Wear It Well

Wear It Well by Allison Bornstein

I have never felt comfortable with styling myself, and some major life changes in the past few years have made it even harder. I struggle with how to dress my shape, maintain some comfort and still look put together. When I find something that halfway works, I still can't figure out how to put things together from my closet.

I try to follow fashion influencers and find that I can't make the connections between what I see and making it work in real life.

This book is exactly what I need. It lays out a clear process for figuring out what truly works - evaluating your existing closet, identifying how you want to feel, universal pieces, shopping and planning outfit formulas. The process laid out here will help me to be more intentional about my style in a way that lets me feel like myself with style.

Thank you to #Netgalley and Chronicle Books for a free copy of Wear It Well by Allison Bornstein. All opinions are my own.

I love the real advice in this book. Looking at my closet, I know what I want to achieve, but I’m not always confident in pulling it off. These steps will help me really get my own style down and really be myself.

A good accessory for anyone who struggles with their own style as well.

What I liked about Wear it Well:
🩷 The book itself is styled beautifully and the author’s passion for what she does really shines through.
🩷 I love the focus on dressing authentically to you. I also enjoyed the examples from the author’s own clients.
🩷 The tips provided felt sound and backed by experience.
🩷 I love the idea behind the three words, and the accompanying word wheel was so helpful!
🩷 Chapter fifteen was a beautiful way to wrap up the whole of the message

What I thought could be better:
✨ This book felt unnecessarily wordy at times. I think the copy could be cut down quite a bit to improve the flow and maintain audience attention.
✨ More focus could be put into the actual tips and less on the fluffy anecdotal, especially at the beginning. It took until chapter 3 to actually get into the meat of it.

This was a great, quick read. Confidence boosting and full of lots of great tips for loving what you wear. I've consumed fashion media for a long time but many of Bornstein's ideas are all hers and all wonderful. I especially loved the suggested methods of closet clean-out (one of my most dreaded chores) and finding my own three words.

I gave this book an honest try and read it all, even though I knew it wasn’t a good fit for me from the start. This will be a great book for people who care about brands and fashion and have things tailored and dry cleaned. It will work well for people with traditional clothing tastes who want to be stylish. She helps you figure out your basic style and get rid of what doesn’t work for you, plus recommends basic pieces.

I was not at all a fan of the photos in this book. They are all sort of artsy stock photos, like of 20 women in trench coats and some of them upside down. None of it felt like real women in clothes they’d picked. There also just aren’t a lot of photos. It’s mostly text.

I liked her idea of picking three words to sum up your ideal style and then weeding and buying to fit those. She has a wheel of words to choose from. She didn’t have all the ones I ultimately chose but it was helpful. I ended up deciding my words are comfortable, sexy and whimsical. That right there should tell you how easy it is for me to shop for clothes (I only shop at thrift stores anyway) and how much I agree with her assertions that we all need things like blazers and turtlenecks. Most of my clothes look like something either Stevie Nicks or a forest fairy would wear, and I’m only five feet tall. I’m not ever going to agree that I need a pair of wide legged trousers and a basic white tee.

For people who are fairly conventional or want to be, this will be a helpful guide. There’s nothing really groundbreaking but it has some helpful information.

I read a temporary digital copy of this book for review.

Who hasn’t wished to have their very own personal stylist to help you look your best every day? Welcome Allison Bornstein to the rescue. In this book, Allison helps you look at all of your clothes in your closet in a whole new way. I loved all of her styling advice and suggestions.

This is a very practical guide to getting your closet and your wardrobe in order. Divided into five sections, it begins by editing your existing wardrobe and continues to find your personal style, using what you have and the building blocks of a wardrobe.

For someone who says she has plenty of experience, the book comes up short in some areas. First, she uses only a few examples besides herself to illustrate her points. Instead of giving us another real-life example, she uses the same people over and over. Although profusely illustrated with photos, they all seem to be taken of people wearing the same sort of clothes in the same palette of neutrals with light blue. It would have been nice to see some variety, especially for those who don't wear these kinds of clothes.

Allison Bornstein is a personal stylist, and is bringing her advice and AB Method to the masses with her new book Wear it Well. Through her ideas, she challenges their reader to reevaluate their current closets, think about their ideal sense of fashion, and simplify the process of getting dressed every day.

