cover image The Lucky Shopping Manual: Building and Improving Your Wardrobe Piece by Piece

The Lucky Shopping Manual: Building and Improving Your Wardrobe Piece by Piece

Kim France, Andrea Linett. Gotham Books, $30 (320pp) ISBN 978-1-59240-036-2

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.