BookVu: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

A Memoir of Going Home
Author Rhoda Janzen
Publisher, Atlantic Books London, 241 pages

I  thought it might be fun to review something a little different this time 
instead of another fashion how-to book. 

The title on this one sucked me in good and proper. 


A New York Times bestseller, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is a witty memoir 
about non-practicing Mennonite author Rhoda Janzen going home
 after her husband dumps her for a guy he meets on Gay.com. 

Janzen provides an honest account of her unusual religious childhood, but her 
unfailing ability to find the humour in it all is what is most endearing. 

Oftentimes her life leaves you cringing with embarrassment as she reveals how her upbringing follows her into adulthood—influencing all of her decisions—from 
falling in love with an emotionally unavailable bipolar (gay) husband 
to her unreasonable fear of authority.  

Author Rhoda Janzen

Occasionally the non-sequitur ramblings are a bit long. And she’s breezed over serious topics such as her near-death car accident and subsequent recovery, losing her house & her abusive marriage. But the hilarious nuggets of "wisdom" from her somewhat batty mother and her genuine relationship with her sister touch the heart.


Combine this with an insider's view of Mennonite customs makes it worth the read. For example, her  bizarre (post-divorce) dating history and  anecdotes like "The Top Five Shame-based Foods for Mennonite School Lunches" which include a stinky meatball concoction she takes to school in a diaper bag. 

Contrary the book's title, there is no fashion slant, other than a closet clean out with her sister and a vague reference to how wearing homespun skirts growing up gave her a penchant for designer duds. Instead you get an appendix at the back with funny Mennonite trivia and recipes for the aforementioned recipes.

It's an easy read, good for a day at the beach, home sick with the flu 

or taking the train into work.  It's a bit like having a conversation with an old friend 

you haven't seen in years and years and you're given snippets of her life over coffee, but left without the full picture. In other words, a great way to spend an afternoon.

____________________________ Why not look your best every day?

Book Review: Harpers Bazaar Fabulous at Every Age

Harper’s Bazaar 
Fabulous at Every Age your Quick & Easy Guide to Fashion
Nandini D’Souza & Jenny Barnett
Hearst Books, 189 pages

I was tackled and hog-tied by insomnia last night. In no doubt due to the multiple giant MUG-o-ramas of coffee I poured down my gullet late in the day. At 213am I woke up not only bright-eyed, but relatively bushy-tailed.

My brain, however, was unable to cope with reading anything with a plot and no identifiable amount of caffeine, desperation, or cash will get me to watch JerseyTrash or Kendra and her ilk on the tube.

So, I chose from the ever-multiplying teetering stack of style and fashion books I’m working my way through. Harper’s Bazaar Fabulous at Every Age 
Your Quick & Easy Guide to Fashion.

My love for Harper’s Bazaar is long held. It was my first fashion magazine and remains one of 
my absolute favorites. 

I blasted through this book in a little over an hour. I examined every page but spent most of my time studying my "age category." Sadly, I didn’t learn much. I formed an idea or two for a couple outfits, but I get that from an average magazine. I wouldn't consider it a "Guide" 
or much of a How-to source.

It’s a beautiful book to look through, but unlike competing books in this genre, it is light on new information on age-appropriate style. Also disappointing is the lack of informational credits on designers or where to buy.  

Unless you are after an expensive hardback magazine, I have found more helpful books in the category of fashion and personal style. I expect more from HB.

__________________________________ Why not look your best every day?

50 Bags that Changed the World

Fifty Bags That Changed the World 

by Design Museum will be 

released April 5, 2011. 

__________________________________ Why not look your best every day?

BookVu: How to be a Hepburn in a Hilton World

How to be a Hepburn in a Hilton World: 
The Art of Living with Style, Class and Grace
by Jordan Christy
Published by Hatchette Book Group—196 pages

This isn't going to be so much a book review as a LoveFest.

I love this book. I love everything about it.

I will confess, I bought it online thinking it was a book on fashion and was disappointed when I didn't find any pretty pictures. If author Jordan Christy ever reads this...I will be forever humiliated.

I wish I had this book in my tween time. Even high school or college would've been helpful. I looked to  friends for style clues and sometimes I got it right, most times I didn’t. This book would have been invaluable. 

In fact, within the first 30 pages I called everyone I know with a daughter to tell them they must read this book (always appreciated from someone without kids).

Christy's witty commentary dissects the lack of role models and social grace courtesy of Lindsay, Paris, Britney and the rest of the ditz-of-the-decade crew. Christy has put to paper what most over-30s have thought or said aloud when bombarded with the latest horrific MTV-Ryan-Seacrest-Kardashianesque-Girls-of-the-Playboy-Brothel offering.

What happened to style, grace and character? Christy notes how far we've come as women and how far we've regressed. In fact, this book is a modern day guide to old-fashioned etiquette. She makes it cool to bring it back. With hip, relevant references and genuine, helpful solutions to awkward social situations...all in less than 200 pages.

Have I said it? I love this book. Run, scratch that, step elegantly with head held high to the nearest bookstore.—Sada Vee