The Image section's annual gift guide -- stuffed with all sorts of seriously stylish stuff -- will be out soon enough, but here are a couple of light-hearted items that have crossed my desk in recent days, and might be worth considering for the hard-to-gift guys on your list.

"How to Stay Out of the Doghouse" written by Josh Rubin and Jason Musante, illustrated by Jason Polan (Partners & Spade, 2010), is an illustrated book of 50 tips designed to help a fellow stay in good graces with his better half.

At first I couldn't bring myself to crack the cover of the thin, $15 book (the title smacks of what I consider to be that particularly deplorable brand of "old-ball-and-chain" type of humor ), but once I did, I found some of the suggestions and observations to be spot-on funny.

Among my favorites:

Number 11: "Never use any kind of fruit to describe the shape of her body."

Number 41: "8:35 pm: The time when texts from other women become creepy."

Hardly earth-shattering relevations to anyone who has been in a relationship for more than six months,

If you're like me, you may have thought that the Ed Hardy licensing empire had already conquered every conceivable category of merchandise (what with the air fresheners, energy drinks, etc.).

Imagine my surprise when my esteemed editor dropped the above book on my desk late last week like she was disposing of a dead possum carcass. No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you -- that really is a book full of cross-stitch patterns based on the tattoo designs of Don Ed Hardy.

What I find most intriguing about "Love Kills Slowly Cross-Stitch: 30 Cross-Stitch Patterns from Ed Hardy" (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2010), which hits retail on Tuesday (with a suggested retail price of $14.99), isn't that the tattoo artist's crown-wearing tigers, heart-piercing daggers and banner-bearing skulls have moved into the quaint world of the embroidered arts.

No, what I'm really curious about is the target demographic for such an item, which the book itself seems to allude to from the very first (and wholly unnecessary) sentence: "This ain't your grandma's cross-stitch book."

Though technically, I suppose, this could be your grandma's cross-stitch book -- if she's the sort that harbors a burning desire to craft a throw pillow depicting a heart-eating skull and cross bones flanked by a banner that proclaims: "Love Dies Hard," or you think Gran might relish toiling through her twilight years embroidering a baby's bib with a snarling panther in a spotted newsboy cap.

If so, this could be a gift that could end up benefiting you. Because the book includes patterns for an entire Ed Hardy alphabet, grandmother can easily stitch the words "world's greatest grandchild" along with a pitchfork-wielding devil design on the tea towel she gives you next holiday season.

-- Adam Tschorn

Photo: "Love Kills Slowly Cross-Stitch: 30 Cross-Stitch Patterns from Ed Hardy," hits stores on Nov. 30. Credit: Adam Tschorn / Los Angeles Times

"The Fashion File," the new fashion-tips tome written by "Mad Men" costumer Janie Bryant and style writer Monica Corcoran Harel, has been the subject of numerous book signings over the past couple of weeks.

But Thursday night's invite-only soiree at jeweler Suzanne Felsen's Melrose Avenue boutique felt like the most elevated of the bunch.

Champagne flowed and hors d'oeuvres circulated inside the store and the roped-off front patio of Felsen's intimate shop, while gussied-up guests moseyed in and out of both spaces.

Dressed in a metallic bronze long-sleeved Jenny Han mini-dress, Bryant said she was tickled to see "everything Monica and I had talked about for so long on the actual page," and revealed that she cried the first time she held the book in her hand.

"I come from a family of very emotional people," Bryant exclaimed in her charming Southern accent. "We cry all the time!" Despite her sunny disposition, the designer admitted that her right hand was getting fatigued from the book-signing tour. "The promotion [of the book] is not mellow," she said with a slightly weary smile.

The profoundly pregnant Corcoran Harel, clad in a chic 1960s-style color-blocked dress, said, "These signings have been really lovely -- although I must say it's sometimes difficult coming up with something thoughtful and poignant for someone you don't know."

