Product Description

What to wear, how to buy, where and when to spend: These are the topics covered each month by the exceedingly plugged-in staff of Lucky, whose circulation rocketed from 500,000 to 800,000 in just two short years. For Lucky's devoted fans, and anyone devoted to dressing better and shopping smarter, The Lucky Shopping Manual will be the über-find. Finally, there is a book that does away with the inconsequential information in previous fashion books and presents only the most useful tips and imperative information for how to dress better for less. Filled with tips that will appeal to shopaholics and disciplined bargain hunters alike, this enticing guide is packed with over 1,000 full-color photos and illustrations, with a ribbon marker and flexi-cover so women can take it shopping with them.

With great advice on every uniquely designed page, The Lucky Shopping Manual includes features such as:
* Building a wardrobe you love, with cross-referenced sections on everything from skirts, tops, dresses, pants, and suits, to shoes, bags, belts, and what looks best for your body type
* How to spot great finds at the local flea market or the best boutiques
* What to spend your money on and where you can scrimp
* Cool stores coast-to-coast to check out when you're traveling
* Practical tips for fabric care, shoe maintenance, and stain remedies
* Shipping just in time for the holidays, The Lucky Shopping Manual makes a luscious gift-a fantastic shopping spree under the tree.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3446 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-10
• Released on: 2003-11-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Turtleback
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Strikingly similar to InStyle magazine's recent Secrets of Style, this chunky little book purports to lay out the basics of dressing. Indeed, the editors make looking fashionable seem as easy as pie. Their book goes through all aspects of a woman's wardrobe, from overcoats to undergarments, and suggests must-haves. For example, they say that to build an outerwear closet, a woman should have one overcoat, one warm parka, one spring jacket, one fall coat and one raincoat-and "if you live in Minnesota," they say, invest in "some fun coats," too. With sassy humor, the editors counsel readers on how to wear a twin-set without looking like "the dowager aunt" and suggest solutions to fashion challenges, like making casual pants look office-appropriate. They also share mini-profiles of "Lucky Girls," including designer Shoshanna Lonstein and Lucky's West Coast editor, Marlien Rentmeester. Like the magazine it's modeled on, this tome is frivolous, instructive and fun.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Lucky Editor-in-Chief Kim France has had an extensive career in publishing, which has included positions at New York magazine, Spin, and Sassy. Her articles have appeared in many other national magazines. Creative Director Andrea Linett served in the fashion departments of Sassy and Harper's Bazaar before joining Lucky as fashion director in 2000. Melcher Media is an award-winning book producer based in New York City.

Customer Reviews

If you need major help!
This book is an excellent primer for those such as myself who may be slightly clueless on the fashion front. For me, it's a bargain alternative to a personal shopper (I wish!).

The book has loads of pictures that offer plenty of ideas for new outfits and spark your creativity. I like this book as it is not pretentious or condescending. The authors offer advice for styles that will bridge seasons and outlast fads.

I found the "build your wardrobe" and "in the fitting room" sections useful as well. This book does not go into vivid detail about body types nor is it the be all/end all. You could combine Lucky Shopping Manual with Pocket Stylist or The Science of Sexy and be completely educated.

Worth the money
The Lucky manual is a helpful tool for pairing shapes of every piece you can buy for your wardrobe and does not limit you to the time when the book was written. I would have liked to see a section on coordinating fabrics like: What in the world goes with a linen skirt besides cotton? And maybe a little more guidance for getting color and pattern combinations right.

I really liked this book
It took me awhile to get around to buying it, but once I did, I wasn' sorry. It really gave me a lot of ideas about how to put pieces together. The advice (for the most part) is pretty applicable across a wide variety of body types, ages, etc. It really isn't about looking young so much as it's about looking modern. Once I read this, I realized that some of the clothes I had been hanging on to were older silhouettes that weren't right for my body, or weren't updated. Reading this gave me the courage to clean out my closet and pitch things that weren't right. The sections on jackets, suits, sweaters and pants, in particular, gave me a lot of good ideas about how to dress for work. I had fallen into a rut of wearing plain black pants + whatever top and now I have some inspiration to try different things. And, the section about how to pack for a 3-day trip was GREAT for me, because I am a chronic overpacker. Now that airlines are charging people who check ANY bags, I need to learn how to pack for short trips in just a carry-on, and the Lucky Manual's tips were VERY helpful.

I do have a couple issues with the book. One is the swimwear section. There's not really a lot of helpful advice for what to do to solve particular body problems. It's more a focus on how to pick out two cute pieces and make a swimsuit, and there seems to be an assumption that everyone has a cute little figure that will look great in anything. Since pretty much everyone I know over age 25 has some issue they're trying to solve when they shop for swimwear (my thinnest friend, who looks great, is now fretting about "aging cleavage" if you can believe that) - I think this section could have been a LOT more helpful. Although most advice in the book is very commonsense, there were a few little things here and there that seemed to indicate a bias towards the young and skinny - but honestly, it wasn't a huge part of the book and I was able to get past it. The other issue I have is that some of the suggestions (wearing a huge, poofy fur trapper's hat with a conservative streamlined coat?) are just too funky for me, or really for much of anyone. In big metropolitan like New York or L.A., maybe some of these looks would look chic but in my town, they're what crazy bag ladies wear, and people would not be doing double-takes because they thought you looked hot. That being said, there were only a few of the "huh?" looks in here. Most looks were very attractive and really inspired me to branch out of the rut I was in.

One more tiny thing - I am not sure who did the photographing for Andrea Linett's profile in the book, but she really did not look very good. The pictures of her were not flattering and made her look strange, in my opinion. I have seen other pictures of her where she looked better, but maybe those were older pictures? In any case, she may have great style in real life but the profile of her in the book was anything but convincing of that, for me.

Anyway - bottom line, I think this book is a winner. Lots of great ideas in here for women of all sizes and ages.