Pretty in Plaid

Not very familiar with Jen Lancaster, but I would absolutely read more by her. She's very funny, with a wicked and self-deprecating sense of humor (but somehow not vulgar, which I appreciate).

Jen Lancaster is a witty, smart, funny writer whom I enjoy reading very much and find the plot of this book interesting. We all wish we could go back in time and change our past but unfortunately that isn't possible. In the book the popular girl whom at first you do not want to like has some really bad karma coming her way. Her company is in trouble,as well as her marriage, and people whom she was supposed to be friends with despise her. She is given a rare opportunity to change that and does, getting everything she ever wanted. Still things turn out wrong for her and she ends up doing something out of character at the end by doing something selfless. It is a good read and easy to read. I believe it only took me a few days to read.

Stories from Jen's early life. In this memoir we are regaled with formative stages in a young girl's life as told through the prism of her wardrobe. Beginning with her Girl Scout sash we see how dual pressures to conform and stand out drive this young woman to wild heights. It's strange how much I enjoyed these stories even though Jen and I have little in common, at least from a personality standpoint. We both grew up in Indiana and moved to Chicago, but the antics of Jen's younger shelf frankly shocked my inner child. Still, it's fun to try on another person and young Jen is easy to root for. I found her clothing obsession completely outside my experience, but I still understood her desire to be accepted. An easy, satisfying and hilarious read. I snorted aloud in public more than once.

This is not my favorite Jen Lancaster book. Little vignettes throughout her life based on what she was wearing. While not as shallow as it sounds, and still very well written, I have enjoyed her other books more.

Several of these short stories made me laugh so hard i could not breathe...especially the one when the author goes to the hair salon.

3.75 starsPretty in Plaid is another memoir by Lancaster. In it, she looks back at elementary school, high school, college and her first real jobs (the 70s, 80s and 90s), while also keeping an eye on fashion and what she's wearing at the times of certain events. As Jen is only five years older than I am, looking back, especially at the 70s and 80s was a lot of fun for me. I don't think this one is as funny as some of her other books, but the nostalgia was fun for me. Have to admit I couldn't really relate as much to the college (sororities and parties) portion of looking back, but the earlier stuff was especially enjoyable. Have to admit that I love the title and cover, as well... I do love plaid!

I've read Jen Lancaster's blog for over a year. I figured it was time to try one of her books. This book was FUN. I loved the narrator. It was nice to have a fun fluffy book for once. On to another!

Jen Lancaster's writing is like a drug. You start on page one and suddenly you're out of control trying to inhale the pages as quickly as possible. Pretty in Plaid is the story that leads up to Lancaster's first book- Bitter is the New Black. She actually is a very intelligent, witty woman despite how she may come off in her books. She does seem kind of ditzy and snarky in her books, but its all in good fun. She started out in business and when she was unemployed she started her blog, got so many followers that she got an agent and then wrote her books. Now she's fricken superwoman. She is pretty much my hero and she gives me faith that someone like myself can be as successful as she's become.

This was actually the first Jen Lancaster book that I read, though chronologically the fourth she had written. It remains my favorite. Each chapter or individual story in Pretty in Plaid is tied to or told around a specific piece of clothing from Lancaster’s youth. As usual, hilarity ensues as Lancaster tells the tale of each piece of clothing (or accessory). I simply cannot stop laughing when reading her books. She is one of the first recommendations I give when people tell me they need something to read. If you haven’t read this book or any of Lancaster’s books, stop what you’re doing and get yourself a copy!

My favorite of Lancaster's books thus far, based not only on the content but also in the way her writing style is deepening and involving. Oh, it's not a deep book, but it is a lot more complex that most of her readers have come to expect, in my view. Aw heck, it's funny as all get out, and such an on-the-money chronicle of the young lives of today's 40-somethings...

Before I read this boook I didn't know it was a look back at Lancaster's history, but I enjoyed it anyway. She' s a little older than I am but I identified some of her fashion points although I was luckily spared sororites and Indiana. It was interesting to see what shaped her into the person she became in her later books. I loved the touch points that carried through many lives - girl scouts, bus teasing, first jobs, etc. Agree with some of the other reviews that it isn't quite as good as her adult stories - but I like it. Will be interesting to see how here NYT moment shapes her future

I enjoyed learning about Jen's formative years but I didn't think this book was as laugh out loud funny as her previous books. If you haven't read any of Jen's other books, I would read them first. I don't think this book would be very interesting to someone who didn't know about Jen's rise and fall in the corporate world as an adult.

Let me just start off my saying "I LOVE Jen!" But this is the 4th book of hers I have read and I have to say this is my least favorite. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 cause I dont find it as entertaining and as funny as the others. Don't get me wrong, its funny and has its good parts but overall not as good as the others.

I loved this book! It was laugh out loud funny, especially for someone (like myself) who grew up in the 70s and 80s - what with Jen's references to Kristy McNichol and Dorothy Hammill haircuts. I will definitely recommend this to readers at my library looking for something funny. Also? I will be going back and reading her other books. Such. Fun.