The duo whipped up "The Fashion File" in three short months, meeting regularly at Bryant's house in Silver Lake. "We wrote a chapter a week -- we really were on a strict deadline," said Corcoran Harel, who also revealed that there's been talk of she and Bryant collaborating on a second style book.

-- Emili Vesilind

Illustration: The book jacket for "The Fashion File." Credit: Grand Central Publishing

 

 

Admit it — you think Tim Gunn is a wise old sage. Yeah, so do we.

Which is why his recently released self-help book, "Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making It Work," doesn't feel like it's coming out of left field — even though the "Project Runway" host is weighing in on life issues, not style conundrums.

But Gunn has always been a guy with good sense and courage enough to call out bad manners when he sees them (he recently lambasted a "Gossip Girl" star for her bad behavior on the "Runway" set and has publicly iced the White House-crashing Salahis, whom he called "sociopaths").

In his travel-sized new tome, the dapper creative director of Liz Claiborne let his classy flag fly by way of anecdotes from his professional life, which is steeped in academia.

Rule No. 1, of course, is "Make it work!" -- or "make the best of a bad situation." Rule 2? "The world owes you ... nothing," also the name of a chapter in which Gunn talks about the disturbing trend of college kids who can't function without their parents doting on them every minute. "Maybe it's because I became a public person late in life," wrote Gunn, "but I have never lost the belief that all my success could vanish just like that."

Other rules, including "Take the high road," "Never underestimate karma" and "Take risks! Playing it safe is never really safe," ultimately tell Gunn's personal story, including how he became involved with "Project Runway."

The show's producers were looking for a consultant, and they called him at Parsons the New School for  Design. "I will tell you that I had my snob hat on," Gunn wrote. "Fashion reality? ... That sounds disgusting."

But he met with the producers and discovered "there was integrity there." But Gunn's employer nearly fired him for getting involved in a TV show the first season. "Afterwards," said Gunn, "they were congratulating themselves for getting in on the ground floor."

What was that thing about karma again?

-- Emili Vesilind

Photo: The book jacket for "Gunn's Golden Rules." Credit: Gallery Books

 

 

 

 
 
I recently had a discussion with a friend about what it takes to be a fashion icon. Does someone have to be dead to be a fashion icon, a la Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana? Or can someone living possess such a singular sense of style to achieve icon status?

Well on Monday night in Beverly Hills, two women who would certainly be in the running for living fashion icon status held dueling book parties across Rodeo Drive from one another. At Bulgari, Russian model-muse Tatiana Sorokko sipped Champagne with C Magazine editorial director Jennifer Hale, designer-legend James Galanos and vintage guru Cameron Silver, while signing copies of her new book, "Extending the Runway: Tatiana Sorokko Style" (STS Holdings, $50). The book chronicles Sorokko's style through her extensive wardrobe, which can be seen in an exhibition on view through Jan. 2 at the Phoenix Art Museum. 

Meanwhile, across the street at Judith Leiber, "Mad Men" costume designer Janie Bryant sipped martinis with actor Michael Gladis, Barbie designer Robert Best and fashion designer Magda Berliner, while signing copies of her new book, "The Fashion File: Advice, Tips and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Men" (Hachette, $26.99).

Here's a quick cheat-sheet on these two icons-in-the-making and their new style books.

Lady Gaga has been queen of the music industry for what feels like a mere minute, but she's already the subject of a few books — the latest one, "Lady Gaga: Critical Mass Fashion," hones in on the superstar's fashion predilections and partnerships.

Written by journalist Lizzy Goodman in small, chatty chapters with elongated captions detailing some of Gaga's wildest ensembles, the 144-page full-color book incorporates quotes from Gaga about her style — mostly gleaned from other media sources (she was clearly not in on the creation of the book).

Borrowed quotes include, "One day I said to my creative team, 'Gaultier did bows, let's do it in a new way,'" she told New York magazine. "We were going back and forth with ideas and then I said" — she snaps her fingers — "'hair bow.' It never cost a penny, and it looked so brilliant."

