Work Your Wardrobe: Gok's Gorgeous Guide to Style that Lasts

by Gok Wan

Style supremo Gok Wan is back to help you build up your perfect capsule wardrobe. The best news is that most of it can come from the clothes you already own! Gok shows you how not to be a slave to your credit card by creating fabulous new looks from the classics you already have. You will love your look without breaking your bank balance. We all want to look and feel great, and clothes are a great way to give you that instant confidence boost. But how can you do this without spending a fortune? Simple! Throw open those closet doors, ransack those rails and let Gok turn your wardrobe war zone into a style sanctuary. In his next book Gok takes you back to basics, showing you how to create the perfect capsule wardrobe that you’ll use every day of your life and still look amazing. He’ll give you the confidence to create fresh new looks from the classics you already have, showing you the different outfit combinations you can create and how to wear those wardrobe heroes in a new fabulously stylish way. We all know that a crisp white shirt looks great at the office, but let Gok show you how to dress it down at the weekend for that casual-chic look. By guiding you through each basic in turn, from the little black dress to those comfy jeans, your wardrobe will instantly become more versatile and you'll be able to update your look every season without breaking the bank balance on a whole new set of clothes. Packed with Gok's trademark advice on shopping for your shape, his golden rules and hints on what to avoid, plus insider style tips from celebrities and those in the know, this book will be your very own one-to-one personal wardrobe-fixing session with Gok. No longer will you fret over what to wear in the morning, nor will you spend hours (and loads of cash) traipsing around the shops. Your wardrobe will work for you so you'll enjoy getting ready as much as going out!

Genres: Nonfiction, Fashion

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2009

Reviews

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gok Wan clearly has Marmite similarities. You either love him or you hate him. I'm unfortunately in the latter camp. I hate the way he has more pictures of himself than the clothes. I really hate the way he says "curvy girls" or "juicy girls". All the styles seem to rely on belts or high heels - two of my personal nemeses. The ideas all seem to have a similar feel to them too. Hopefully there is more inspiration further in the book!

There was one chapter which saved this book from a dire 1 star rating, and that was the one on make-up. There is some good advice on make-up application, and no pushing the use of pricey and unnecessary make-up.

Overall I found this book wasn't very useful, the ratio of Gok Wan to style/clothing photos was not great, it didn't teach me anything but did confirm that I do know what clothes go together, even if I can't wear them all with high heels, belts and several layers of jewelry.

[Ally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Style supremo and every woman's best friend, Gok Wan knows how important it is for a woman to look and feel her best. In his fantastic new style bible Gok breathes new life into your existing wardrobe, showing you how to transform the basics we all have into a fabulous new look. You will love your look without breaking the bank balance.

"I am fabulous and deserve to look this good." Is Goks mantra for every woman because he really thinks we're worth it.

Gok Wan is a style supremo and every woman's best friend. Here in the UK Gok hosts a TV makeover series How To Look Good Naked, and he also presents Gok's Fashion Fix. He's released two books previous to this How To Look Good Naked and How To Dress. He's also just released his autobiography Through Thick and Thin and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

Work Your Wardrobe is Gok's way to helping every woman feel her 'beautiful best everyday!' He's on about reviving your wardrobe without having to go and spend more money on new clothes that may stay in the back of your wardrobe until next winter. He talks about what he thinks are chic classics that every woman will already have in her wardrobe whether she's a young teen upto and including being a fabulous fiftysomething and how to make them work for you.

I adore how Work Your Wardrobe is broken down into sections. To make finding items easier, there's also a directory at the back of the book and a where to buy list which makes it more fun and interesting!

Chic Classics
* The White Shirt
* Jeans
* Trousers
* Tops
* Dresses Skirts
* Jackets and Coats
Elegant Extras
* Shoes and Boots
* Jewellery
* Bags, Belts and Scarves
Timeless Style
* Trends: Spring/Sumer
Trends: Autumn/Winter
Simply Gorgeous
* Beauty
* Gok's Mini Mantras

My least favourite chapter is chic classics, it stated things I'd already learned from Gok's previous book How To Look Good Naked, but I did like the savy saver and savy shopper help tips and the tips on where to buy certain items. But I loved everything else in Work Your Wardrobe.

Work Your Wardrobe is great if you need a helping hand to pick basic clothes to start off your wardrobe, it gives great helpful tips on how you could then expand on the basics and jazz them up with accessorsies and how to finish all off with some make-up. It would make a great gift for any friend or female family member and it's also a great gift to ask for (with it soon approaching christmas!)

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike others, I enjoyed this - although being called gorgeous by a complete stranger palls after a few chapters, lol. I love fashion (which may surprise many people who know me) and Gok has some useful ideas to impart. He also comes out with some pearls such as "Don't fold your pashmina into a triangle over your shoulders unless fortune-teller chic is a look you love", absolutely hilarious! However, I think the last section on make-up may be the most useful to me, as I genuinely have no idea how to get a non-clown effect 😊

[Philippa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Gok Wan is a wonderful person who always comes across as very genuine and wanting to help people who have trouble with their image, style and self esteem. He has a vibrant personality that just shines on the screen and the page. I found this book really useful to get ideas for wardrobe basics and things I could invest in to update my look. Worth a flick through at the library if nothing else, definitely!

[Annika Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given it a higher rating if I read it few years back. The pictures are outdated (to be honest) and all the models are around 30-40 plus whereas I'm just in my 20s. The trend is not what I'm expecting though so I'm quite disappointed with the contents.

[Ephie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. It isn't particularly well-written, but it reads like a magazine with long-term clothes tips. And it inspired me to want to go through my wardrobe and to go shopping to put what I read into practice!

[Adele]

I LOVE Gok Wan!

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool book great fashion tips.

[Siobhan O' Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

not worth the buy. Gok comes across as really annoying in books and ok on tv.... weird!!

[Soňa · Rating 5 out of 5]

love it, thank you Gok as usually brilliant point of view on how to dress :D

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Needs less pictures of him and more pictures of the items of clothing he is talking about

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good pointers and easy to dip into.

[Tara arif · Rating 2 out of 5]

expected more

Definitely expected more, all the points were ordinary things that most people know and the pictures were repetitive and annoyingly not relevant to the content on most pages. I usually really look forward to anything to do with Gok WAN’s work but this book felt like it was put together in rush.

[Kate McGhee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed GW on TV, when he was a regular fixture, but I found the written tone of this exhausting and not helpful in the way I had hoped in my personal quest to simplify my wardrobe.

Also, not sure why it’s showing that I read it twice. Once was sufficient.

It was also a bit of an oddly sized and conspicuous tome on my Zoom visible shelf 😱. I won’t go on because snarky Good Reads reviews are never a good look.

[Cherop · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, both the layout/presentation and the content. I enjoyed it so much that I am inspired once again to rethink my wardrobe. Thank you Gok!

[Tracey Wilde · Rating 4 out of 5]

He does advocate style that lasts and most of the outfits in this book are classic and normal everyday wear but he shows you how to use them as a base and incorporate them into the latest fashion trends without busting your budget !

[Sanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

An okay book, which gave me some ideas. I can see why someone might find his writing style annoying. I think the book needs less pictures of him and more of the clothes he's talking about.

[Melanie-ann Diesel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love his style of writing - it's exactly the same as how he speaks, it's makes for very disarming reading. He has great advice for all shapes and sizes. Love this book!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good information and ideas to put together

[Janine Fenton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read with some good tips. It is mostly common since.