“I don’t know if you’ll take the advice in this book, but you should read it. How can you not read a book buy a gay British guy who both impersonates Queen Elizabeth and quotes Flava Flav?
Okay, some of the advice you shouldn’t take. Ignore the permission to wear “a gold leotard with your lesbian aunt Sylvia’s mauve nylon fanny pack.” Unless you live in NYC, people will talk about you and not in a good way. At least they will if you live in Southwest Michigan.
Still, Doonan is hilarious. I laughed out loud several times and that’s not normally true of fashion books. Okay, not true of any books, but most fashion books take themselves so seriously.
Interspersed with stories and interviews with Glamorous Eccentrics is bits of advice, some of which I might actually take. For example: I collect handbags, totebags, etc as I’m always in search of the perfect bag. Doonan thinks that a woman – at least a Glamour Eccentric, one of which I think I am not, should only have one great bag that she takes everywhere. He encourages a person to buy the Hermes Birkin bag they are coveting. That is advice I might take! Of course, chances are good I’ll buy a knock off first and see if I really like that style, etc before I save up TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS to buy one of the damned things. Still, I covet that bag.
Doonan is kind to his reader. He reminds the reader that you are a work in progress and to be patient with oneself.
An example of the things that made me laugh:
These are some of the things that made me laugh: (they are all direct quotes from the book.)
• I am pro-pot dealer: the arrival of a mysterious and attractive criminal adds a memorable frisson of excitement to any occasion.
Doonan dispenses relationship advice that will either work or get you divorced more quickly. There are bits of wisdom that would be helpful to all of us, regardless of whether we are glamorous or eccentric. Sadly, I suspect I’m neither. For example, “alluring” is not cheap & tawdry. To paraphrase Doonan, it’s timeless, it’s beautiful and sensual. Alluring is “irresistible charm, which ever fails to mesmerize the viewer, regardless of gender.”
I can’t decide if this is a “fashion book” or a “self-help book” but it’s definitely an entertaining book and I highly recommend it.”