Now-iconic looks from Gaga captured in the book include the orbit-inspired Armani Prive dress she wore to the 2010 Grammy Awards; the Our Lady of Guadalupe costume comprised of a red lace bodysuit and sunrays made of hair; the bloody bejeweled bikini-ish getup she wore to perform at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards; and the newsprint catsuit she wore for a live show in Sydney, Australia.

Chapters are divided by sartorial themes — there's one dedicated to Gaga's pants-lessness, others on her kooky sunglasses (make that sunglass helmets) and out-there hats.

That the book feels quickly cobbled together to capitalize on Gaga mania hardly matters; for the Lady's diehard fans, it's a fabulous memento of the performer's initial ascent.

--Emili Vesilind

Photo: The cover of "Lady Gaga: Critical Mass Fashion." Credit: St. Martin's Press.

 

 

 

"True Prep," Lisa Birnbach's follow-up to "The Original Preppy Handbook" has been getting some serious love from the folks at Brooks Brothers -- with window displays and in-store book-signing parties across the country. Thursday night, the Rodeo Drive flagship was the center of all the action -- complete with pink and green cocktails and the author dressed in an ensemble from Brooks Brothers' Black Fleece collection.

Afterward, a handful of folks decamped to the Sunset Tower Hotel for dinner, where Birnbach effusively thanked the Brooks Brothers marketing team. "Thanks for making me feel relevant," she said.

But the clothier apparently isn't alone in its warm embrace of the book: In its second week, it's at the No. 10 spot on the Los Angeles Times nonfiction bestseller list.

Don't worry if you missed the Brooks Brothers book-signing; before she leaves town, the New York based author will be reading from -- and signing copies of -- the book at a free, open-to-the-public event on Saturday. 

So put down the Bloody Mary, shrug into your best polo shirt and head over to Book Soup, 8818 W. Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood, from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

-- Adam Tschorn

RELATED:

L.A. Times book review: "True Prep"

A field guide to L.A. preppies

Lisa Birnbach's "True Prep": 30 years after the "Official Preppy Handbook," what will Bink and Bootsy wear?

Nigel Barker knows a thing or two about beauty. He's not only been appraising wannabe supermodels as a judge on "America's Next Top Model" for 13 cycles -- he's also a former male model.

And now the "noted" fashion photographer has written a book, "Nigel Barker's Beauty Equation," that strives to answer the question, "What makes a woman beautiful?"

We caught up with the dapper lensman, who's in the midst of a whirlwind book tour, to chat about the new tome:

All the Rage: What made you want to write a book on beauty?

Nigel Barker: Obviously, I’m known as a photographer who works in fashion. I've been bombarded with questions on how to be a model -- "I want to be beautiful, make me beautiful." All too often, the way people were approaching it was something physical they had to do. It was always to do with how one stood or what they should wear ... when what I really look for is the essence of an individual.

Even if you are a model, none of those [physical elements] are going to make a good picture. I cast things like spontaneity and how personable [models] are. That's why they discuss personality so much on "America's Next Top Model." I started to write these chapters down. Charm, authenticity, health and well-being, compassion. These are the things that make you beautiful.

There are a lot of "America's Next Top Model" contestants quoted and photographed in the book --  including CariDee English and Shandi Sullivan. Are they representative of your favorites?

Most of them are people I know still and have remained in contact with. And also it was a little like, "Who’s available?"

There's been a lot of focus on weight in the modeling world lately. You show women of varying sizes in your book -- where do you stand on the subject?

Women give themselves such a hard time, and there’s no right and no wrong. Within the modeling industry, there’s no doubt that there are some girls out there that are too thin. But there are also girls who are genetically slim and can eat like a horse. That’s not to say we shouldn’t have wider variety of shapes and sizes and colors. But things are changing. It's a question of moving forward and figuring out what the public wants to see. Ten years ago there were many more models on the covers of magazines, and now it's mostly celebrities. The reason is is that people identify with a talented celebrity who’s more similar to them.

