Book Report: Keeping it 100

I recently finished reading Nina Garcia’s (does anyone else hear her name in Heidi Klum’s voice??) The One Hundred: A Guide to the Stylish Pieces Every Woman Must Own. The silver-bound, alphabetically sorted list of the things Nina Garcia loves and thinks are important is supplemented by lovely illustrations, a mini fashion history lesson here and there, and relatively pertinent quotes peppered throughout.

I was going to go to great pains to list each item here for you, but I’m fairly sure that’s copyright infringement and I have to return this to the library tomorrow.  I will, however, point out my favorites (now with commentary – my own, not Nina’s) in case you wanted a distillation of the content:

Ankle Bootie. This item is almost instantly associated with anyone who gives a shit about fashion.

Blazer. The best way to fake effort on a “fuck effort” kind of day.  Blazer over last night’s t-shirt and jeans from two days ago?  CHIC.

Converse. Mandatory because I’m from Los Angeles; this is pretty much the official shoe of what was once known as South Central.

Jeans. These need no explanation

Plain White Tee. Also in need of no explanation

Silk Scarf. The second best way to fake effort on a “fuck effort” kind of day.  It’s the S/S to the blazer’s F/W.

Stilettos. We all need to have sexy feet sometime…sometimes that needs to be accomplished with shoes.  Shouts out to the “I never get a pedicure” crowd.

The rest I could take or leave because they either read like an ad for Ray-Ban, I couldn’t pronounce the brand correctly on first glance and therefore can’t afford anything they have to sell, or because they just seem…odd.  #77 is Signet Ring.  What the hell does one do with a Signet Ring these days?

Recommendation?

As a list aficionado, I did enjoy thumbing through this right before going to sleep.  As a on-again-off-again miser, I was content in the knowledge that I don’t put enough emphasis on what I let hang around unused in my closet wear to go off and try to get most of what is in this book.  If you are of a similar presence of mind (or at least aren’t highly suggestible), I say give it a gander.  If nothing else, you will learn the correct way to pronounce Havaianas.