, or coming out looking like everyone else. Included are chapters on developing your own sense of style, the art of accessorizing, and crafting a cool wardrobe from a mix of cheap basics and chic secondhand finds. Because "to be stylish, you need to be into clothes, and if you’re into clothes, you’re into finding them," the CD girls share their time-tested strategies for thrifting, including how to identify prized finds. For further inspiration, throughout the book there are interviews with some of the world’s most stylish women, including Mischa Barton, Rachel Weisz, and Chloë Sevigny. Following the age-old mantra "the rules are—there are no rules," this sophisticated yet scrappy guide will refresh and reinvigorate both you and your wardrobe.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[Ariane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book. I don't really collect fashion books or anything, and this one doesn't assume you want to look a certain way, doesn't assume you have a certain amount of money, and generally lives up to its own mission statement to talk about style without being all dictatorial.

Oh, and I got it in Poundland. Braggy brag brag!

P.s. I am very much up for being contacted if anyone knows where to get old issues of the magazine.

[Devin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun magazine style book of fashion from the 90s. My teenage self loves this book. That said, I feel it doesn’t say enough about body positivity, the ravages of materialism, or modern slavery in factories. While it encourages the reader to embrace their own style and to be inspired by the rich history and meaning of fashion, this is ultimately an uncritical romp through an industry responsible for vast irreverent destruction of the earth and the human soul. Only to be enjoyed with a critical eye.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quotable, empowering book about obtaining and wearing the clothes that make you feel awesome.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun inspiration, more like a magazine tho than a book

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A guide that emphasises developing personal style rather than slavishly following transient fashion trends.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather insipid.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, colourful, and quirky little read for those 'inbetween books' days.