Man Repeller. Seeking Love. Finding Overalls. by Leandra Medine. Reviewed by Louise Hilton.
Leandra Medine is a twenty-something fashion blogger best known for her cheekily named Man Repeller website, lauded as one of Time’s “25 Best Blogs of 2012” and Forbes’s “Top 30 Under 30” the same year for her trendsetting acumen. Her recent debut, Man Repeller. Seeking Love. Finding Overalls., chronicles her major life events, all best remembered by describing what she wore (and yes, that includes some definite sartorial misfires). In chapters such as “The Bermuda Shorts” and “The Lesson of the Harem Pants,” Medine takes us on a hilarious ride from New York to Paris and back.
Sure, her world – that of fashionistas in Manhattan – may be light-years away from the one in which you and I live but Medine comes across as a down-to-earth, lovable goofball. The fact that her writing is exceptional and that she has serious cred in the fashion world make her even more interesting. Overall, it’s a quick, humorous take on relationships and making your way in the world, and her ultimate message – be true to yourself, conventions be damned, and you just might find happiness along the way – is one we could all remind ourselves from time to time.
*An edited version of this review appeared in The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) on 2/09/14.