Best style & clothing books according to redditors

I can't remember where, possibly Workin' It, I read that apparently Mathu has a knack for the symmetry/proportions of faces. Ru said something like that Mathu would just be able to look at someone's painted mug and be able to say like, 'Do this more..' 'Fix that..' etc. That talent, applied to wigs, pretty much.

Here goes the dump:

On perfume industry:

Chandler Burr - The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York - the book that originally got me into fragrances. It is exactly what it says on the cover: an inside look at how mainstream fragrances (specifically Jardin Sur Le Nil by Hermes and Lovely by S J Parker) are developed.

Jean Claude Ellena - Diary of a Nose J-C Ellena is the head perfumer at Hermes and a part time writer (and a hero of the previous book). This book is more about his personal reminiscences and thoughts about perfumes. He also gives an interesting list of cool fragrance recipes (accords) in the appendix

Jean Claude Ellena - Perfume: The Alchemy of Scent - by the same author. This book is mostly about the industry.

Denyse Beaulieu - The Perfume Lover: A Personal History of Scent This is an autobiographic book from a woman who reeeealy loves perfumes and managed to convinced a famous perfumer Bertrand Duchafour to make a perfume for her. Sometimes reads more like an erotic novel but a good book.

Perfume guides:

Luca Turin, Tania Sanchez - Perfumes: The A-Z Guide - a famous guide, very quirky and opinionated but their perfume descriptions are great fun to read.

Luca Turin's blog Turin is a famous perfume freak and olfaction scientist, he stopped writing, but the blog posts are available for download.

Chandler Burr - articles Burr is a self-styled perfume art critic, who writes for major newspaper and magazines. His articles make a good intro for a layman.

Barbara Herman - Scent and Subversion: Decoding a Century of Provocative Perfume This is about collecting antique perfumes. Reads a like a slightly edited collection of blog posts (which I think it indeed is).

Tessa Williams - Cult Perfumes A guide to niche perfumes. I suspect most of the text was written by the brands themselves, because sometimes it has a marketing blurb feel to it. Nevertheless it gives a good overview of major players.

The H&R Books (4 Volume Set) Book of Perfume, Fragrance Guide , Feminine Notes, Fragrance Guide, Masculine Notes, Guide to Fragrance Ingredients It doesn't say all that much about each perfumes, just the notes, but what it lacks in depth it makes up in breadth.

Michael Edwards - Fragrances of The World - another huge compendium. Don't have it myself, but looks very solid.

On general olfaction:

Chandler Burr - Emperor of Scent - it's about Luca Turin and his new theory of olfaction. I get the feeling that the technicalities are over the author's head but it's a fun read. Has a lot about fragrances as well.

Luca Turin - The Secret of Scent: Adventures in Perfume and the Science of Smell the book by the man himself. Fun popular science.

Avery Gilbert - What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life A collection of popular sketches about olfaction, from Smell-o-vision to the way they train police dogs

Gunter Ohloff, Wilhelm Pickenhagen, Philip Kraft - Scent and Chemistry - I havent read it yet, but it comes with high recommendations.

I also have a bunch of books on perfume making, but these probably should go into a separate topic

Wahrscheinlich nicht genau das was Du dir vorgestellt hast, das Tagebuch des Söldners Peter Hagendorf kann aber durchaus interessant sein. Das hat jetzt wenig mit den großen Machtspielen der Herrscher und Politik zu tun, sondern zeigt die Sicht eines Söldners und den damaligen Lebensstil der Menschen die nichts anderes als den Krieg kannten. Wie trocken und verroht die Ereignisse teilweise beschrieben werden ist aus heutiger Sicht schon interessant, erschreckend und sehr befremdlich.

https://www.amazon.de/Peter-Hagendorf-Tagebuch-Drei%C3%9Figj%C3%A4hrigen-Herrschaft/dp/389971993X

Dazu gibt es noch die Aufzeichnungen aus Sicht des Abtes Maurus Friesenegger vom Kloster Andechs, hier geht es eher um die Landbevölkerung, die am absoluten Ende der Gewaltspirale standen.

https://www.amazon.de/Tagebuch-aus-dem-30j%C3%A4hrigen-Krieg/dp/3865201822

Do not ever pay for magazines!!!! There are a few ways to get most of the popular magazines online for free you just have to make a new email and sacrifice it for spam. Seriously google it for 15 minutes you will have more magazines then you can dream.

