On the Back of the Book
What is fashion? Who decides what's in and what's out? Is the catwalk really catty? And what's so super about supermodels?
Based entirely on true but anonymous stories, Material Girl covers six months in a designers life and gives you exclusive access to a world were women get paid thousands for getting dressed in the morning and where the wrong shirt can cost you your career. Tracking the development of a collection from concept to catwalk, onto the front pages of Vogue and then to the high street, it reveals the shocking maek-ups, the fabulous extremes and shoddy shortcuts which the fashion industry would rather you didn't know about...
Pre Read Thoughts
Normally I grab a book because of the title or the cover (what can I say? I like pretty things.) and then read the synopsis but I saw this after I'd seen the BBC TV show that was based on this book. I want to say now that I loved the TV show and had every intention of reading this and then promptly forgot. I paid £7.99 for it which is about right for an adult paperback in Wales so the price is reasonable. The cover isn't very striking, it just has some of the characters from the show on it. If I hadn't been a fan of the TV show I would've seen it, gone "Oooh it's Annie from Being Human!" and walked past it.
Post Read Thoughts
I found this book to be strangely addictive. No matter how much I wanted to I just couldn't put the book down, I was afraid that my mum was going to have to prise it from my cold, sleeping self. I'm not sure I believe the stories even though it says that they are based on truth but it was interesting to see what a designer has to do in the run up to showing off their collection. I felt that the overall standard of the writing was good but a few of the author's habits started to annoy me a bit towards the end of the book.
As far as characters go I'm not entirely sure that they matter because this book is more about the process of creating a runway collection and not the people that it involves. Saying that though I feel as though I should point out that I found the characters to be very forgettable. I finished the book mere hours ago and I can't tell you anything about them. That's probably the least complimentary thing I can say but unfortunately it's true.
Overall this is probably a great reader for women (and men) who have dreams of breaking into the fashion industry or even if they're just curious as to what goes on behind closed doors. I personally didn't like the chapter lengths, I felt that they were too long and my attention would dwindle in the middle of them. I still enjoyed the book even though it's completely different to what I normally read.
My Rating
3 stars - While I liked this book I didn't connect with it. I think it's worth a read if you're looking for something different or if you're short of books. I wouldn't rush out and buy this though.
A Final Note
A couple of things: This is an adult book and it contains swearing and drug use. This isn't for impressionable teens.
Also this book was originally published as Fashion Babylon.
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