There's a chapter on how to take a good self-portrait -- with a cellphone, laptop and instant camera. Why do you think this was an important element to have in the book?

Well, I'm a photographer. And on the book's website, [beautyequation.com], I’m asking people to take self-portraits of themselves. As much as the book has a lot about me in it, the website I wanted to be about everyone’s else's message.

You talk a lot about your family in the book and dedicated it to your wife and your two young kids. How does family play into your professional life?

My family are everything to me. They come first in everything I do. Part of the reason to even write the book was thinking about when they started to grow up and ask questions about what daddy did. One starts to question what one does. I really wanted to have some proper answers and I questioned myself. I wanted my kids to look up for me for what I do, not just what I say.

-- Emili Vesilind

Photo: The cover for "Nigel Barker's Beauty Equation." Credit: Abrams Image

Phillip Bloch wants to help you temper that urge to spend recklessly on Fendi, Ferragamo...and even Forever 21.

In his new book, "The Shopping Diet," the outspoken stylist espouses the virtues of being cost-conscious and maximizing the potential of your existing wardrobe in this perma-dour economy. 

The photo-less book -- which is full of workbook-style blank spaces in which to take stock of your habits by writing them down -- promises to help you unveil your shopping compulsions; reevaluate and accentuate the positives in your personal style and body type; make your current wardrobe work for you; maximize your fashion purchases; and, finally, receive "the gift of conscious spending."

And, taken seriously, it just might live up to its promises.

Block dabbles in the psychology behind overspending ("Like an overeater...you need to figure out what compels you to whip out that credit card") and urges readers to keep a clothing diary of what they wear for two weeks -- to help "understand your personal style" and figure out what to eventually discard.

Then Bloch offers up some familiar style archetypes to pattern yourself after -- or not. Among the categories are the "Trend Addict," a la Nicole Richie and Sarah Jessica Parker; 'The Classic," such as Michelle Obama and Brooke Shields; and "The Hippie Princess," as embodied by Kate Hudson and Sienna Miller, among others.

Then comes the nitty-gritty of the book, which includes detailed pyramid graphs, a monthly debt worksheet and tips on everything from regifting to shopping vintage stores -- all in the name of keeping you within budget and looking chic.

The book's scope is impressively complete; Bloch takes on the concept of creating personal style on a budget with the vigor and precision of a prize-winning physicist.

And the appendix -- a 40-page "Shopping Diet Directory" of off-price websites, stores and resources -- moves the book's wallet-friendly advice very neatly into the real world.

-- Emili Vesilind

Photo: The cover of "The Shopping Diet" by Phillip Bloch. Credit: Gallery Books

Pop your collars and pour a G&T, Muffy and Kip, "True Prep," the follow-up to the "The Official Preppy Handbook," is bringing the neo-prep set out in full force.

An invite-only book signing at Brooks Brothers' Madison Avenue flagship in New York on Tuesday night (smack in the middle of New York Fashion Week) received some 570 RSVPs, and the night's stack of books had dwindled from 400 to just three in less than an hour, according to our madras-clad mole. (The clothier, it should be noted, is featured heavily in the new book, and Brooks is pulling out all the stops, complete with

"College girls love black eyeliner," said makeup artist and beauty industry icon Bobbi Brown, citing one of many things she's learned over the years about teens and beauty. "And they don't wear a lot of makeup unless they're going out."

Brown, a mother of three boys now college-aged and older, is certainly an expert on the subject.

She's poised to debut her second book on teenage beauty, "Beauty Rules," on Aug. 25, following up the super-successful "Bobbi Brown Teenage Beauty: Everything You Need to Look Pretty, Natural, Sexy and Awesome," which was published in 2001.