Also, I don’t know if you’re familiar with PurseForum but you should check it out. #pursejunkie haha

There’s a book I have bought but haven’t read yet The Thoughtful Dresser that might interest you.

I'm agnostic and from the West - but why do we completely dismiss the possibility that perhaps (some of) these women wear hijabs/burkhas et al by choice? And not because of coercion from outside, misogynistic sources? What if they feel that it's a way of expressing themselves and participating/holding onto their culture?

Edit: If you have the time/the money/the desire, you may want to consider reading this book.

It was in the curriculum for one of my upper level history courses called "Church and State."

Dear Yarcofin,

Whilst I admire your desire to demonstrate yourself as a gentleman, despite the fact that no plebeians, such as yourself, shall ever be true gentlemen--as plebeian blood is many shades from blue--I shall endeavor to guide thee nearest, by way of the written word, to the state of the cavalier.

I shall hope you will find much erudition, form, and poise betwixt pages and pages of the following ledgers:

How to Be a Gentleman

The Affected Provincial's Companion

How to Be a Man

Gentleman: A Timeless Guide to Fashion

Dressing the Man

The Art of Manliness

Regards,

Curtains

Wow, atrueamateur, way to be a buzzkill. Once OP learns the basics of cutting on grain and assembling with the machine, there is no reason why you can't try a simple unlined jacket. There are a ton of patterns out there for these kinds of jackets. Look at sewingpatterns.com and search on jackets. Don't try it without a pattern, and buy the pattern according to your measurements, not your RTW size. Once you get a little practice, you can look at on-line sources for instruction and at a book called Easy, Easier, Easiest Tailoring from http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Easier-Easiest-Tailoring-Palmer/dp/0935278095/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396641608&sr=8-1&keywords=easy+easier+easiest+tailoring It's old but the basics are there and the authors really demystify what atrueamateur is talking about. Go fo it!

For young people, certain things just look like you’re trying too damn hard: bowties, pocket squares, French cuffs, white collars on a colored shirt, suspenders, wide-spread collars, vested suit (sometimes), etc.

It’s easy to blame other people, but your clothes are prompting their reaction. I don’t know you and I don’t know the way you dress. But perhaps you should think about trying to be more subtle: buying nice clothes that aren’t at all ostentatious. Don’t wear bowties if, when you wear one, people make comments.

In my opinion, the majority of advice on MFA will make a high school or college students look good for other high school or college students. If I wore my pants below my natural waste or if I wore wingtips or a bow tie, the men at my work would think I was an immature, insecure, hipster douche bag. There is nothing wrong with those things, but dress to your audience. Being stylish, being able to express your own, personal style, within the bounds of what’s acceptable to your peers is a true and worthy challenge. An artist is limited by the artistic media he chooses to work with. So to, you are limited by your lifestyle, income, peer group, profession, region, etc. Strive to be stylish and express yourself within you lifestyle’s bounds. Then you will look good without looking like you’re wearing a costume to try to look good.

If following the advice on this forum is getting criticism, I’d like to suggest some alternative sources for advice:

http://www.amazon.com/Dressing-Man-Mastering-Permanent-Fashion/dp/0060191449/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344004043&sr=8-1&keywords=allan+flusser

http://www.amazon.com/Clothes-Man-Principles-Fine-Dress/dp/0394546237/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344004043&sr=8-2&keywords=allan+flusser

http://www.amazon.com/GENTLEMAN-TIMELESS-GUIDE-FASHION-Ullmann/dp/3833152702/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b

http://www.amazon.com/The-Suit-Machiavellian-Approach-Style/dp/0060891866/ref=pd_sim_b_7 (especially the chapter for “young” persons)

http://www.amazon.com/Elegance-Menswear-G-Bruce-Boyer/dp/0393304388/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344004086&sr=1-1&keywords=bruce+boyer

http://www.amazon.com/Eminently-Suitable-G-Bruce-Boyer/dp/0393028771/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344004086&sr=1-3&keywords=bruce+boyer

Your library should have these, as they are menswear “classics.” The books are well-written and, though older than something like “Esquire The Handbook of Style,” the advice is better. How to dress well is a timeless art.

> Out of curiosity, how many knot options are there for tying a tie?

85.

Here are other, less-expensive tie-related resources.

I'm not too sure if it'd help, but I was reminded of this book -> http://www.amazon.com/Deploy-that-Fabric-Projects-Military/dp/160705244X

I've never used the stuff before, so I'm not really sure how to answer, but I imagine if worse comes to worse, that book may have some answers for you. Either way, good luck! I love those sorts of projects. :) Can't wait to see!

