The Body Shape Bible - Find Your Perfect Fit & Style Guide for Every Body Type | Fashion Tips & Outfit Ideas for Women

Susannah Constantine and Trinny Woodall have decided there are 12 body types amongst females. The premise of their book is to pay less attention to one's dress size and pay more attention to one's body shape -- how the parts fit together to make the whole. Each shape has challenges and attributes to emphasize.Because there are twelve body types to be discussed, each chapter is short. The authors show the biggest horrors (mistakes made by body types) and then offer suggestions. I found the suggestions to be eye-opening and helpful. I would have liked for there to be a book for each body type because just about the time I got excited about the clothing suggested, the authors moved to the next type. I guess I'm a dreamer.I found the best page in each body type to be "Key Shapes." Dress types, blouse shapes, jacket features, trouser choices are mentioned, as well as jewelry and shoe suggestions. Then there are three types of looks offered for each shape: Casual, Smart and Party. Showing celebrities with each body type was a nice feature; the authors showed them dressing well for type as well as dressing in mistakes.The authors are gutsy; they showed photos of themselves in disasters and wearing more appropriate garments. One of my favorite features was (at the back of the book), ideas on how to salvage buying disasters so they become useful garments. I couldn't or wouldn't do some of them, but it opened me to the idea that buying disasters could be saved with some thought. 4.5 starsThis book arrived in perfect shape, on the earliest of several possible dates. I haven't even opened it yet, but intend to spend plenty of time with 'my nose in this book.' Thank you.Out of the 4 books I bought by these women, THIS WAS THE BOOK THAT HAD THE INFO I NEEDED (but didn't know it until I read it!) One may not fit perfectly into the described body shapes, but after coming up with the closest match, there's so much info with great examples, a person is bound to learn a good bit! At least know I did!While so many find Trinny and Susannah brutally honest, i find them fun and informative. The Body Shape Bible which I purchased from Amazom.com, allows one to take an honest look at oneself and one's friends and see that looking good has more to do with self awareness than being born perfect. I love that they use normal looking people for their how to photos and then use famous people when they've dressed to accentuate their shape and when they looked far less than great. They also have a good laugh at themselves. I am a classic hourglass, and finding clothes has always been difficult. I have often tried to camouflage my curves with oversized flowing clothes that only added twenty pounds or more to my appearance. I recently bought a va va voom red dress with flutter sleeves, form fitting a la Marilyn Monroe and Christina Hendricks, and I received so many compliments. I'm sixty five and haven't had so much attention since I was twenty. Buy this book for you and your friends. It helps you love yourself as you are, laugh at what's not so great, and see the potential in those around you.As a fan of Trinny and Susannah, I have always appreciated their guidance on how to dress for your specific body type. I found this book to be covering the same information, except not as well presented as in previous books. Once you discover your body type, you can really only use 15 or so pages out of entire 288 page book. You are offered only 3 looks as ideal for your shape, Casual, Smart, and Party. I would have appreciated more, especially considering some of the outfits were not seasonally appropriate. And as I flipped through the information on other body types, it was noticable that things such as swimsuits and accessories where discussed with some body types and not others. This should have been addressed with every body type. Also, because this book is shipped from the UK, the shopping section becomes useless since they recommend shops within the United Kingdom only, unless you anticipate traveling overseas soon. The shopping guide in "T & S The Survival Guide" is far superior. Perhaps an updated US version will be offered later. Wait and buy it then.I have read a couple of Trinny and Susannah's books. This one was okay. Not the best. Not the worst.This was ordered on Dec 22 2010 and arrived on February 18th 2011 (from the UK to New York)Shipping was cheap- and it came in perfect condition.This is a fun book, but still I cannot identify myself with any of the shapes here- I wanted some tips because I recently had two babies and I am definitely not the same shape as pre-pregnancy. I may use some of the ideas from maybe three different body types that apply to me in part.Love Love Love this book. Cannot have enough of Trinny and Susannah.I love how they break it down to 12 shapes rather than the basic 5 shapes that most books and stylist talk about.I know now how to dress up as a petite, and even break the book down to just petite only body shape stylish handbook called Petite Style Secret - 10 things you need to know to become a stylish petite from coutureroulette.comAlways loved Trinny and Susannah but this book was such a disappointment! If you’re middle aged and petite, like me, there’s only one example (as apparently it’s so hard for those afflicted by that combination to look good). I ended up depressed and irritated by that, and I also found the assumption that middle aged small people couldn’t actually be a column shape annoying too. It was if the book assumes that if you’re middle aged and short, then only one body shape is possible for you. I’ll go back to using Trinny’s Instagram account for inspiration and give this hopeless book to charity.There really isn't much to this book. Once you work out your shape there are a series of pages of do's and dont's for your shape. Really liked the brief but blunt description of the composite size of body parts that confirm your body classification according to T&S with very little ambiguity. Think of this book like a series of horoscope descriptions once you have yours unless you are sharing with friends there is not a lot else to read, so pleased bought at bargain price and will pass around friends if interested.I truly take my hat off to Trinny and Susannah! Their practical no nonsense approach to how we see ourselves and how to make the best for and of ourselves really works, if you have even just a little bit of courage to try their advice. I've seen it work on me and on others to whom I've shown their "bible". It's true!! Of course, there's also the whole matter of our different body shapes - thank God someone finally found more than just the traditional "apple and pear" shapes. Thank you, girls!I acquired this copy after reading a review somewhere else. Unfortunately the book is a bit old and it hasn't aged well. Some of the suggestions are completely out of fashionI've got Trinny and Susannah's other books and for a time searched for the features belonging to a typical pear shape, only to find from looking in this book that I'm closer to a skittle. Their advice has prompted me to look more carefully at whether clothes and shoes really suit me rather than whether they suit my wallet so thank you once again ladies.