Book Review: Killer Fashion by Jennifer Wright

This was a clever idea, coolly executed, that I wish had been longer with more depth… I was aware of many of the fashion dangers highlighted herein – that didn’t make reading about them here any less enjoyable, but it did leave me curious for more detail. The illustrations and poems were a fantastic addition to the text – darkly whimsical and often laugh-out-loud funny. Without them, this would have been three stars at most because of the brevity and lack of an underlying organizational principle beyond the premise itself…

I’ve seen other reviews mention that it would have been nice if the story-lets had been categorized somehow – chronologically, by body part, by type of danger represented, by men’s v. women’s focus. I don’t know that I would have necessarily preferred one over the other, but it would have felt a little more organized if there had been something – and something that was explained, to tie the various clothing items together into more of a narrative. As it is, it feels more like anecdotes. Highly entertaining and fascinating ones, but anecdotes (as opposed to a more complete book) nevertheless… It is possible that I’m ascribing a need for more where no more was intended; if you want a cute, snarky, pithy but informative coffee table book, this does the trick nicely. But with a little more organization and connective tissue, it could have been a lot more too…

My review copy was provided by NetGalley.