How to Have Style by Isaac Mizrahi
Status: Completed
Solid in idea and reasonable in execution, but outdated and lacking in generalizability. In this book, the fashion designer author and his team upgrade the looks of several different women, each of which have a unique fashion problem they want solved. I appreciated that there was a plus-size woman invovled in this and that there’s a stated message of body acceptance (although it’s undercut by Isaac’s frequent mentions of how much better these women would look if they lost a few pounds). But most of the advice is specific to the subjects’ situations and concerns and difficult to generalize. And even though several of the subjects are younger, the final looks scream “outfits a middle-aged woman would save on Pinterest in the early-to-mid-2000s” – generic, unexciting, mildly if not unwearably outdated, “nice” without being interesting or memorable. In fact, the only final outfits I actually remember are from the twentysomething who Isaac inexplicably put in what would have been conservative officewear if every shirt wasn’t halfway unbuttoned to expose her bra. (And the one woman in her mid-fifties who he dressed like a cartoon sailor man, red bandana around the neck and all.) Isaac may have “style,” but this book has not convinced me he has taste. The pictures were great and I liked reading about Isaac’s thought process, but if you’re looking for something actually useful or actionable (or even inspirational for a younger person in 2023), it’s not this.
Tags: Jewish author
Trigger Warnings: Fatphobia, discussions of diet and weight loss
The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor by Shaenon K. Garrity and Christopher Baldwin
Status: Completed
This book is quite silly in concept but also very fun. The idea is that Haley, a protagonist obsessed with Gothic romances, ends up in the pocket dimension that protects our universe from a universe of evil – and this pocket dimension is inexplicably Gothic romance-themed. It makes fun of Gothic romance tropes a lot, and though I got the major ideas, I’m not huge into Gothic romances so I’m sure I missed a lot of the less-obvious trope-based jokes. The art was fun (although the extreme lack of detail on the faces compared to everything else felt a bit off to me), and I even laughed out loud a few times. Despite the purported seriousness of the plot (pocket dimension being attacked by an evil force that will consume our universe if it succeeds), none of it feels all that dangerous or impactful. Perhaps it’s because Haley’s obsession with Gothic literature makes this story feel fictional even within itself. Everything feels very fake and relentlessly silly. Not necessarily in a bad way – it was fun and I enjoyed it. But it was really hard to get actually emotionally invested because I just couldn’t manage to forget it’s just a silly little story.
Tags: Protagonist of Color
Trigger Warnings: Animal cruelty, violence, blood, injury, mind control, body horror (mild), bullying (mild)
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