The nice people from Harper Collins Canada send me the Little Black Book of Style by Nina Garcia to review. I gladly accepted as I love free books, and she gave me something to blog about. Nina Garcia is the Fashion Director at Elle Magazine and is one of the judges on Project Runway.

The first thing I noticed about the book is the fantastic illustrations by Ruben Toledo. They make the book worth buying alone. The book has a well rounded focus and adds some historical context that is normally found in other offerings of the same genre. I’ll give you a little breakdown of each chapter

1. Be Your Own Muse – basic intro to the book basically telling people that how you present yourself is important, blah, blah

2. The Basics – Great list of items that should be in everyones closet. The items that are the basis of a great wardrobe. It emphasizes wearing what is looks good on you, buying your size and purging your closet.

3. Inspirations – Describes the influences of the following areas: Film, Music, Travel and Art on fashion and the major players

4. What to Wear When – I found this section particularly funny, but I guess some people need guidance. Some of the funny guides included: How to dress on a plane, How to dress for a summer weekend and how to dress for winter.

5. Insider Tips and Tricks – Here Nina has picked the brain some of major players in fashion.

6. Fashion Cliff’s notes, decade by decade – great reference to fashion trends and major designers for each decade.

I’ve read a few style book and I really like this one because it’s not done in a bubble. Historical references and trends need to be considered and many style books avoid this topic.

The Eaton Center is doing a promotion, if you buy $200 of merchandise from any fashion retailers you will receive a copy of the book for free. Little black book of style promotion information