Style...A Work In Progress: Bookworm (magazine-worm just doesn’t have the same ring to it)

To me, magazines fall into two categories…those where every picture is so breathtaking and every article so interesting that they need to be kept whole and those with a few great shots or ideas.

The first category is, thankfully, relatively small and mainly consists of copies of French and British Vogue, Jalouse, and the semi-annual collection issues of l’Officiel.

Any “keepers” are stored flat on bookshelves, sorted by title (yes, I need help).

I used to buy the upright magazine holders that are available but, apart from being expensive, they didn’t keep the magazines in as good condition. Plus, laying them flat on bookshelves means I can store a lot more in the space I have available.

The second category is much easier to deal with. Once I’ve read the magazine I go through and tear out any pictures or articles that I want to keep.

These are then trimmed and placed in my clippings box.

Then, when I have some spare time, I create look/idea-books from the cuttings that I’ve collected. So far, I’m working on my third book and I find them useful in so many ways:

They’re a great place to store wish-list items. I had a clipping of a Lucien Pellat-Finet cashmere skull sweater in one of my books for years. Every so often I’d look at the picture, sigh, and decide that even I couldn’t rationalize spending that much money on a sweater. Then one day I found one in Barneys during the sale, drastically reduced plus a further 10% off for opening a store card.

It’s really nice to be able to put together concepts or ideas for outfits or themes and then refer back to them. You seem to get a better idea of your style as a whole when you look through a book like this. To paraphrase the poet Burns, “to be able to have the gift to see ourselves as others see us”…that’s the thing.

I also keep articles in my books, either people’s thoughts on their personal style or useful addresses. Do I need a 1920’s handbag repaired? I know that I saved an article from Vogue about a handbag repair store in New York.