For many years, I have had "Women's Wardrobe" by this writing team, and have referred to it whenever I was revisiting my closet space issues. As a character actress of many years, writer, and day-jobber, my closet tends to clothe many "people". These books really help you pare down your fashion thoughts to the essentials.
Some will find the pictured examples and the thoughts on appropriate work wear extremely conventional... but most work places ARE very conservative, especially when it comes to interviews, business meetings and public appearances. I think the only thing lacking in this book is an entire section about injecting yourself, your personality into this framework. They do mention this, but there could be more. However, to be fair, this is not their intent. This is SIMPLE, how to do it with less clothing, simple rules, few pieces to make things work well - and they succeed completely.
As an observer of people, I kept thinking how especially useful this book would be for several young friends who were leaving college and struggling with the mental dissonance of "what I wear should not matter, it is who I am and how I do my job" as contrasted with the tyranny of workplace dress codes. As a feminist idealist, it shouldn't matter what we wear. As a pragmatist, we all know that how you dress does matter, as much as looks, speach, cleanliness, and what school you attended. As an actress, it is a large part of creating a character: what you wear says things about who you are, how you think, how you live, and what you aspire to.
This book adresses all of that, and gives a marvelous basic guideline to build your thoughts of self-presentation AT WORK around. If you are re-entering the workforce after many years, changing careers, or changing areas of the country, there are hints here. There are kernals of truth here that artists and dot-com slackers won't like to hear much, but if they're smart, they will. Karl & Patty, thank you for the present!