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Review: "Pretty in Plaid" by Jen Lancaster


From Goodreads:  In Pretty in Plaid, Jen Lancaster reveals how she developed the hubris that perpetually gets her into trouble. Using fashion icons of her youth to tell her hilarious and insightful stories, readers will meet the girl she used to be.

Think Jen Lancaster was always "like David Sedaris with pearls and a super-cute handbag?" (Jennifer Coburn) Think again. She was a badge-hungry Junior Girl Scout with a knack for extortion, an aspiring sorority girl who didn't know her Coach from her Louis Vuitton, and a budding executive who found herself bewildered by her first encounter with a fax machine. In this humorous and touching memoir, Jen Lancaster looks back on her life-and wardrobe-before bitter was the new black and shows us a young woman not so very different than the rest of us.

The author who showed us what it was like to wait in line at the unemployment office with a Prada bag, how living in the city can actually suck, and that losing weight can be fun with a trainer named Barbie and enough Ambien is ready to take you on a hilarious and heartwarming trip down memory lane in her shoes (and very pretty ones at that).


My Thoughts:  I love Jen Lancaster.  I was feeling pretty crummy when I picked this book up but she never fails to lift my spirits.  I swear that she says all the things that I think and could never say.  Pretty in Plaid is a look at Jen's early life and all of the crazy things she did prior to Bitter is the New Black.  Jen was a sassy kid who grew into a super sassy adult!  Whether or not it's all true, it is pretty hilarious to think of 8 year old Jen ordering lobster and then being too freaked out to eat it!  It's also funny to think of a crazy doctor locking her in an office to get her to complete a bunch of paperwork (one of my favorite stories in the book).  While telling all these fun stories, she is sure to mention what she is wearing and some of the outfits will make you shudder.  There were times where I definitely could relate to her; she was just another girl trying to find her place in the world and who can't relate to that?  Overall, this book is a fun, fluffy read that is great if you are looking for a laugh.  4 stars.
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