We're bang in the middle of that slightly puzzling time of year that people sometimes refer to as the 'party season'. Party dress all sorted? Great. No? Worried you'll still be wearing the hat you won in a cracker come January 2nd?
To help you navigate the tricky area that is festive dressing, today we're offering you the chance to take your style tips from the top by winning four fabulous fashion books from the V&A. Take some inspiration from the beautiful and timeless dresses of Chanel, Balenciaga and Dior. Or take a dip into The A To Z of Style which pulls together tips on elegant dressing from the great, the good and the gorgeous. All you need to make you, and your bookshelves, the best-dressed this Christmas.
What do you need to do to win this book bonanza? We want to know the best book you've read all year. Did you go nuts for The Help, or were you crazy about One Day? Tell us about the very best thing you've been reading. You can win through one of three ways today:
- Just leave a comment below telling us your favourite book this year. Or...
- Like the competition post on our Facebook page, and leave a comment on the FB post telling us about your favourite book this year. Or...
- Tweet "Hey @domesticsluts, my book of the year was.... #domesticslutteryChristmas" to enter.
Wondering who won our Tracklements competition yesterday? Ali Thorpe, it was you! Here's what Ali is going to be nibbling on throughout Christmas:
I am partial to cold trimmings from the dinner and will quite happily pour cold gravy over it. I will also pick at the cheese board and chutneys all day long. I love chocolate but savoury bits and bobs always draw me in first!
Ali, just email us and let us know where to send your prize!
Good luck to everyone entering today!
Oh yawn, small print (read it). The competition will close at Midnight on December 13th. You must be UK based AND leave a name with your comment so that we know who you are! If you're anon your entry won't count and if you enter more than once, we'll discount all of your entries and tell you off. The winning entry will be chosen at random and you must claim your prize by the 16th or we'll draw it again. If you've won one competition, let someone else have a bash and go and play with your toys! We're not allowed to enter our own competitions, but Frances's number one book of 2011 was A Visit From The Goon Squad. And she cried too much watching the film of One Day too.
I was really impressed by Jennifer Egan's novel, A Visit from the Goon Squad. So well-written, moving and smart.
ReplyDeleteFav book I read this year is Gone With the Wind. Has it all - a beautiful heroine, a handsome heroe, war, death, birth, love and of course fabulous frocks. Its the sort of book that stays with you forever. I loved every page. xx
ReplyDeleteThis year I haven't really read that much but really enjoyed Meet me at the Cupcake cafe. Lovely light hearted reading and made me want to open my own cafe. It also came with recipes in it which you can try :0)
ReplyDeleteThis year I re-read A Room With A View from when I was at college. It had all my little scribble notes in, trying to be intellectual & remembering my slight crush on my English teacher!! It was very nostalgic and lovely to read such a great book again :)
ReplyDeleteI've been crazy for reading this year, after getting a Kindle last Christmas and setting up a book club with friends here. My best book, however, is The Secret History which was probably one of the best books I've ever read actually. Bit late to the party though, I know! We should have a domestic sluttery group on goodreads!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite read this year was the early christmas pressie I got myself last week. I stumbled upon 'Now we are six' and 'The House at Pooh Corner' in my local auction rooms, looking rather dusty and battered but beautiful nonetheless ...the bidding reached a phenomenal £8! They're second editions from 1928 and so delicate and worn that I don't think reading them again would be such a good idea
ReplyDeleteI read 33 books during my 3 month trip away. Much as I love hard copies, I relied on the Kindle for that 'un. The favourite has to be The Passage (which noone told me was about Vampires, and thus AWESOME) - it kept me enthralled, tense and terrified from beginning to end, and I'm waiting for the sequel with relish!
ReplyDeleteI vowed to read more classics this year and The Great Gatsby was a favourite. A girl can only read Pride and Prejudice so many times... who am I kidding?! Kindle being received tomorrow (happy birthday to me!)
ReplyDeleteI recently read 'One day' by David Nicholls, really gripping, moving and easy to read.
