The book Love Style Life by Garance Doré caught my attention on one of my favorite blogs, I believe, so I requested it from the library. I was even more excited to read it once I saw it decorating the coffee table at one of my favorite shops, vocabulary boutique in Little Italy.
(Did you know you can request books, DVDs, and other materials online and just pick them up from whatever San Diego library branch you choose? You get an email when they are ready to pick up, and they have a list of current bestsellers and new items you can put on hold, right on the homepage! That’s your budget entertainment tip for the day. I have utilized the libraries in every city where I’ve lived.)
Garance is called “the guardian of all style” by The New York Times and this book describes her journey and creative life from childhood, to beginning as an illustrator who started a blog to force herself to learn to illustrate faster and better, picking up photography, gaining a large blog audience with her story-telling techniques over the past ten years, while working with fashion and living in Paris and New York. It also gives advice on many topics relating to beauty, fashion, career, and more, and has interviews with other stylish women.
My favorite parts were probably the Paris vs. New York sections, which humorously detail things Parisians do vs. things New Yorkers do, which of course interested me as a former New Yorker and wannabe Parisian! The faux diary entries with the real word answers crossed out and perfect ideal life words substituted were quite funny as well, such as “I throw on old sweat pants a cool and casual outfit and drink an espresso water with lemon…”
Some of my favorite quotes from the book are, “Style is a fascinating way to tune in to who we are, understand who we are not, be creative, and express our inner selves,” and, “How boring would a figured-out life be anyway”, and in the Things New Yorkers Do section, “Being super excited about pretty much everything, working all the time, always having a new project, doing seventy-five different things at the same time and yet still thinking that you’re not doing enough.” Very true.
