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Simple Isn't Easy: How to Find Your Personal Style and Look Fantastic Every Day! | 
 enlarge | Authors: Olivia Goldsmith, Amy Fine Collins
Publisher: Harpercollins (Mm)
Category: Book
Buy Used: $13.90
New (3) Used (17) Collectible (3) from $13.90
Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 603312
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.3 x 4.3 x 0.5
ISBN: 0061093947
Dewey Decimal Number: 646.3
EAN: 9780061093944
ASIN: 0061093947
Publication Date: April 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Standard used condition.
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Product Description
A humorous and practical guide offers tips on how to clean out the closet, find personal ""signature styles"" that make stylish dressing simple and effective, and save money while clothes shopping.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...
 Not stylish but a real gem September 9, 2008
Rigoletto (UK)
This is one of the best books I have came across about personal style and definitely in my top 10 list.
The cover doesn't do any favour to this excellent book so don't be put off by it. It is very thorough and will give a good kickstart in finding your style. As the authors say, they won't tell you what to wear but will provide you with essential guidance to eventually find your style. Some very good points about the fashion industry that all lead us at one point or another to fall into fashion faux pas and some good self assessment to rectify them. I love this book for the way it's redefining clearly what style is and all the strategies you can take to define your own style (which coincidently are the ones I've been using myself for years).
The minuses are the lack of pictures or sketches and the lack of information about colour. You can't really be stylish if you don't develop a good eye for colour and colour combination. Otherwise whether you're completely unstylish or not, this book will provide an excellent read and I highly recommend it.
 The best fashion book I've found! August 10, 2006
Barbara (San Francisco, CA United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This little book is the absolute best fashion book I've found, and I've looked at alot of them. This book helped me, a non-fashion type person, figure out what I look good in and redo my wardrobe. Now, I only see clothes I use and like in my closet, and I have plenty of clothes! Pretty great news for a non-fashion, short and not slim person! :)
Barbara
 Simple IS easy, after reading this book. August 4, 2005
ReadNReVu
22 out of 25 found this review helpful
Since I was curious after reading all the great reviews, I borrowed this book from the library. It is a pretty good book, but not worth the high prices they're asking on the used market unless it's autographed.
Good Points: Empasizes paring down your closet so that every piece you have works; lets you know it's okay to have a favorite outfit in more than one color or fabric (i.e. a "uniform" so to speak). Comes down on the fashion industry as part of the reason women don't look as good as they could in clothing (wouldn't be surprised at all if this is the reason the book is out of print). Emphasizes putting together "outfits" in your closet, as opposed to hanging your separates in sections (although if you do this paring down right, thinking of your entire closet as a travel wardrobe, then everything should go with everything, regardless of what you pull out). Great section on how to take care of your clothes.
Bad: No pictures, unless you count caricatures of the authors. No real descriptions on how to dress to cover figure flaws, just an occasional mention of some of the camouflage dressing of the authors.
It's a small, mass-market paperback and almost half of the book is repetition and/or fluff. One example is when they say that one reason to shop is to replace a proven (i.e. "workhorse") wardrobe item. An entire paragraph is spent explaining why one of the authors replaced a black turtleneck with a cashmere one after being dissatisfied with cheaper ones. Who cares?
Even though this book talks about personal style, as do other books, the authors seem to think that everyone is passionate about style--believe me, not everyone is. Some of us want to look good, but have better things to do with our time and money than spend it on clothing. Some things like comfort and ease of care are important to us.
Bottom line: 95% of what is in this book (including "capsule" or outfit dressing" is in other books, although this one does a decent job of condensing it into a compact form (but it could be smaller and then even more useful). I think the title is a misnomer, because none of their exercises is difficult to do. Get it from your library, if you can.
Until this book is back in print, I would suggest the following books:
Does This Make Me Look Fat? by Leah Feldon
Brenda's Wardrobe Companion by Brenda Kinsel
I Don't Have a Thing to Wear by Judie Taggart, Jackie Walker
Ready to Wear by Mary Lou Andre
and if you need color pictures:
The Lucky Shopping Manual by Andrea Linett
A helpful book, whether or not the author is still alive March 11, 2005
Harriet M Welsch (Northern California, USA)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
This wonderful book is not likely to be reprinted, unfortunately, after the death in 2004 of co-author Olivia Goldsmith (which was the writer name of Justine Rendal, born Randy Goldfield), who died of a reaction to anesthesia during cosmetic surgery (a facelift). That doesn't discount her as a fashion consultant, now, does it? She changed her name to suit her purposes, and she reassures us that girls who think their bodies are too big can change their style and look great in their clothes -- we've got the power if we've got the nerve! If she also wanted surgery to improve her looks and had the means to afford it, I say go for it, and don't let fear stop you. Better dead than afraid to go for what you want, and the people who criticize her for it can hole up in their apartments and tell the rest of us what not to do with our lives, eh?
Goldsmith and co-author Amy Fine Collins have written an empowering, witty, and even spiritual book in Simple Isn't Easy, which I got through interlibrary loan. Much of their advice sounds Zen: you can do more with less, and being a consumer won't fill your internal holes. I wouldn't have thought it, but I would be happy to pay $25 or $30 for this little paperback on the secondary (used) market. The strategy for weeding out one's closet is practical, and the concept of finding a personal "uniform," whatever it is, lends one a truly distinctive style. This was one of the better self-help books I've read. These women hold your hand and walk you through it, and you laugh and roll your eyes at yourself all the way.
This book gets only 3 stars because one of the authors had the audacity to die young, which frightens people ... no, wait, it's still a wonderful book, isn't it?? So how about we give it the FIVE STARS it deserves!
A COLLECTOR'S ITEM NOW, WHY? May 20, 2004
9 out of 24 found this review helpful
I've heard so much about this book from adqaintances yet none of them have a copy. It seems they've all lent their copies out and never got them back. Everything I've heard is very positive and inspiring. BUT, REALLY, $64.37 (STARTING PRICE) FOR A USED MASS MARKET PAPERBACK? What on earth is so special about this book? Do you truly believe that someone is going to pay such a rediculous price for a used soft cover book? Come on now, this is NOT A RARE FIRST EDITION!!! There probably wasn't even a hard cover edition. I understand that the author died in the O.R. while having plastic surgery recently. Well, Dr. Robert Atkins also met an untimely death last year, but his books haven't sored to a such a ridiculous price! If there are so many women clamoring to get their hands on a copy, perhaps the publisher may be enticed into reprinting it.
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