At one point or another, it's likely we have all thought to ourselves, "Let's get ready to look soooooo good!" This book talks about that process--the personal and political narratives behind it--making it simultaneously Deep and Fun. It's the escapist lit equivalent of a delectable baked good in which some of the butter has been replaced by applesauce and in which the quality of the end result has miraculously not suffered. Perfect for the airport!

After getting past the hokey title, It's So You proved to be an engaging, insightful, and funny read - the type of book that makes you miss your stop on the subway because you are so engrossed in the text. It's composed of 35 essays about developing one's personal style and though some of the pieces are better than others, there is hardly a dud in the collection. Intelligent women with accomplished resumés and voices often marginalized in mainstream fashion share their stories in a way that read...

Look, I really liked this book. A lot. I blew through it in a couple days. The stories tend to be kind of similar- "I was poor so my clothes were bad when I was little," or "I was fat so my clothes were bad when I was little," "but now I've figured out how to look fuckin great all the time." I don't care that they can be kind of similar though. One, there are a bunch of weird things that don't fit into that mold- my favorite of which is my girlfriend Ellen Forney's comicky piece about a dressup

It took me so long to finish this because I really liked it and didn't want it to end. Would love to read a thousand more essays about how women relate to fashion, how it shapes them, how they shape it, etc. The more academically-inclined pieces were not nearly as interesting as the funny, anecdotal ones but maybe I'm just too far removed from academia to appreciate that stuff anymore. I want all of my friends to write their own essays on this theme.

Okay, so I don't care about people's personal style unless they dress like a weirdo, but Nicole G. had some shit in this book and it is Atsuko's copy. There is a queer/feminist girl's English book swap in Japan. WTF!!!! My favorite story in here was by Chelsea Starr, who I have (duh) since Googled and whatever. She writes about growing up poor and the clothes you have to wear when you can't help it, and how people treat you because of it. While I simultaneously do and don't identify as working c...

Rarely do I give up on a book and not finish it. This is just one of those ones I couldn't get into. Maybe I wasn't in the right mindset to appreciate it at this point in my life. The label on the back of the book was "BEAUTY". I almost scratched it out and wrote "FEMINISM" in its place. I'm a feminist to a certain degree, but some of the essays in this collection were too radical for me to relate to. It would be a great book for a women's studies class, but just didn't do anything for me. I put...

well so far i read my own essay and cintra wilson's, plus I got to hear Beth Lissick read hers which was complex and stealthy, and that Trish Robbins has a piece about As Is, this Goodwill outlet with bins that is disarmingly filthy. I think Trish Robbins might actually be wierder than me, though about 5 times more productive. She did this little book on Women Who Kill for Red Wheel Weiser/Cunari that is cute as a button. She had a handsome hippy of a certain age with her.

I was really excited about this book because I love fashion but not in a name-brand labels kind of way, and this was a bunch of essays from indie-hipster-type women, transsexuals, and others about their love of, hate for, and struggles with fashion.But it wasn't as good as I was hoping. There are a few excellent essays--I particularly enjoyed one by a male-to-female transsexual about the problems of being too big to buy women's clothing. But too many of them fell into that "I'm cooler than you b...

I actually didn't finish this. It became really repetitive about 9 chapters in. These aren't essays (I don't know why I thought they would be) they are short memoirs that mainly (of the 9 I read) concern 30-somethings who were outcasts in junior high, discovered thrift stores/their sexual preferences in high school, tried to fit in/discovered thrift stores or their sexual preference/dropped out of college/started their own one-woman show/zine/band in their 20s, and are now plagued by the fact th...

I really really enjoyed this book! Like some of the essays were shit but I fucking loved some of them - I have drawn hearts in the contents next to Michelle Tea, Felicia Luna Lemus, Cookie Woolner, Nicole J. Georges, Chelsea Starr, Trina Robbins, Sherilyn Connelly, Jewelle Gomez, Silja J. A. Talvi and Rhiannon Argo. It was so fucking awesome READING about STYLE and CLOTHES and SHOES and oh my god it's kinda like my perfect femme book. Also I'd not read *anything* by Michelle Tea before and I lov...

I must begin by saying I Did Not Finish this book. But I did get through the first good number or stories before I knew I could not go on.A collection of personal stories of fashion frustration turned to seeming fashion acceptance.These stories just didn't work for me and I so wanted them to. The vignettes felt angsty and hastily written. One or two stories like that would have been fine, but I read through the first five or so and they all felt so similar. A woman struggled with fashion and dec...

This is an interesting look at how people change themselves through clothes, though I wish there had been more variation in the subjects. Halfway through the book, it started to seem like every story was about a lesbian who used to be very heavy (Lane Bryant shopping, etc.) and confused about gender identify but then, through clothes, found a way to understand and present herself.

Fashion is a feminist issue. Queer-lit icon Michelle Tea and 35 other feisty fashionistas explain why. Six Feet Under writer/producer Jill Soloway; Sonic Youth’s bassist Kim Gordon; transgender author, performer and gender theorist Kate Bornstein; writer Trina Robbins; novelist Beth Lisick and other fashionable females offer insight into identity and creativity as expressions in sartorial style. Artists Nicole J. Georges and Ellen Forney also offer up their visual take.Gordon, perhaps inspired b...

This book is what I wish "The Bigger the Better the Tighter the Sweater" had been. It's another series of essays, this time loosely based around fashion and how we construct our identities visually. I thought it was a little heavy on the number of essays by gay folks trying to figure out how to dress (I related more to the essays on feminism vs. fashion - can you be into both?), but overall both an entertaining and thoughtful read. Makes me want to hit my favorite thrift stores right now!

Fashion lit without guilt! Picked it up because it included Sandra Tsing Loh. Only recognized three or four other names, but particularly enjoyed Sherilyn Connelly and Nicole Georges. (In fact, I came across a Georges book two days after reading this and thus bought it.) There were definitely repeating themes and tones, but I was expecting that. Good balance of humor and anger. It helped that I'm about the same age of a lot of the writers, in terms of fashion memories.

A wonderful read. As the subtitle says, the book features 35 women (at least three of them from Portland) writing about how fashion influenced their lives. For some it was an afterthought; for others, it had a massive impact on their self image and/or their relationship with the world.Fashion is the lens through which these fascinating women analyze gender, sexuality, growing up, work and so forth.

This books gets two stars because it made me sad.I guess I'm just shocked that people have so much choice in what they wear. Hate to be a downer, but I consider myself lucky if I find something that fits and looks at all decent. I can't afford to limit myself to a particular style.One story in this book really epitomizes the issue for me - One woman can't find any clothes that look nice because she's fat. But then she discovers shoes! And shoes are wonderful for her because it doesn't matter how...

the cintra wilson essay is genius.

Some essays were OK, and some were thrown together from random musings that never formed a cohesive piece. More of the authors seemed to be rebelling against the oppressive side of style and fashion, eschewing it for an excuse to wear the ridiculous, rather than examining how fashion connects. Although now that I consider the title, I see that "personal expression" is the theme. So perhaps the misunderstaning is mine, because I see style as a common-language that we all get to parse differently

Wow, I'm reeling from all the stories in the anthology. It's HUGE! I really did like the experience of reading it and recognizing myself in some of the essays. They're all kind of blending together- but like some of the other reviewers, I'd want more diversity in a future or second edition. Also perhaps more descriptive/practical essays about making clothing/conscious construction of clothing and outfits.