ReplyDeleteIt would have be 'The True Story of Hansel and Gretel,' a WWII novel set in Poland during the Holocaust. A very moving story that uses the Hansel and Gretel tale to give the story direction and an extra dimension. I highly recommend it!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go all gonzo on you and choose a self-published novel by a first-time writer called Chris Pink! He wrote this amazing little book called The Number 3 Mystery Book about a boy with Cherubism who's convinced there's something hidden at the bottom of a farmer's lake! It actually made me laugh and cry. I loved it. It's the book that stayed with me most this year and goes to show that all those big, sexy publishers are truly missing a trick not taking more risks with off the wall stories.
ReplyDeleteThe Hare with the Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal was wonderful. Just the cover makes you feel that you are about to embark on some new knowledge. It tracks the family history of this reknowned potter and is about family connections through the inheritance of a collection of Japanese netsuke (small carved sculptures). It may not sound like a winner but it really takes you by surprise.
ReplyDeleteSlinky Malinki! Yes, it's a kids book, but so much fun and the illustrations are fab!
ReplyDeleteI love these V&A books! Posted on your facebook and twitter as @defairmans. Fave book I read this year was "Nothing Is Strange With You"
ReplyDeleteI had a good year for reading some of those classics you always meant to read and the winner was Rebecca - just plain stunning.
ReplyDeleteKimberley x
One book of the year? Can't I have a shortlist? Okay, if I have to pick one it would be The Scarlet Kimono by Christina Courtenay. I wonderful tale that takes you to another time and another place.
ReplyDeleteI have to say Grimm's fairy tales. Don't have much time to read so I've been reading it in french, that way I can say it's work related!
ReplyDeleteMy book of the year was Stella Gibbons' Westwood. It was entertaining and truthful and dealt with how to feel optimistic after being disappointed by people you respect and look up to.
ReplyDeleteBest thing I read was probably 'The Corrections' by Jonathan Franzen: one of those rare books that didn't just live up to the hype, but surpassed it.
ReplyDeleteCaitlin Moran's How to be Woman. It's justifiably hyped. I didn't agree with everything she says, but as a thought-provoking hilarious read you don't get much better.
ReplyDeleteThe Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot was not only the best book I've read this year, but it's the best non-fiction book I have ever read. It reads like a novel but is unbelievably true, it's a moving portrayal of a woman who we never knew but has affected each and every person in the world through changing the face of modern medicine.
ReplyDelete'How to be a Woman' by Caitlin Moran is a hilarious feminist text- you usually can't put those words together. Emma, I agree with your comments.
ReplyDelete'Her Fearful Symmetry' Audrey Niffenegger. I loved it just as much as Time Travellers Wife and now I have to convince someone that visiting a cemetery in North London will be a really enjoyable day out!
ReplyDeleteMy favourite book of the year is, admittedly, not a new release but I include it because I discovered it this year ad it has sparked a passion in me. It is 'This Sweet Sickness' by Patricia Highsmith. I read the Ripley books a few years ago but I picked up a second hand copy of this one and I was hooked. I'm working my way through her backlist now...
ReplyDeleteThe best book i read this year was Now You See Me by Lesley Glaister @lillyfer85
ReplyDeleteShameless brown nosing perhaps
ReplyDeleteThe best book this year was... *cough* Domestic Sluttery: Cheat Your Way to the Perfect Lifestyle *cough*
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Couldn't put it down and missed my stop on my commute into work one morning ;)
ReplyDeleteI was given Breakfast at Tiffany's for my 21st from a friend and absolutely loved it! :)
ReplyDeleteDarren Shan's Procession of the Dead, first book of his i`ve read and the rest look good as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren - I loved The Passage. I think the best book I read all year was Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson. I love Kate Atkinson.
ReplyDeleteHmm... it would have to be my discovery of the Railway Detective novels!
ReplyDeleteI read The Oxford Murders on the train down while on my way to spend a sunny day in Oxford, that was a lot of fun - you can't beat a bit of Murder Mystery in Oxford!
ReplyDeleteI've read To kill a Mockingbird this year by Harper Lee. I loved it, been meaning to read ever since I watched Capote.
ReplyDeleteThe Camberwell Beauty by Jenni Eclair - I just adore her comments and this book bought many a smile to my face.
ReplyDeleteBreaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (sorry had to read it again before watching the film)
ReplyDelete