Sam Saboura knows a thing or two about style. With a closetful of secrets, he has dressed your favorite celebrities and countless women on ABC’s Extreme Makeover. Now he reveals his insider tricks and foolproof tips so you can always look great—whether you’re at the office, enjoying a night out, or indulging in a day off—by making fashion choices that work for your figure and your personality.
Learn to shop like the pros, understand how a tailor can transform your wardrobe, and discover the magic of the right undergarments that can take you down a few sizes—these are just some of the proven solutions that have helped women everywhere look their absolute best. This is your chance to discover your own real style.
Rating: 
(out of 33 reviews)
List Price: $ 17.95
Price: $ 8.40
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Review by imported beer for Sam Saboura’s Real Style: Style Secrets for Real Women with Real Bodies
Rating:
This book is written in an informal, down to earth, engaging style. Saboura is full of easy to follow, easy to execute ideas that work. In addition, he offers an entire, indispensible chapter on foundation garments that most style books treat with less importance. He offers extensive advice on jeans, building a basic wardrobe, tailoring, and since he does not insist on Hermes bags, or Ralph Lauren pants, his advice won’t break the bank or raise eyebrows. However, I had some issues with his book.
1. Fabrics- He is very detailed about cuts and styles for your body type with little focus on fabric except in the dressing for office section. For example, a pencil skirt in matte jersey would look far better on an hourglass than one in textured boucle which would better suit someone who needs to add bulk to their lower body.
2. Color- Color advice is also limited except for foundation colors like black, camel, grey, white etc. He does offer fabric choices for each, but when you have only five choices, it is not much. Some simple caveats, for some blondes and redheads who look deathly pale in black would help – especially since you cannot look stylish when you look sickly.
3. Some strange suggestions- My personal opinion is that a diamond tennis bracelet is not an everyday accessory unless you are a hollywood starlet, and one does not wear a blush pink suit to work if one wants to project authority.
4. Accesories – Tips are not specific. What shoes look best with what styles is not covered in much detail and this is essential for all those girls who wear ankle strap stilletoes with denim miniskirts. Also, he limits accesories to shoes and jewelry, mostly.
5. Where to look-I think this is where the “pocket stylist” scores over this book. With this, you might have a definite idea of shapes when you go to the mall, but not of brands you ought to be checking out first.
6. The plus sized shapes specifically covered are the woman who is round all over and the woman who is big on top. The plus pear shaped woman, and the plus sized hour glass, I am not sure what they are to follow.
Review by Leza Simms for Sam Saboura’s Real Style: Style Secrets for Real Women with Real Bodies
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I have read a few stylebooks in my day, but reading this one was the most fun I’ve had while actually learning something.
I felt like I was reading a friendly book. He is not one of those fashion snobs who make you feel bad about your body or cluless about your clothes. It was funny, smart, informative, and had a great flow to it. It went through all the basics, but also let me in on a few secrets I did not know about.
–I am now looking at the necklines of all my tops, which has made a huge difference with my shoulders (and the girls.) I had no idea that wearing a deep v-neck top with my small shoulders and small breast was a bad thing????
–I bought a cute new pair of jeans–with a little bit of effort and some help from Sam’s book–that my kids say make me look “cooler.” Now they can sleep at night…ha!
–The tailoring chapter was really great–I took my “cool” new jeans to be fixed on the way home before I ever wore them…”Stop off and Drop off” I now feel like I can talk to my tailor and know what I want done without being shy or feeling stupid. I also have no more gap at the small of my back from bad fitting jeans.
–I promise I will no longer wear clothes that are “almost right”, as long as I can afford to get things tailored…ha!
–I also tried “the twist” with an old bra, and it really does work!!! (Though I still love my padded bras)
A lot of the other stylebooks have a tone that is harsh and judgmental. Not this book. Things are explained in an easy to understand way, without assuming that the reader should know everything about styles and types of clothes and fashion. I always felt stupid when I did not understand what a certain term was, this book describes things really well.