I felt really motivated to clean out my closets, and reading this now was the perfect time for me. I recently got done with a retail job of 13 years and made a move to banking, which requires a more business casual wardrobe than I’m used to. Thinking about my Three Words the way she presents it has definitely given me guidance on how to move forward with purchasing pieces that make sense for me.

I did think that some things were skimmed over too quickly. I would’ve liked to see a variety of photo examples for each of the staple pieces. I also would’ve liked more advice on cataloging your current closet, in order to know what you have already and fill the gaps when shopping.

I’d definitely recommend this book for anyone looking to change up their style, or looking for inspiration in their current closet.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Prism for an advanced copy of this book!

I guess this is a decent book for helping you decide on a personal style. I didn't hate it, but it does strike me as a book that could have been a YouTube video. Lots of full color photographs that feel like filler, casual uninteresting looks. Which I recognize that not everyone walks through the world dressing like Jojo Siwa or Daphne Guiness or Billie Eilish. I suppose I hoped there would be more variety of styles depicted than "casual corporate" or "normcore professor."

Recommend but not glowingly. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wear it Well is a great book by stylist Allison Bornstein on how to create a functional wardrobe. Some of the information is typical of any style book, such as 9 'universal pieces' (essentials), but she also provides some great direction to define personal style. Bornstein walks through 'The Three-word method' to create and sustain style transformation. Terrific idea and she conveys the topic really well in the book. Photos are minimal but well used to convey themes of the book. Great option for those of us who can't afford a personal stylist!

This book is a great starting point for those who want to be more intentional when curating their closets. Allison Borstein’s three-word method is such an interesting approach to getting a feel for your sense of style. The book has its own aesthetic— while Borstein supports people in defining what “style” means to them, I wouldn’t look to the book to visually present different styles. However, Borstein offers helpful suggestions for clearing out your closet, buying new items, and taking care of what you own.

I'm a huge fan of Allison's Instagram, so a lot of the book was already very familiar to me. However, there were still some really impactful nuggets. (I laughed when she — rightfully — pointed out that none of us are Carrie Bradshaw.)

As someone who has always viewed her closet as a collection, it was also really helpful to hear Allison explain that a closet isn't an archive. That state of mind set me up for success as I did my clean-out, and encouraged me to donate some items I'd been holding on to for the novelty.

What I most benefitted from (and what I wished there was a little more of) were the moments where she got tactical. I would have loved to hear her talk more about proportion, styling tricks, and how different "words" style clothes differently.

This book was highly anticipated for me as a follower of Bornstein's blog and I was so happy to receive the eARC! The book offered a lot of digestable information on curating your personal style and working with what you have. The book was a book that was fun to flip through a little every single day, although I honestly don't think this is the type of book I would ever sit down and read cover to cover. I liked finding what kind of advice was relevant to my mood at a particular moment. My only qualm with the book was that a lot of the advice is advice that I've already seen on Bornstein's social media/other content... but I suppose that won't be an issue for those who aren't superfans! When the book comes out, I surely will be picking up a physical copy to flip through and find inspiration from regularly.

"Wear It Well" by personal stylist Allison Bornstein is a remarkable guide to help you define your personal style by using fashion as a tool for self-discovery. The book introduces two powerful systems, the Three-Word Method and the AB Closet-Editing System, to help you align your style with your true self and create a wardrobe that reflects your authentic identity.

Allison Bornstein's expertise in helping people look and feel their best shines through in this book. The Three-Word Method, which has gone viral, offers a simple yet effective way to discover and define your personal style in just three words. This approach allowed me to distill my fashion preferences and aspirations into a clear and actionable framework.

The AB Closet-Editing System is equally transformative. It guided me through the process of curating my closet, eliminating items that no longer served me or align with my lifestyle. This systematic approach not only creates space but also fosters a wardrobe filled only with clothing that brings you joy, confidence, and empowerment.

In conclusion, "Wear It Well" is a five-star resource for anyone looking to embrace their personal style and use fashion as a means of self-discovery. The philosophy and systems provide actionable steps to create a wardrobe that authentically represents who you are. This book is an empowering and inspiring guide that will transform your relationship with fashion and style.