Public88 : Fashion

The new book Seventeen Magazine’s Ultimate Guide to Style (Running Press, $23) wants to be a young woman’s fashion bible. Compiling style tips from the publication’s editors, Hollywood stylists, celebrities and young readers, the colourful guide divides its fashions into seven distinct looks: classic, edgy, girly, glam, sporty, artsy and boho, all with advice on accessories and how to inject personality into an outfit. According to Seventeen’s editor-in-chief Ann Shoket, it encourages girls to make their own sense of style stand out. Manori Ravindran spoke to Shoket about how her team went about compiling the book, what being an ultimate guide means and Seventeen’s message for young women.

Q Is this one of the first extensive style guides published by Seventeen?
A We’ve had a lot of books. This is the first book that I’ve done with my name on it, which I’m so incredibly proud of. It, to me, is the most comprehensive, the most visually stunning book we’ve done, ever, about fashion, and about finding your sense of style. But one of the most important things about being editor of a 67-year-old brand is making sure it feels of the moment. We don’t let teenage girls know that we’re 67 years old. We want to make sure that we feel like we’re for the reader right now. What does she need, how can we help her, what is the texture of her life? And how are we going to help her get dressed and find her own sense of style?

Q How long did it take to compile everything?
A The book was about nine months in the making.

Q How did you decide on the seven different styles?
A We’re very tuned in about what’s happening with our readers, what’s happening in the world of fashion. We pay very careful attention to this, but part of what we do in our everyday lives at Seventeen is to figure out what are the trends, how do girls want to dress and how can we help them find their best look.

Q Were there any challenges compiling the book?
A I think the book was a fantastic project from beginning to end. We love teenage girls. Fashion is crazy-delicious-
insane fun. So making this book was a pure labour of love.

Q What about for girls who can’t afford that brand new back-to-school wardrobe?
A I think this book is absolutely for those girls who want to figure out how to put their looks together based on what they have in their closet. I think [the question is] how do you find your own sense of style, and I think that that’s really important. But the other piece that’s so important about this book is that there are no hard and fast rules. You can decide one day that you’re going to put together a look that’s very girly, the next you’re going to be edgy, you might be boho on the weekends, you might try glam for a holiday party. You are meant to dip into the chapters and decide how you’re feeling in the moment.

Q What has the feedback been?
A Phenomenal. Oh my goodness. I am so warm in the heart about how girls have responded to this book. We’ve gotten tweets, we’ve gotten Facebook posts, we’ve gotten emails that girls are saying this is the book they wish they had had sooner, that they’re rushing out to the bookstores to get it. It’s really been a just over-the-top positive response from our readers.

Q What does Seventeen do to curb the pressures young girls feel today, especially if they’re looking through the pages of the guide and seeing a certain kind of girl portrayed?
A I think that diversity of body type, diversity of skin tone, diversity of hair texture, all of that is incredibly important to Seventeen, and I think if you look back you’ll see there is incredible diversity

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