Learn to Speak Fashion

Fashion surrounds us . . . and some might even say overwhelms us. Whether it's shopping for clothes or getting dressed in the morning, it's easy to feel at odds with a world that seems to be all about appearances. But not only can fashion be fun, silly, impulsive, and even inexpensive — it can also be a really rewarding avenue of self-expression for everyone.

By starting with the most basic formula (clothes + art = fashion), Learn To Speak Fashion strips away the anxiety and artifice to get to the heart of what makes clothing so much more than what we put on our bodies. The lessons within these pages range from understanding how to dress every part of the body and how to make your own pair of pants, to learning how to harness your design ideas with an inspiration board, or hold a fashion show in your backyard.

Laura deCarufel is a Toronto-based fashion and style reporter. After a long tenure as a Senior Editor at Elle Canada, she worked as the editor of Style.com. Today, she works for several magazines as a freelance reporter, as well as the co-creator of Hardly, a web magazine on style and culture for teenage girls.

Jeff Kulak is an Edmonton-born, Montreal-based designer-illustrator. From his studio, a converted room in a former nunnery, he creates art for books, magazines, album covers, and event posters.