Cupcakes and Cashmere: How to Create Your Own Signature Style, Entertain With Ease and Spruce Up Your Space [Rilegato]

The thing I love best about this book is its name. Cupcakes and Cashmere brings to mind a frothy femininity, a combination of childlike delight and sophisticated luxury. I am always up for defining my style, reinventing my space and entertaining with ease, so this book shot to the top of my "must preorder" list. Emily Schuman's blog is a charming combination of fashion, decorating, cooking, and all the usual blogging arts. This seemed like a sure thing!

Alas, it's the kind of book you give an awkward preteen so she learns to put on eyeshadow correctly without looking like a raccoon. (Except it also talks about spiking Kool-aid with tequila, so don't actually give this to a kid.) The advice is painfully basic. If we didn't know that evening sandals are more formal than sneakers, Ms. Schuman lays this out in a chart for us. We also learn how to put on our lipstick, blow-dry our hair and paint our nails. ("I usually try to do one [coat] down the middle and one on either side," she coaches.) Perhaps in a future volume she'll share secrets on tying our shoelaces or brushing our teeth.

Well, perhaps I'm being unkind. I'm obviously not the intended audience for this book. The photography is lovely, if a touch blurry. I was pleased to see a section on handwritten thank-you notes, and I enjoyed the section on posing for photographs. The colors are soft and lovely throughout, as you'd expect from the pretty pictures on the blog. Ms. Schuman comes across as a sincere girl-next-door who genuinely wants to help bring out the best in others. I also liked that this book isn't overly brand conscious; you won't come away feeling like you have to rob a bank if you want to live the lifestyle presented here.

The real issue is that Ms. Schuman is not extraordinarily good at any of the things she writes about. She is pretty and dresses well, but she hasn't got the experience to walk other people through a top-to-bottom makeover. Her makeup and hair look fine, but she hasn't got any pro tips to share. The simple recipes are undoubtedly delicious, but she's hardly a chef. ("Summer pasta with tomatoes, basil and brie" sounded so promising, but the instructions are basically: cook pasta. Add tomatoes, basil and brie.) The author simply is not an authority in any of these areas, nor does she have that special spark that can make a novice perspective fresh and enchanting. She gives instructions where she should be giving insight and advice; this book is all what and no why. There is a play-it-safe timidness throughout.

By the way, cupcakes do make an appearance towards the end; they're made from a box mix. "I always keep one yellow and one chocolate on hand," she confides. I think that pretty much sums it up!

I love Cupcakes and Cashmere- it's one of the first sites I look at every day and I really look forward to Emily's content and her pics. I preordered the book- i have NEVER done that before. So when it arrived today, I must say, I was disappointed. First, it's small, its not a glorious coffee table book. It's more a book for the night stand, in terms of scale... Second, many of the pictures and content are repeats off the blog! Which is not to say the content is bad- but it's not new, and thats a shame. Are there really so few recipes in the world that we couldnt get some new ones in the book? Couldnt there be some new styles? I would consider myself a big fan of the site and I love her- but this book was really disappointing.

Cuppy is a huge inspiration to me. Being about the same age, I consider all that she has done in the world of fashion blogging quite interesting. I love her style, the simple way she posts and showcases aspects of life, and how she focuses on the positive things. That being said, her book was a big disappointment. While the photos were well taken and Em is easy to look at, I kept thinking to myself, these are tips to give a pre-teen or someone who is just getting interested in fashion. I don't appreciate that most of her recipes are essentially lifted from somewhere else...and there is a lack of genuine feeling behind her work. As a daily reader of her blog, my biggest question is always, where is the human aspect to all this?? Where are her friends, where is the actual content, not just beautiful pictures of her in an abandoned barn or on the hiking trail. The book essentially does the same thing, just in four seasons as chapters (wow, huge organizational idea).

I don't think this is worth the money. You can easily read her posts and archives to achieve the same level of knowledge. PS - I am pretty efficient at creating a playlist (as are most readers) so adding meaningless content like this only contributes to the let down.

Not well played Cuppy, not well played. I was really anticipating more!