Today’s post introduces a new category for “Recovering Shopaholic.”  Periodically, I will recommend a resource (or several) that I believe will be beneficial for my readers.  This resource may be a product, book, course, website, or even another blog I enjoy.  I’m open to suggestions for resources to review and recommend, so if you know of something that may benefit my audience, please feel free to contact me to let me know about it.

An E-Book from Two Women I Admire

Today’s resource is an e-book that was recently released by two women whom I really admire.  They asked me to review their book on my blog, and although I haven’t done this type of post before, I agreed because I knew that anything they produced would be stellar.

I’ve mentioned Jill Chivers of “Shop Your Wardrobe” on the blog before and her excellent programs are listed on my “Resources” page.  She recently partnered with Imogen Lamport of “Inside Out Style” (one of my favorite style blogs!) to write a book geared toward helping women who are on a weight loss journey.  Their e-book is titled “Svelte in Style:  How to Look and Feel Great While Losing Weight.”

Not Only For Those Who Are Losing Weight!

If you are not in the process of losing weight or don’t need to lose any weight at all, you might be tempted to stop reading this post.  Please continue reading, as I feel this book offers valuable advice to any woman, not just those who are on a weight loss journey.  I know I received tremendous value from the book even though I’m in my ideal weight range, so I believe others will as well.

In today’s post, I will review “Svelte in Style” by means of the “sandwich method,” a technique I learned in Toastmasters.  Basically, I will share an overview and what I liked about the book, tell you some things I didn’t like as much, and end on a high note.  There will always be a “high note,” as I will never post a review of something I don’t recommend!

An Overview of “Svelte in Style”

“Svelte in Style” is basically two books in one and also includes two bonus sections at the end.

Feeling Great

Jill Chivers begins the book with her section on feeling good while you’re losing weight.  This section focuses on the importance of a positive mindset, success strategies, and self-care while one is in the process of weight loss.  It also touches upon the critical topic of body image and how it can either positively or adversely impact one’s ability to achieve weight loss success.

Not only does Jill provide lots of useful tips related to the topics above, she also includes a number of exercises for readers to do which really drive her points home.  As someone who has long struggled with negative body image, I particularly liked the four body image exercises provided by Jill.  I have done similar exercises in the past and found that they really made a difference in the way I viewed my body.  Since I still have some body image issues, I plan to take on Jill’s exercises to help myself experience more growth and healing in that arena.

Looking Great

The second part of the book focuses on looking great while losing weight and is written by Imogen Lamport, a longtime image consultant.  Like the topics introduced by Jill, many of Imogen’s topics will be useful to all women, not just those who are in the process of weight loss.  These topics include:

• How to determine your body shape and proportions
• How to dress to best accentuate various body shapes
• Finding your most flattering colors
• Discovering your personal style
• Fabric principles, such as sheen, texture, drape, weight, and prints
• Accessorizing
• How to audit your wardrobe (something I write about a lot in this blog!)
• Alterations
• Creating a capsule wardrobe
• Shopping during weight loss (many of these tips are universal for all shoppers!)
• How to pose for photographs

Imogen illustrates all of her concepts with beautiful and helpful photographs, not only of clothing, but also of people in clothing (many of the photos feature the lovely Imogen herself).  The photos really make the concepts discussed easier to comprehend and translate for your own life, and can be viewed again as needed when questions arise.

Bonus Sections

The two bonus sections of the “Svelte in Style” cover the topics of eating healthily and exercising and are presented by subject matter experts, Annette Sym and Amanda Cox.   Although I’ve exercised regularly for years and have a very healthy diet, I still learned some valuable tips from Annette and Amanda that I can apply to my own life.   While “Svelte in Style” was already an excellent resource without the bonus sections, these additional chapters added a lot of extra value for readers.

A Few Small Criticisms

Although there is much to praise about “Svelte in Style” and I have done so liberally above, I do have a few small criticisms of the book.  When I first saw how long it was (145 pages), my first thought was, “That’s kind of long for an e-book.”  I may be alone in this, but I usually expect e-books to be under 100 pages.  That said, I found “Svelte in Style” to be an easy read.  I finished the entire book during three cardio sessions on my elliptical machine, a total of around two hours reading time.  While you may not multi-task your reading as I do, you’ll likely be able to complete the book within a few nights of before bed reading time.

I also found parts of the book to be a bit repetitive and some of the points were mentioned a number of times.  However, that isn’t necessarily bad, as sometimes it takes a few readings for people to “get it,” especially with new or difficult concepts.

Finally, I caught quite a few typographical errors throughout the book.  I realize that I tend to notice such things more often than the average person, but I sometimes found the errors a bit distracting from the wonderful information presented by the authors.  I wasn’t even going to mention this point, but I feel that it’s a valid criticism and part of my honest review of the book, which I wholeheartedly recommend, errors or not.

I Recommend “Svelte in Style”!

One last thing I didn’t mention… “Svelte in Style” includes a section at the end that lists some excellent free resources related to the topics discussed in the book.  Included are links to a bra size calculator, a sizing tool for shopping around the world, and a tips site for moms.  Also referenced are Imogen’s style-related e-books and Jill’s programs for compulsive shoppers.

All in all, I feel that “Svelte in Style” is an excellent book that is well-worth the listed price of $27.  You can purchase the book online via PayPal (using your PayPal account or a credit card) HERE. 

I hope you found this review useful and that some of you will decide to buy “Svelte in Style” for yourself or a loved one. If you end up purchasing the book, I’d love to know what you think.  Also, if you have recommendations for similar books, please feel free to include them in the comments section below.