Per 85 ways to Tie a Tie, the four in hand knot is not symmetrical.

It's Late Iron Age, but it is a place to start: https://www.amazon.com/Iconic-Costumes-Scandinavian-Iconography-Textiles-ebook/dp/B01NCMMAZT

Also, this is what (some) women's costumes looked like in the 2nd century BC.

Oh yes, sorry, how stupid of me.

Bodies of Inscription: a Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Community and Inked: Tattoos and Body Art around the World, both by Margo DeMello.

I've used and like Alterations and Repairs, and Easy, Easier, Easiest Tailoring as far as resources go, but nothing will teach you tailoring better than simply doing it.

Pick up some cheap clothes at Goodwill (so the fear of "ruining" the garment doesn't paralyze you) and dive in. Yes, you will make mistakes. We all do. But that's part of learning!

Putting darts into blouses and pants is probably the most important and most common tailoring technique, aside from hemming. This no-tie finish for darts literally changed my life.

full or half windsor are fine for most situations.

85 ways to tie a tie is actually a pretty good book. Wow it's so pricey now.

I like the comments u/goodbyereckless made - if you are wondering why in the world do people spend all this time and effort doing makeup I would agree that it is to accentuate the features of ourselves we like best. For instance, I have freckles so I try to use a foundation that does not cover them up. Sometimes this gets tricky when I have redness from pimples, but I like my freckles to show through so I use a foundation with less coverage than others (BB Cream, BareMinerals powder foundation).

I like my eyes - blue with yellow in the middle so sometimes they can look green - and I like to choose colors for eyeshadow that accentuate my eyes. Browns can look very natural and day to day and they make blue eyes pop. Purples can be a little more fun and really bring out the green part of my eyes. You can use eyeliner to define your eye more, but you don't have to. In fact, one of my favorite looks is just to use dark shadow in place of eyeliner - it looks a little softer for everyday.

My go to look if I don't have lots of time is foundation, setting powder (ELF HD Powder - $6), a little blush and some mascara. Ooh and I'm a chapstick addict, but I try to also have on a MLBB (My Lips But Better - something your lip color but maybe just a shade deeper or pinker whatever you find yourself preferring) so that I don't look very pale in the morning. And if you want something to look at with some good tips and a very real world sense about makeup I really enjoyed the book Bobbi Brown Beauty when I was younger and a little more clueless about what is important about makeup.

As Rupaul says " You are not your skin color. You are not your gender, your politics, your career, or your marital status. You are none of the superficial things that this world deems important. The real you is the energy force that created the entire universe!" These are the words of one of the most inspirational and loving people on earth. Workin it - by Rupaul

In France, the notion of citizen / citizenship, secularism ("laïcité"), and the "Public" have specific, important components that are often poorly understood by non-French. It is something worth reading about.

1. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159240328X/ref=oh_o04_s01_i00_details
   
2. http://www.amazon.com/GENTLEMAN-TIMELESS-GUIDE-FASHION-Ullmann/dp/3833152702/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3TPPWDLACPI4Z&colid=FLC5W5OOSQLF
   
3. http://www.amazon.com/Esquire-The-Handbook-Style-Looking/dp/1588167461/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3HOO0657RWPLF&colid=FLC5W5OOSQLF
   
4. http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-3rd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp/0982522738/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I32MMPCIUV1D2I&colid=FLC5W5OOSQLF

The definitive book on tying your tie was written by a physicist. Here it is: The 85 Ways to Tie a Tie: The Science and Aesthetics of Tie Knots.

For anybody who would like a pop-science rendering of the "vibration" theory of scent, I can recommend Luca Turin's book, The Secret Of Scent

It's (obviously) rather one-sided, but is a pretty good read.

What's on your scent to-try list right now?

I think it was this one? I read/skimmed several. Lol.
https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Scent-Adventures-Perfume-Science/dp/0061133841/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WSYNFTMAVV3G5A7B82SQ

Not exactly what you're asking for, but I found The Thoughtful Dresser by Linda Grant fascinating. It really made me think differently about what I wear and why I wear it.
From Amazon: "The Thoughtful Dresser celebrates the pleasure of adornment and is an elegant meditation on our relationship with what we wear and the significance of clothes as the most intimate but also public expressions of our identity."

