As I mentioned in a previous review I have a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Merchandising. I also have an (probably unhealthy) obsession with celebrities and pop culture. Most of my bookmarked sites are for celebrity gossip, movie & television news and fashion blogs. One of my favorite blogs is http://tomandlorenzo.com/ run by TLo (as they are called)- a gay couple who are New York adjacent (Philadelphia I believe)- which started out as “Project Rungay”. They began during the first season of Project Runway (when it was on Bravo) reviewing and discussing the show. The site has matured (and rebranded) into a mix of “on the street” celebrity fashion, “red carpet fashion” and runway looks from fashion week. Their loyal readers are Bitter Kittens and this book was dedicated to us ![]()
I was so excited for this book to come out… I actually pre ordered it the day they announced on their website and forgot I had. When it arrived I was so frustrated I was only halfway done with Monuments Men and didn’t want to get distracted. I was expecting something cut from the same cloth as their website. Photographs of celebrities and critiques of their choices… I knew from some of their interviews and hints that it would be more “celebrity” based then “fashion” based but was surprised at the formatting of the book. Instead of photographs (think the Fug Girls book a few years back) it was all cartoon drawing (from the same illustrator they’ve worked with on their site). They also didn’t reference any real celebrities, it was all generalizations using the ever evolving in spelling Jen/Gen/Je’nn the newcomer starlet.
I suppose this was probably easier for lawyers to swallow and since they are more fashion based I could understand the choice not to delve into truly being celebrity gossip (they actually rarely gossip on their website, at least compared to the other sites I unabashedly frequent).
The book, taken at face value and not my expectations, was a fun read. It look a few hours to get through because the writing is conversational with humor and wit about it. They have various sections set up as a “how to” for becoming famous such as creating an image, sham marriages and perfectly timed adopted children. Its a fun read for someone who likes to poke fun at the Hollywood machine and a great introduction to these bloggers. Read the book and then visit their site- even if you skip the runway/ fashion posts they can be particularly bitchy when discussing celebrity fashion.