I've always enjoyed the "idea" of fashion and am drawn to vintage styles, so when I was given the chance to check out the 40th Anniversary Edition reprint of Cheap Chic: hundreds of money saving hints to create your own great look, I thought it would be a fun source of inspiration. While this fashion guide does have some neat tips, I don't find it to be a super relevant style primer for me, personally.
Apparently Cheap Chic was the premier fashion guide in the 70s and many fashion icons (including Tim Gunn, who wrote the foreword for this reprint) still consider it to be so. This book was a hard to find, eBay treasure as the first print editions became rarer and rarer. There is a lot of excitement about it coming back into print and being available to the new generation of fashionistas. Fashionista, I am not, but after having a baby 6 months ago, I am trying to reconfigure my personal sense of style.
I appreciate the helpful primer on assembling a basic wardrobe of interchangeable solid color t-shirts, good fitting jeans, a wide skirt and adding to high quality jackets, accessories and boots to elevate the style. These are principles I can apply as I continue towards a simplified "capsule wardrobe." I also found the info on calculating cost per wear when contemplating a real investment piece to be useful as well. The section on second hand shopping- where to shop and what to look for, also had so timeless tips.
Overall, I just felt like Cheap Chic just wasn't relevant for the stay at home mom trying to cultivate an affordable yet classy wardrobe. The themed styling-such as Western and Ivy League-and what to buy when traveling abroad lists are just not applicable to my life and style. Also, I don't follow high fashion to really appreciate the designer profiles. There are a couple nude photos I was not expecting to find nor really added much to the book's appeal to me.
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