Good Girls Don't Have to Dress Bad

Good Girls Don't Have to Dress Bad
A Style Guide for Every Woman
Shari Braendel
(Zondervan)
ISBN:978-0310326014
July, 2010/208 pages/$14.99
In Good Girls Don't Have to Dress Bad, Shari Braendel teaches you how to appreciate the body God gave you and how to always look your best-from conquering the battle of finding the right swimsuit, to choosing how many bangles you should wear or how big your purse should be, to wearing the right style jeans that will best flatter your thighs or hips, to finding the best places to shop to suit your unique personal style.

Many of us are watching reality TV shows to get a clue on how to dress right and look good. We hungrily purchase fashion magazines any time the cover article has something to do with how we can hide our despised body parts. We make mad dashes to the local department store to pick up the new anti-wrinkle cream Oprah promised will take ten years away from our face.

We care about how we look. Why is that? Because we're women, and women love to look and feel good. God made us that way. And this is not a bad thing. In fact, it's a wonderful thing. God loves beauty. He doesn't want us to reflect his image being sloppy, disheveled women of God who don't pay any attention to what we look like.

Good Girls Don't Have to Dress Bad will show you how to look and feel your best, no matter what day it is or what the occasion. And it will also stop you from screaming at the top of your lungs, "I have nothing to wear."


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Shari Braendel is a sought-after speaker for Christian women’s retreats, conferences, and youth events all over the nation. A fabulous, fun, and refreshing fashionista, she regularly hosts workshops for women to help them appreciate their beauty, discover their natural assets, and learn what to wear so they can look and feel their best. Learn more by visiting her website and blog.





YOU COULD WIN A SHOPPING SPREE AND A FASHION MAKEOVER WITH SHARI BRAENDEL!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Complete and submit the entry form at www.FashionMeetsFaith.com, Shari Braendel FaceBook page, Zondervan FaceBook page, Zondervan Twitter account between August 9, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. (EST) and August 28, 2010 at 5:00 p.m (EST).

First Prize: One Winner will receive . . .
One $500 Visa gift card, one web camera, one-hour fashion consultation with Shari Braendel via Skype, one set of color swatches, and one autographed copy of Good Girls Don’t Have to Dress Bad. Approximate retail value: $600. The fashion consultation will be scheduled at a mutually convenient time for the winner and Ms. Braendel on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday between September 15 and November 15, 2010.

Second Prize: Three Winners will receive . . .
One $100 Visa gift card, one 30-minute fashion consultation with Shari Braendel via telephone, one set of color swatches, and one autographed copy of Good Girls Don’t Have to Dress Bad. Approximate retail value: $450. The fashion consultation will be scheduled at a mutually convenient time for the winner and Ms. Braendel on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday between September 15 and November 15, 2010.

Third Prize: Ten Winners will receive . . .
One autographed copy of Good Girls Don’t Have to Dress Bad. Approximate retail value $150.

For complete details or to enter, visit Shari’s website.

Shari Braendel answers some questions about her book:

Where did you get the idea for the book?
My speaking platform is fashion with a faith emphasis. I have been involved with the fashion industry longer than I’ve been a Christian so pulling the two topics together was a natural thing for me. I was compelled to write it because I found that Christians are hesitant to talk about outer beauty. I knew it was time to give Christian women permission to talk about this topic and get it out in the open.

What are the major themes of the book?
It is a guide for women to know exactly how to dress, how to make up their face, what eye frames, hairstyle, jeans, and swimsuit they should buy all based on their individual body shape and coloring. There’s even a shopping guide available that tells women exactly what style and brand of clothes to buy based on their budget and their clothing personality, which they identify in the book. Modesty is an overall theme, and understanding that you are beautiful EXACTLY the way you are, no matter your size, is a major theme throughout. It is also full of pictures with real women of all shapes and sizes and is a full color book for only $14.99 which I’m thrilled that Zondervan put so much effort into the book and kept the price affordable so anyone could afford it.

What kind of research did you have to do for the book?
Through my blog and speaking over the past several years, I found that most women are not raised with mothers who knew how to teach them to dress. So we’ve become a society of women who wear what the salespeople in the stores tells us to wear, and for the most part, most salespeople are uneducated in knowing about colors and body shapes for an individual. If black is in style, the salespeople insist it will work for you, even if it doesn’t. They just want to sell clothes, and you can’t blame them, because they haven’t been trained. This book will give a woman complete confidence in knowing what works for HER and even gives checklists as to what she should have in her closet. It’s an easy, do it yourself guide to knowing how to dress for YOU, not someone else.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
My prayer is that when a woman finishes this book, she will say, “Oh my goodness, I never knew it was this easy!” I hope she will look in the mirror and finally be convinced that she is beautiful exactly as she is and now has the knowledge and confidence to dress her beautiful self so she feels good every time she goes to her closet because she’ll know exactly what to wear for any occasion. Impulsive shopping nightmares will become a thing of the past because she’s armed with the knowledge from the book. That’s my prayer!


MY THOUGHTS
The words style and Christian woman are often thought to be an incompatible pair, never to be found in the same sentence. . .or the same dressing room! Shari Braendel takes a different approach with this new book. She reinforces the concept that beauty comes from the inside and encourages each woman to celebrate her unique physical features while at the same time showing her how to look her best. This is a highly practical book. The author shares guidelines for all body types, sizes, and coloring. Optimal clothing colors, eyeglasses, swimwear, and make-up are just a few of the topics addressed in this book. The pictures interspersed throughout the book encompass a wide range of normal, and I appreciate that there are pictures of generously-sized women in the book. My only suggestion is that the cover somewhat reflect this, instead of showing a svelte pair of legs that appear to be part of a 20-year-old's body!

This was a special treat for me to review this book - not only is Shari a speaker for Proverbs 31 Ministries, she is also a writer for Suzie Magazine, and her son was on the same team as my girl on the recent mission trip.



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Zondervan and The Blog Tour Spot as part of their Blogger Review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”