“Three Books For Frugal Fashionistas” – (Radio Journal)

(Click on the title to listen to the feature story at www.npr.org)


“Three Books For Frugal Fashionistas” is the name of the feature hosted by Robert Seigel about novelist Melissa Walker’s suggestions on fashion books. Walker, former magazine editor who has written four books for young adults, talks about three books that she really recommends. Walker talks briefly about each book and their authors.

What makes this story very interesting to me is that Walker is stating something that I’ve always believed in. I’ve always believed that fashion is not only for people who can afford to be fashionable and who value lavish extravagance, but for everyone and anyone who’s creative enough to be able to develop their very own sense of style. Fashion to me is all about originality and creativity. This is more or less what Walker talks about in this feature; she recommends three books, Fashion 101, Vintage LA and DV, that guide people on how to find their true personal style without it having to do with their bank balance.

The length of the feature was 3 min. 17 sec. Quality of the sound was perfect. Walker’s delivery was slightly monotonic but she didn’t really lose my attention since the whole feature is relatively short. There was not a single sound bite in the feature, which I didn’t like. I was looking forward to hearing something from any of the authors of the recommended books but seeing that the feature is more like a quick short report on the books, it’s understandable.

“Coco Chanel: The Orphan Who Transformed Fashion” – (Radio Journal)

(Click on the title to listen to the feature story at www.npr.org)


“Coco Chanel: The Orphan Who transformed Fashion” is the name of the feature hosted by Renee Montagne and reported by Susan Stamberg. The feature is about Anne Fontaine’s new film “Coco before Chanel” which tells the real life-story of the young French designer Gabreille “Coco” Chanel, how she started out in the business and the inspirations of her unique designs.

The feature started off by describing Chanel’s beginnings and how her very early interest in designing came to being. French film director Anne Fontaine talks about her movie and about Chanel’s first introduction to a skill that later helped shape her future - sewing. Fontaine continued talking about how Chanel wanted to be special at what she does and how she observed the world around her with piercing eyes for inspiration and ideas.

It was a very interesting feature as it shed light on a story so few of us knows, a story of a fashion legend. We hear the very posh designer name Chanel all the time but little do we know that this designer was a singer in a very lower class cabaret and a survivor of poverty and abandonment before she became the legend she is today.

The feature was 7 min. 19 sec. long, which I believe was a good length for the feature as it successfully accomplished to include all the significant parts of the interview with Fonatine and the information about the film in a very compelling way.

The quality of the sound was great so was the use of all the sound bites. Most of them were either parts of the film (dialogue) or music, which fit very well with the flow of the story. The reporter delivered the feature perfectly as she made it sound like a story being told about someone we don’t quite know which thinking about it is exactly what it is. Being the fashionista that I am, I really enjoyed listening to this story.