The hefty coffee table book chronicles dozens of mini-makeovers of real (and decidedly real-looking) girls -- not models -- while delving into lifestyle subjects including fitness and nutrition.

We caught up with Brown to chat about her new book; what, in her opinion, teenage girls need to know about lipstick and life; and how she spent her teenage years. 

All the Rage: Why did you want to do another beauty/lifestyle book for teens?

Bobbi Brown: My first one is my best-selling book and I realized that it was 10 years old. It's the one book that people are constantly stopping and telling me, "Oh my God, this helped me or my daughter."

I love how the book is full of real-looking girls. Where did you find them?

There's not one model in the book. The girl on the cover was a waitress in our town. A lot of the girls are friends’ daughters and I had a high school kid last year, so a lot of his friends were in it. I had three boys, but I watched these girls grow up from the time they were 3 years old, some of them.

What do you wish you knew about beauty when you were a teen?

That it’s OK to look different from everyone else. And that you don’t have to look like a Barbie. Right now the girls have a hard to time because they don’t look like the celebrities they see – the perfectly done-up celebrities. They think the girls wake up and look like that.

What, in your opinion, is the book's most important message?

That you are and can be amazing. You have to realize it, then you have to know a few tips and tricks. Everything from being kind to eating healthy – to basically do the right thing. Be who you are.


You branch out into other issues beyond beauty, including fitness and nutrition. Why did you want the book to be about more than beauty?

I thought about all the different things young girls need to know. Certainly they need to know how to cover a blemish, but I really think of things like the importance of exercise. Nothing makes you feel as good as exercising.

Hilary Duff wrote the book's foreword. Why was she your pick?

I think Hilary is a great role model. She's someone who's not only really nice and super pretty, but has been very honest about being in the public eye.


What kind of teenager were you?

I was short and I wanted to look like Cher – I was into that sexy hippie thing. I loved makeup even then. I used to apply makeup so I looked tan and healthy.

So you were you handy with makeup from an early age?

I was. I used to watch my mom, who was quite talented with makeup. She did white eyeshadow and black false eyelashes and pale pink lips. She used to put false eyelashes on with a Q-tip. I started using makeup when I wanted my friends to say, "Wow, you look so tan." I knew exactly how to put it on so it didn’t look fake.

At that time, you also wanted your shoe to be the smallest size possible.  I used to shove my Size 6 feet into 5-1/2 shoes. That was really cool to have a small foot. And of course we set our hair in juice cans so it would be stick-straight.

-- Emili Vesilind

Photo: The cover of Bobbi Brown's new book, "Beauty Rules." Credit: Chronicle Books.

Recession, shemession: Apparently couture houses are seeing a rise in demand. [WWD, subscription required]

Lily Cole will help kick off Paris couture week with the launch of her the North Circular knitwear label at Colette. [WWD]

Here's a clip of "Rachel Zoe" season 3, um sans Taylor Jacobson. [N.Y. Post]

Famously plus-size model Crystal Renn is looking rather svelte lately. [Huffington Post]

French Connection's new brand Pippa will debut at Bloomingdale's. [WWD, subscription required]

MAC and Disney plan to make magic with a villains collection. [WWD, subscription required]

Murad moves into teen, makeup lines. [WWD, subscription required]

From Kristen Stewart to Rihanna: Why red is the celebrity hair color du jour. [Daily Mail]

Video: Kelly Cutrone, Justine Bateman discuss Wonder Woman's makeover. [Huffington Post]

Photos of Khloe Kardashian are slimmed down for swimwear campaign. [Daily Mail]

Iconic swimwear photos (that may or may not have been Photoshopped). [StyleList]

Coming soon to bookstores: the Yohji Yamamoto story. [Telegraph UK]

Need something to read over the long weekend? Here are some books on American fashion. [Style Section L.A.]

-- Whitney Friedlander

Photo: Christian Dior exhibit at the autumn-winter 2009 Haute Couture week in Paris. Credit: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images