While I normally wouldn't recommend a book, I bought this one and I found it awesome:

http://www.amazon.com/Man-Up-Classic-Skills-Modern/dp/157965391X

https://www.amazon.com/Bobbi-Brown-Beauty/dp/0060929766

This book taught me a lot of the basics. Beyond that, tons of practice.

Hey thanks for sharing, just added some of your items into my wishlist! :)
This one (Man Up!: 367 Classic Skills for the Modern Guy) looks great, I am getting it today hehe.

Gentleman: A Timeless Guide To Fashion by Bernhard Roetzel.

Bobby Brown Beauty is a classic book on both skincare and makeup. Don't be fooled by the book's age (1998); her tips are timeless and extremely applicable.

Hello! Welcome to RAOA :D

Oooh soaps! That's awesome. Do you have a website or anything where you sell your soaps? I've seen Dead sea mud in soap, but never thought about how someone who wants to make it would obtain some >_> maybe this? or here's some Pink Himalayan Salt.

This book and this seem interesting.

I thought this was funny :3 and here's a badass cat!

I watched this video a long time ago and it's my favorite (:

Thanks for the awesome contest :D

While I know a lot of anthropologists working on this topic, they're all young scholars who don't have books out yet, and I don't know the field well enough to recommend the books that are out. What I can tell you is that John Bowen's work on Islam in France has been popular among public intellectuals there (see Why the French Don't Like Headscarves and Can Islam Be French?). His current research is on Sharia law in Britain and he's already got a book out on that too (On British Islam).

When I was younger my parents never really kept me from makeup which I think was very smart on their part. I was able to experiment without going over the top for the thrill of it being "taboo". I have tried a lot of different foundations - liquid, mousse, and bare minerals which I am currently favoring since my skin has evened out a bit past my teen years and I am liking a more natural look in my day to day. I tried liquid liner when I was younger and that took a long time to be successful with. I have played with a lot of different color palates, but I feel like I look best when simply enhancing my natural features. One book I really enjoyed on this topic was Bobbi Brown Beauty, it has a lot of great tips for people of all ages.

the bangs are really great. wear some more makeup. try different looks. bobbi brown has some great books for makeup advice:

http://www.amazon.com/Bobbi-Brown-Beauty/dp/0060929766

I'm writing this as a main comment so I know you'll see this, rather than down in response to /u/hambonedinosaur. I also see that you already say you're going to go for it, but I thought I'd toss in my two cents anyway.

EDIT: If you read one thing I have to say, be it this - check out this reading about the PA here. It's from The Piercing Bible, a fantastic source about anything piercing. It's extremely helpful, and it's what convinced me to get my PA. Seriously. It's really helpful.

I got my PA last summer, about 9 months ago, and I have no regret about it. I was pierced with 12g, which I recommend. 8g is unnecessarily large for initial piercing, and will lead to A LOT of bleeding. I'd say go for 10g at most. With 12g, there wasn't too much bleeding. It healed very quickly, my gf and I had sex three or four days after.

Don't worry one bit about your size. Your piercer doesn't care, and they'll understand about it being small. I'm average sized, and when I got pierced it was the smallest I've ever seen it. I think it knew the needle was coming, and was trying to hide. /u/hambonedinosaur said the receiving tube (goes down your urethra to receive the needle) was the worst part. I disagree with this. The tube wasn't painful, just awkward feeling. I'd never felt anything stretch/put pressure on my urethra like that before, it was definitely interesting. If your piercer starts to use foreceps instead of a tube, ask them to stop and use a tube instead. And don't worry about the pain of the needle, it's instantaneous and gets better as soon as it's through. The euphoria that comes after outweighs the pain 10:1 and makes the pain seem like nothing. You will be walking awkwardly after and the next day or two as you figure things out haha.

I wore thin pads for the first couple of days, and it was plenty to catch the dribbles of blood that came out with movement. At night, I slept with a rubber latex glove and paper towel gently rubber banded on. That helped a lot not spreading mess in bed. The first night was by far the most bleeding of all nights, but it wasn't much at all (a teaspoon maybe?). I was scared as shit to get a boner and tried my best not to. You really don't have to worry, you will get a boner in your first few days, but it's not going to be as catastrophic as you may believe (at least I did, I thought it would make me start bleeding).

