Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, frivolous fashion handbook, 15 May 2007
Victoria Beckham's first foray into fashion writing is an enjoyable, readable guidebook about clothes, style and beauty, with an autobiographical element - written in a conversational style, it's peppered with anecdotes about Victoria's life, but doesn't become overwhelmed by them. There's enough personal detail to keep celebrity gossip enthusiasts happy, but the book is dominated by style advice, making it perfect for budding fashionistas. The fact that it's co-written with the excellent Hadley Freeman, of Vogue and the Guardian, lends the book an air of authority that's absent from similar celebrity tomes.
Anyone expecting to be told exactly what to wear will be disappointed - this is a collection of style tips and guidelines, providing ideas to draw inspiration from, rather than a set of stringent rules. It's cleverly written to appeal to a wide audience - yes, designer names are frequently namechecked, but high street alternatives are suggested for every item. The tone is friendly and witty, which makes the book easy to read and hard to put down - I had to ration the chapters in order to stop myself from devouring it all in one go!
The design is abosolutely gorgeous and very innovative - the layout and illustrations are beautiful. It would have been easy to fill a book like this with standard pictures of clothes, but it's packed with drawings and graphics, designers' preliminary sketches of outfits, and behind-the-scenes pictures of Victoria. There's also Ellen von Unwerth's stunning photographs of Victoria, which tie in with the themes of the chapters but work just as well in isolation, making this a perfect coffee-table book.
Admittedly, 'That Extra Half an Inch' isn't about to win any literary awards, but then, it isn't a book that should be taken too seriously; as Victoria herself states in the introduction, 'I have no qualifications to write this book other than a lifelong passion... [and] this book isn't my attempt to tell you what or what not to do'. I expect that many of the overly critical reviews written about this book have come from readers who dislike the woman herself - if you despise Mrs Beckham, it stands to reason that you're unlikely to enjoy the book, so just don't buy it. For the rest of us, it's a thoroughly likeable read, and great to dip in and out of when you need a bit of style inspiration.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
From a teenager's point of view =], 18 Jul 2007
So I'm 14, I like Victoria Beckham and think she has great style and was bought this book for my birthday. This book, as it does say on the cover, isn't 'my attempt to tell you what or what not to do. It's just to share some of what I've learned.' And that's exactly what it's about. It's not a book telling you what to do, it's a book telling you what Victoria does. It's split up into lots of different sections: jeans, tops, accessories to name just a few, which I think was a clever idea so instead of having to plough through the whole book to read about her advice on evening dresses you can skip straight to the 'parties' section and pick up some inspiration. It's seemingly light reading even though at a first glance the 311 pages can look quite intimidating. I do think it's a good book, and it serves it's purpose giving us an insight into Victoria's wardrobe, and in some parts her daily life, however if you are a teenage reader, like myself, looking for a snappy read to pick up some fashion tips from your fave celeb I do think it's a little heavy going and won't keep you entertained. It's more about style and how Victoria Beckham dresses and has settled into her style rather than the latest fashions and how to pull them off. Definitely a fab read though, three smiley faces =] =] =]
Hope this helped.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than I expected actually ..., 31 Dec 2006
I have to be honest and say that this book was better than I expected. Someone bought this for me for christmas - I'm not a huge fan of Victoria but I quite like her and so I read this book with an open mind.
I've picked up some good tips and it's a book that you can dip into again and again. I didn't know that Miss Sixty jeans are cut for the more curvy shape, Abercrombie do some of the best quality t-shirts around and Body Shop do the best skin exfoliating gloves (in Victoria's opinion of course). I will try some of her suggestions out and see for myself.
The positives - its 311 pages long, with lots of lovely photos of her (colour and black and white) - any fan into collecting photos of her could love this book for that reason alone. Chapters are split into jeans, tops, skirts/dresses, accessories, parties, vacations, winter, special occasions, pregnancy, lingerie, shopping, make up/hair and at the back there is a Where To Buy section with tons of websites.
The negatives - I did get a little fed up of her mentioning TopShop quite so many times! Also, for the majority of us, top of the range designer labels are out of the question. However if you can afford the likes of Burberry and Karen Millen you will get even more out of the book than most of us.
A warning though - anyone expecting it to be a book exactly like trinny and susannah's are probably going to be a little disappointed. There are a few similarities, but its not quite the same kind of book. It is Victoria's own opinions about the things she wears, buys and uses. And yes, some of the tips you've heard before (ie. no frilly bras with t-shirts!) but there was a lot she said that made sense, and quite frankly she does look great and well groomed always doesn't she, so she must get something right!
In conclusion therefore I have to say I liked it. It's a self-indulgent book - read it without expecting TOO much.
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