Nina Garcia's Little Black Book Of Style: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Dress Like An American

Gawker reviews Elle Fashion Director Nina Garcia's new fashion tome The Little Black Book of Style today. (Thank God she's Colombian so we can make our end-of-day post quota!) You can get a load of Nina's vibe by watching the above clip from "Project Runway" which inspired one friend of ours to ask, "Do fashion people ever listen to the bullshit that comes out of their mouths?" We guess not, but it turns out hermana intimidates the Gawkites anyway:

That eternal tan! That perfectly highlighted hair! That little smirk every time they mention [on "Project Runway"] that she is "Fashion Director for Elle Magazine"! The way she plays favorites! It's all enough to remind us why we never worked for a fashion magazine. That, and we're not a size 2.

So looking like Fergie is perfection? Fascinating! Perhaps it's her confidence that makes the White girls shake in their boots? (Especially when those boots are duck.)

When I was fifteen, my parents sent me to an all-girls boarding school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. I strutted onto campus in a short skirt, high heels, and rabbit fur. [Ed. note: ¡Ella!] There I stood, surrounded by khakis, jeans, pastel cable-knit sweaters, ribbon belts [...] Nothing can prepare a Colombian girl for the sight of one hundred American girls trudging across campus in duck boots. I'm sure I thought myself quite superior, but now I admire a lot of those very American things. I think that blue jeans and a white shirt can be the most fabulous outfit. It's all about how you wear it. And I love a Chanel bag, but I also see the perfection in an L.L. Bean canvas tote. Functional, chic, simple. It's about how you carry it.

Yes, we find it absolutely adorable when the interns wear those quaint little, what do you call them? Sneakers? Absolutely terrific if you can pull it off. Ourselves, we look absolutely dreadful in anything but Valentino. Nina Garcia Hates Duck Boots [The Gawks]