Nina Garcia’s LOOKBOOK: What to Wear for Every Occasion

Lately, I've been somewhat obsessed with Project Runway.  I do not simply watch Season 12 episodes, but try to take in as many past seasons as possible.  The runway shows towards the end of each episode are priceless in more ways than one.  One of the judges on this show is Nina Garcia, a well-known fashion journalist and critic, who shares with me a birthday and with my mother a name.  Of course, Nina has written a book, a lookbook to be exact.  Hard to imagine a “lookbook” without pictures to look at, but here it goes.

“Nina Garcia’s LOOKBOOK: What to Wear for Every Occasion” is designed to be your bedroom dresser book (as opposed to a coffee table book).  Yes, keep it as close to your walk-in closet as possible, or better yet - keep it IN your closet.  It is a guide on…wait for it…. what to wear for every occasion! It is broken down into sections - work, dating, day, night, holidays, life events (are they not all life events?), weddings, and dream travel.

Most of them I skipped, of course.  I already know what she’s going to say in the “What to Wear on the Average Workday” chapter (page 22) – button-downs, trousers, suits, black pumps, trench coat...  At least we are allowed to look at this one as a challenge. 

I also skipped the whole dating and weddings sessions – I am pretty sure men like us best, when we are not wearing anything at all.  However, for some such chapters as “What to Wear After You’ve Been Cruelly Dumped” (page 76) or “What to Wear When Meeting Your Significant Other’s Children” (page 92) may prove to be useful.  I also didn’t bother with the chapters of “What to Wear When You Are Getting Your Hair Done” (page 105) and “What to Wear to Therapy” (page 120).  Seriously, Nina?  

Did not read “What to Wear to Meet a Potential Surrogate” (page 242) and “What to Wear to a Parent/Teacher Meeting” (page 253) for obvious reasons…  However, I did read such chapters as "What to Wear When Shopping" (page 100) and "What to Wear to Go Dancing" (page 168) out of sheer curiosity.  I mean, people do do the strangest things.  

In fact, the only chapters I found to be stimulating for me (I can’t even say “applicable”) were in the Holidays section.  The author included descriptions and history of some traditions, which were nice to learn about in a condensed format.  Another thing that I really like in the book were the quotations.  I treasure clever, meaningful sayings.  It truly is a talent to be able to express a novel in one short sentence.  So I will leave you with the one I absolutely adore.

“You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it.” – Edith Head

Source: Nina Garcia’s LOOKBOOK: What to Wear for Every Occasion.  Nina Garcia.