Style Yourself: Inspired Advice from the World's Top Fashion Bloggers

In Style Yourself, Sea of Shoes blogger Jane Aldrich says that, “ personal style bloggers are sharing affordable, realistic ways for people to reinvent their wardrobes”.  There are several spreads of Jane Aldrich, but the book also features 94 other bloggers from all over the world, including Kelly Framel/ The Glamourai, Carolina Engman/Fashion Squad and Aimee Song/Song of Style.   

The highlights of the book show the different bloggers explaining how they "build a look ", and how they are inspired by travels, movies and fashion history, for each fashion element.   In the tops chapter, Karla Deras/Karla's Closet shows how she creates the "Sequin Safari" look, by pairing a vintage top with cargo trousers and Marc Jacob books, inspired by the Supremes and Morocco.

A remixed version of each fashion element shows different ways to wear a key item, for example, Aimee Song/Song of Style demonstrates 3 takes on the fedora.

   

It's not at all about luxury brands, although some designer items may be found. The bloggers feature their vintage finds, DIY projects, or scoring steals in outlet stores or during their travels.  Kelly Framel/ Glamourai, talks about how she put the Glamourai touch on a blue velvet vintage coat with repurposed accessories from ebay.  "I don't do outfits--I do costumes. For me, every day is a chance to wear something decadent but never over-the-top"

However, there is a lack of unifying point of view of an author. Pages that showed illustrations of different styles of tops or shoes or hats, or even the remixed versions were unnecessary and lacked the vibrance and vividness of the blogger pages.  


I love that all blogger images were taken by the bloggers themselves, and their voices sound authentic. This book is like a taking a visual fashion tour. It is quite different experiencing the bloggers' images on a two dimensional printed page rather than scrolling onscreen.