How to Not Wear Black: Find Your Style and Create Your Forever Wardrobe

Find your style, create your forever wardrobe

Shop better, buy less, and dress to tell the world "this is me!" Anna Murphy, Fashion Director of The Times, shares her tricks for dressing to feel confident and comfortable, look modern and fabulous, and define your personal style--without always resorting to black. When you dress, you stake your place in the world to a voice, a path, a future. Choose who you want to be and how to dress well accordingly. As Mark Twain said, "There is no power without clothes."

Anna draws on her years of inside fashion knowledge and style experience to help you figure out your "clothing happy place." What best flatters your body? What expresses your sense of self? And how do you build a sustainable wardrobe that will serve you day in, day out, for years to come? Explore why less is more; how to layer, the tricks of mixing and non-matching, and how to dress up neutrals. Follow Anna's tips on the 9-5 work wardrobe, what to wear for that special occasion, and how to carry off athleisure wear in style. Also discover the best length of dress or pants for you, your perfect jeans, and how to invest in a handbag that you will use and love forever.

Immerse yourself in this inspiring, realistic, and practical style book and you, too, will be able to throw together chic outfits effortlessly, have something you want to wear for every occasion, and create a wardrobe that, with occasional shopping forays, can last forever. Make fashion your friend!

As Fashion Director of The Times of London, Anna Murphy divides her time between the fantasy realm of the front row and what, to her mind, is the true fashion front line: the brands that deliver clothes for the real world. How to track down the right pieces for your life, your shape; how to look effortlessly stylish and contemporary; and how to do it without spending a fortune--that's what Anna sets out to nail in her writing. Not to mention in her own shopping! Retail therapy in the most literal sense, that's Anna's thing. And after more years than she would care to admit on the fashion circuit--first as Launch Editor of The Sunday Telegraph's "Stella" magazine, now at The Times--she's unbeatable on how finally to make fashion your friend.