It's important to keep it clean. When you shower, take a minute to lather your hand, gently rub the soap around. Put soap on the ring, and turn the ring so it rotates as much as possible through piercing hole and urethra. The first week or two you will get dead cell build-up and (while you're still bleeding) dried blood on the ring. It's very important to thoroughly get this off, it is uncomfortable as fuck for shit stuck on your ring to go through the hole. If you happen to not take a shower every day, make sure you clean the ring at least once a day. I recommend soaking it (I put soapy water in a shot glass and let it soak for a few minutes, while I brushed my teeth), then using a q-tip and saline solution to gently rub/scrub any build-up off. You'll noticed after a week, two, three, that your ring stops getting as much build-up as it did, and then you can stop cleaning it as religiously. Still give a minute to clean it whenever you shower.

If your piercer only gives you the jewelry they put in you and no extras (that's what mine did), MAKE SURE YOU GET EXTRAS! Doesn't matter where, whether you buy them there or at a mall or whatever, just have a few extras lying around. You never know when you'll need one, and don't want to be caught without one. I've lost the ball in my compression ring a few times - thankfully not the ring, but could've easily happened. Just last week I lost my horseshoe ring at work when I was going to the bathroom and noticed as I was shaking off one of the balls had come unscrewed, and as I noticed that, it went flying and went down the drain of the toilet. RIP horseshoe ring. And (you may be different from me) when I got home 9 hrs later and put my compressing ring in, it took a bit of convincing to go in. So don't leave your ring out for an extended period for a long while, it could shrink.

Going back to gauging, I recommend NOT starting at 8g, start at 10 or 12. It's easy to go up. I'm at a 10 now and am planning on going to an 8g in a few months. I'm taking this slowly. One of my friends who has a PA said that (if you don't want to gauge to a 0 or 00 or whatever) 6g is a good stopping place - just the right size, good weight, etc.

Anyway. That was a lot longer than I had planned making this. It's going to be awesome, and I'm confident you're going to love it. Don't let your douchebag brain get you all worked up and worried about how much it's going to hurt or how terrible it's going to be. Tell that little voice to stfu and go sit in the corner. It won't be nearly as bad as anything that little voice in your head will make you think it'll be. You're going to love it as soon as your pierced.

Cheers, and good luck! (Sorry for the essay....)

Apparently one of his accomplishments was speaking at the Hapa Issues Forum. Looking that up. Its basically a college hapa club that collapsed. Real qualified.

I don't argue with him on some aspects. I totally believe in hybrid vigor and that hapas and other mixed race people have biological advantages over monoracial people.

However i realize that humanity doesnt live solely within biological confines. We are an intelligent species and therefore we have a society and culture. We give certain races and traits value regardless of what biology has to say. Therefore even though hapa men can be biologically superior we can also be socially inferior.

He posted here because he didn't know what /r/hapas was and thought he could sell a few more books. Take a look at the reviews for his book: https://www.amazon.com/Breeding-Between-Lines-Interracial-Attractive/product-reviews/1569808023/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=one_star&showViewpoints=0 Tons of one star reviews because everyone knows hes spouting pseudo-science bullshit.

http://www.amazon.com/Bearded-Gentleman-Style-Guide-Shaving/dp/1551523434

I have a signed copy.

All of these are on loan from my library network and on Amazon.

Coming to My Senses; A Story of Perfume, Pleasure, and an Unlikely Bride, by Alyssa Harad. The book that got me into this. An account of how author got into it, recommended for those interested in niche.

What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life Avery Gilbert

Scent and Subversion: Decoding A Century Of Provocative Perfume by Barbera Herman



Fragrant; The Secret Life of Scent Mandy Aftel. Author trivia; before Aftel was a perfumer, she was a psychotherapist.

A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman.

The Secret of Scent: Adventures in Perfume and the Science of Smell Author Luca Turin explores the two competing theories of smell. Is scent determined by molecular shape or molecular vibrations? 




Available sometime in June I believe, the new edition of The Perfume Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez will be available.

Here's some goodness from Instagram from Mandy Aftel

1.) Done! I fucking love Queen <3

2.) "Drop of a hat she's as willing as.
Playful as a pussy cat.
Then momentarily out of action,
Temporarily out of gas,
To absolutely drive you wild, wild..
She's all out to get you.

She's a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, gelatine
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime"

3.) Stuff and Things

4.) A Night of Queen

5.) !!!!!!

6.) My favorite type of queen because they're as bitchy as I am

Welcome! I hope you have a good time here. I think we are pretty swell. An autobiography of a famous drag queen is pretty outrageous.

Seriously? You're not going to find the answer to that question here. It takes a lifetime, sweetie.

Take a page from my new book...