Closet Confidential: Style Secrets Learned the Hard Way

by Winona Dimeo-Ediger

With the economy in a nosedive, more women than ever are looking for ways to achieve haute couture without the hefty price tag. Author Winona Dimeo-Ediger mixes self-deprecating wit, fashion smarts, and bargain-bin savvy to help women become divas on a dime. She divides the book into 12 handy chapters covering everything from shopping for jeans (while retaining one-third of one's self-esteem and half of one's paycheck) to hiding love handles to the ever-elusive looking good while jogging. Closet Confidential also contains hilarious and useful charts, graphs, and quizzes, including Maslow's Hierarchy of Jeans, the Cumulative Bra Knowledge Exam, the Purse Color Wheel, before concluding with Putting It All Together, a collection of eight go-to outfits that guarantee you'll look great for any occasion you can name.

Genres: Nonfiction, Fashion

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Imogen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was younger and edgier, it was heroin memoirs- I gobbled 'em up like chips, I couldn't get enough. Now that I'm older and... um, further away from inadvisable teenage experimentation, I guess? Anyway, now that I'm old i'm so all about how-to-dress-yourself books. They come into the store, I look at them for a week, think about buying them, decide that it doesn't matter 'cause I'm gonna keep wearing the exact same jeans and t-shirts I've been wearing since I was face down on my friend's floor while his parents were out of town. Watching Spice World. But then I can't help it! One day I flip out and buy it; the same thing happened with the Meaning of Sunglasses.

I don't really have any positive or negative critical things to report. It's nice to be reminded that one grey shirt that you wear every day- whose neckline gets more obscene with every wearing- and a pair of jeans you wear until they're so ripped up they're not really jeans any more- isn't the only way to live. Four stars!

[WORN Fashion Journal]

I always wear white after Labour Day, my shoes rarely match my bag, and I’ll throw on some “plastic shizzz” whenever the mood strikes. Fashion rules are boring. What gives someone the authority to tell a girl what should or shouldn’t be in her closet? Winona Dimeo-Ediger understands this. In Closet Confidential, she gives practical, down-to-earth fashion advice but never deigns to tell readers what they should or shouldn’t be wearing. She discusses general rules and shares her personal likes and dislikes, but throughout, she encourages readers to break these rules and forge a style of their own.

Closet Confidential is essentially my friend Kristen in book form. In high school, I would never shop without her. She had an eclectic yet classy style, and a knack for seeing what would look good on others. Whether we were at Value Village or the mall, Kristen would shove me into change rooms with piles of clothes I wouldn’t even consider on my own.

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To this day, if I’m torn about dropping the cash on a piece of clothing, I’ll snap a picture and send it to Kristen for her opinion. We don’t always agree, and I would never decide not to buy something just because she didn’t like it, but I trust her taste, and know I can always count on her for an honest opinion. Dimeo-Ediger writes in the same way: this is what I like, but it doesn’t mean you have to like it too. As she says in the introduction, “learn from my fashion mistakes, but don’t be afraid to make your own.”

Dimeo-Ediger writes the blog Daddy Likey, and her book is written in a similar tongue-in-cheek, funny style. You might not be interested in her “style lessons,” but anyone can appreciate her self-deprecating personal stories, cute illustrations, charts ("Maslow's Hierarchy of Jeans,” anyone?) and healthy advice we can all use (like “Just Say No to $1000 shoes” or “If you don’t wear your leopard-print trench coat here, you will not wear it in Europe.”)

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If someone were looking for fashion advice, I’d recommend Closet Confidential over the clichéd advice offered in most mainstream fashion magazines. We should all gift it to our little sisters and cousins. (reviewed by Jaclyn Irvine)

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really basic and boring. It is fairly nonjudgmental, at least.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book by my dear friend and colleague, Winona, who writes daddylikey.blogspot.com. She is wonderful, and her book is not only information - but one of the most relative, witty, and consumer conscious books I've encountered in the fashion industry. She instills readers with confidence and leaves them empowered.

It's well organized, beautifully illustrated, and perfect for the women who wants to look and feel great, but has no idea where to start.

[Rachel Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is awesome. Any woman who wears clothes must read this!

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's full of funny stories, cute illustrations & great fashion advice. I can't think of a bad thing to say about this book or the author. Her blog is awesome too!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a big Style Guide girl. In fact, on the whole I hate them. But this one was so funny and real and fabulous. I loved it.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this was a lot of fun. So is, as I'm currently discovering, figuring out what to wear each day. (=

[Elizabeth]

Cute, sassy style book. Skews younger.

[Tressa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought Closet Confidential was entertaining and helpful.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, and funny read, that has some good information and tips and funky illustrations to match.