Always Pack a Party Dress

Book excerpt: Author of the bestselling I Love Your Style Amanda Brooks shares her personal stories, and sartorial highs and lows, from a life in fashion, with beautiful, eclectic, and inspired photographs throughout. An authentic voice in the world of style and how-to books, Amanda Brooks, with her unique and enviable yet accessible style, has inspired thousands of women of all ages to find their own personal look and explore their identity through the clothes they love to wear. In the past twenty years, Brooks has worked as a photo assistant for Patrick Demarchelier, a “gallerina” at the Gagosian Gallery, and at various fashion posts, before finding her dream job as fashion director for Barneys New York. Along the way—and wearing more than a few of the kinds of outfits we’ve all regretted at one point or another—Brooks has discovered the key to creating her personal style, combining influences as wide-ranging as childhood prep school, Grateful Dead concerts, contemporary artists, pop culture, and her current home outside of the fashion bubble, a farm where she lives with her family (and a host of animals) in England. Brooks recalls her early career aspirations and explores the evolution of her own personal style in stories of successes and failures alike, and offers fashion and beauty tips and inspiring photographs throughout. Always Pack a Party Dress is a must-read for high fashion or street style aficionados. In this gorgeously produced gift book, Brooks shares her expertise and insider view with warm, candid, and witty prose.