I have watched Extreme Makeover many times waiting for Sam’s part to come on, because I’d actually learn something (and the surgery was gross.) I always wanted his part to be longer because I wanted more information and he talks too fast…:) This book is like a whole episode of Sam, complete with his funny way of making women feel good about themselves even when he’s talking about something NOT so good…ha!
My only complaint is that I wanted to see more of the pictures that were on the cover–the book has lots of cute drawings which help and are very stylish and well done–but the pictures on the cover have some great things written on them that I could not read very well. I was about to get out my magnifying glass…ha!
This book will not disappoint you. As a divorced mother of two, I needed something to help me get off my butt, make some changes, and feel better about myself. I read the whole thing, had few good laughs and now I know a heck of a lot more about how to get dressed.
Review by J. E. Pearce for Sam Saboura’s Real Style: Style Secrets for Real Women with Real Bodies
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This whole book has made such a difference to me, who has been wearing no jeans, only long flowy (comfortable) dresses for the last 5 years, but after reading, felt inspired to take a baby step towards changing my look by getting some low rise jeans after Sam pointed out some of their virtues. I thought I could be a bit “past it” but anyway, I went out and got three great pairs. They all looked so great I couldn’t decide which to buy. The first night I went out to a christmas do at my old work and everyone came up to me telling me that they didn’t recognise me, I looked great, must have a new man etc etc. The old boss told me a few days later, how many nice things people were saying about me. I am sure the jeans made me look like my legs were longer, hips slimmer, waist curvier. My daughter complimented me, telling me I look like a model now. And they are so comfortable, not like the jeans of my youth, which felt like cardboard after washing, and which, to zip up, one had to lie flat on ones back and breath in. Now, when I wear any of those three pairs of jeans, I look just right. That is just one way this fantastic book has helped. Taking advice from this book has made me look and feel youthful again. Who’d a thought.
As for the book design, it is gorgeous. The spacing and fonts used throughout are great, the way the chapters are divided, the practical tips and the “Sam says” asides all combine to make this work a delight to read. The hunky author is on the cover, and the way he writes is so friendly and down to earth, yet honest, you just feel he would be a very, very cool friend to have.
Love this book. If you go to my profile page you will see the kind of books I give a 5 star rating to. Looking forward to Sam’s next book now.
Review by TahoeGirl for Sam Saboura’s Real Style: Style Secrets for Real Women with Real Bodies
Rating:
Not being one to over-analyze my fashion faux-pas’ to determine whether there’s a common streak, this book was a great eye-opener. It clearly explains various body shapes (including a few that were new to me) and how to best dress for them. Already I can see areas of my wardrobe that need revisiting for reasons that match Saboura’s logic. And while I’m not enough of a fashion maven to follow all his tenets (c’mon, I know that cashmere – on sale or not – is not something I’ll ever need in this lifetime), the overall suggestions provided are very useful.
I also liked how the book read – it’s almost chatty, if the written word can be so. Somehow, it makes it feel less like a how-to guide. Plus, the whole look of the book is groovy – I’d continue reading most anything that has aesthetic graphic design.
Review by wafakeke for Sam Saboura’s Real Style: Style Secrets for Real Women with Real Bodies
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If you already have other books on style, you will probably be dissapointed. If this is your one and only style book, you might give it a higher rating..but here is the truth:
It falls short of the Suzanna and Trinny series because it has no real photographs; the illustrations for types of looks are not nearly as inspiring as the illustrations in “The Pocket Stylist” (despite “the pocket stylist” having precious few illustrations) ; there is nothing to browse at for fun the way there is in “the lucky shopping manual”; it does not help you to work out your body type accurately.. for that, nothing beats “The Science of Sexy”; it didn’t motivate me to clean out my closet like “I don’t have a thing to wear” did; and it doesn’t address colour.
This book probably does cover many of these aspects, but it hasn’t nailed any one of them in an outstanding way. Also, for an overall a pleasant book, it is also surprisingly dull..for some reason I can’t put my finger on! This inability to engage its reader’s interest may be its worst flaw; because there is nothing to differentiate it from the other style books.