We all learn at some - probably painful - stage in adolescence that what is fashionable will not necessarily be suitable. Some of us never get beyond that conclusion, and settle for being clean, soberly and safely dressed - preferably in clothes that don't make our bottoms look too big. Carol Spenser's style counsel books, Slimline and Petite, are aimed at such fashion dropouts. They aim to show how to dress to maximise your natural advantages and hide the blemishes. Each of these books contains more or less the same information, arranged according to priorities. So Slimline is for women who need to dress in a more slimming way (whether because they are overweight, or because their current dress-style is making them look overweight) and Petite is for the 50 per cent of women who are under 5 foot 4 inches and need to look taller. There is advice on colouring, makeup, accessorising, lifestyle, clearing out the wardrobe, but the most enlightening is on how to classify your figure and then dress it.
Dividing bodies into three classes of figure - straight, tapered or curved - Spenser shows how clothes that flatter one figure look fierce on another. Equally valuable is her guide to hiding figure-bugbears such as narrow shoulders, short neck, fleshy arms, etc. For example, for a large bust do wear Dolman sleeves, plain matt fabrics and loose-fitting garments on top, medium-length necklaces or brooches on the shoulder, and underwired bras. Don't wear brooches on your lapel, shiny fabrics or large patterns on top, high-waisted skirts or trousers, breast pockets - particularly with buttons - horizontal details across the bustline and "necklaces which dangle over the precipice".
Her information is presented particularly clearly, with informative illustrations by Sarah Leete reminiscent of those press-out-and-dress paper figures on the back of Bunty, which is reassuring to those whose last fashion adventures date from childhood.
Does it work? This reader found that the things (she reckons) she looks best in fit into the guidelines given. There are, it seems, reasons why they look good - a cowl flatters a long neck, a medium-weight, matt fabric looks good on the tapered figure. Equally, there are reasons why useful pieces of clothing leave that uneasy not-quite-right feeling - sad to say, most of them have to do with horizontal stripes.
Style Counsel Petite and Style Counsel Slimline are published by Piatkus, price £5.99 in the UK