The fourth book by Jen Lancaster, this one is about her childhood and growing up. The story begins with her family moving from Boston to Indiana and continues through her first couple jobs after college. While she is a humorous storyteller, she is also very observant and a little mean. Most of the funny experiences that she writes about happen to everyone (in one form or another) she's just observant enough to notice them and then writes about them.

Jen Lancaster has sealed her place in my heart as the queen of memoir. This book examines her "early years", which she only visits in brief vignettes in her prior books. You should almost read this before the other three, in order to gain a broader view in your study of Jenology. It is a very fast read, as the writing is like buttah. A funny, fun, read. But with Jen Lancaster, you'd expect nothing less.

I love Jen Lancaster...her humor is caustic, but hilarious. I literally gain stomach muscles laughing so hard. There are some parts 2/3 through that weren't as funny, but at her LEAST funny, she's the funniest person I know

Once again, Jen Lancaster delivers a humorous look into her life. This time we are treated to the tales of her life before Bitter as grouped around certain articles of clothing. It delivers the quirky, biting wit that her readers have come to expect from Lancaster and is a quick, easy read. Great for summer vacation or beach reading.

As a regular follower of Jen's website and a huge fan of her books, I was really excited to run out and buy Pretty in Plaid. I didn't even mind that it was a hardcover. Even though all of her other books are paperback, which is going to seriously mess up the aesthetics of my book shelf. Jen makes me smile and laugh, and frankly who couldn't use a smile and a laugh these days.You don't need to be familiar with Jen or her story to be able to really enjoy Pretty in Plaid. Pretty much you just need to have been alive and over the age of ten at some point in the 80's. I really enjoyed learning more about Jen's background. The book starts with Jen as a young girl, upset about her Brownies uniform, longing for a pony, and cheating her way through Girl Scout badges. It covers life in Indiana, the trials of high school and her quest to find a sorority in college. Eventually the book hits the 90's where Jen graduates from college and starts her career.I really loved this book. In my opinion it might just be her best. I still think we could be friends.

I almost never buy hardback books, but I was not waiting for Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster to come out in paperback. This is the fourth book of her memoirs, and is a prequel of sorts, carrying us back to her '70s and '80s childhood. I put it at the top of my reading list for the year when I found out back in January that it was coming in May.I'm sure that Jen isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I love her books. Maybe it's because I can identify with so much of her background. Maybe it's because she has done a lot of things that I would have liked to do, but didn't. Maybe it's because she can be so honest about her failings and still have such unfailingly high self-esteem.Or maybe it's just because she is absolutely hilarious.I laugh out loud when I read her books, and that is a rare thing. And it was totally worth it to go ahead and buy the hardback.

Having read and loved all of Jen's previous memoirs as well as being addicted to her snarky website, I knew I was going to enjoy this one. However, I have to say hands down it is the best Jen Lancaster I have read. Jen perfectly describes the decade (along with a good chunk of the 90s) which took my generation from elementary school to our first jobs with her trademark wit and sarcasm.My first laugh out loud moment (and there are many) happened on page 76 as a 10 year old Jen gets badgered on the school bus by 2 popular girls. Jen's childhood seems to be remarkably like my own, although I never realized how dorky I was until 7th grade. For me, the the early 80s signifies a time when even though I couldn't afford new clothes and cool sneakers, with a pair of home-made braided ribbon barrettes holding back the sides my permed mullet and 3 pounds of friendship pins on my generic K-mart Keds I felt pretty and loved. Pretty in Plaid takes me back to those days and the confusing times later when I was desperate to be accepted by the popular pack and for a cute guy to like me back. Jen also perfectly describes what it was like in the mid 90s starting entry level jobs where your co-workers don't take you seriously and your corporation was flooded in new technology at the same time clinging to their bottles of white out and 1950s filing systems.If you got to know Jen in Bitter is the New Black, you will love reading about her formative years. But if you haven't read bitter, don't worry...You won't be lost as you laugh along through young Jen's journey cause it is probably similar to your own.

In Bitter is the New Black, Jen Lancaster gave us the brief details of her bio before she was famously fired from her high-powered job. In Pretty in Plaid, Lancaster illustrates some of those moments, from growing up in Cow Town, Indiana, to her life as a sorority girl during her eleven years of college, to her first job post-college. Like her previous books, Pretty in Plaid is written as a series of essays, all of which are connected by the theme of clothing. From her Girl Scout uniform—covered in (il)legally earned patches—to her first job interview suit, Jen illustrates how clothes shaped the way she views the world.I was extremely entertained by this book. It’s a fast read—I read it in less than two days—and it’s just as funny, if not funnier, than some of her other books. Jen Lancaster definitely has a unique voice that’s very witty, and her thoughts, as usual, are uncensored—good for the reader, since it meant that I was belly laughing all the way through. In fact, in places, I had to put the book down, I was laughing so hard. No matter what situation Jen finds herself in, she’s always got a positive attitude about it. Although the present-tense narration got a little irritating in some places, I simply couldn’t stop turning the pages. It’s a nice, light read that’s perfect for spring.