Books

DOES THIS MAKE ME LOOK FAT?
The Definite Rules for Dressing Thin

In this international best-seller, Leah shares the fine points of Dressing Thin. It doesn’t matter whether you’re five ounces over your fighting weight, an ultra-size diva, or just want to make that totally fit body of yours look as sleek as possible. If you really want the answer to “does this make me look fat?, this book is where you’ll get it. Here Leah explains winning diversionary tactics, takes on old clichés, flushes out common mistakes and delves deep into the heart of what she describes as “camouflage chic.” Packed with practical, easy to implement tips, as well as fun anecdotes, celebrity quotes, sketches and illustrations, Does This Make Me Look Fat? gives you all the information you need to pull together a totally slim, non-fat wardrobe. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my years in the fashion business,” says Leah, “it’s that while clothes don’t make the woman – they sure do help! Any figure can be improved with the right clothes.”

 

 

 

 

 


US editions published by Villard/Random House.  Available through Amazon and other on-line stores

 

DRESS LIKE A MILLION…On Considerably Less
A Trend Proof Guide to Real Fashion

Fashion is about individuality, practicality, versatility, simplicity, comfort, and of course, affordability. It’s also about being easy. With all the other things we have to concern ourselves these days, fashion should be the least of our worries. It should boost our spirits, consume a relatively small portion of our busy schedules, and even be fun!

This indispensable guide will help you develop a look that is not only effortless, hassle-fee, and relatively inexpensive to pull together, but also one that is in tune with the times, complements your individual personality, figure type, and lifestyle – and that is packed with personal style.

 

Originally published by Villard/ Random House. Republished by Iuniverse. Available at Amazon

 

WOMANSTYLE
Your Personal Guide to Timeless Fashion

Even with one foot into the twenty-first century, WomanStyle, first published in 1979, holds its own. An ultimately informative, yet light-hearted classic, WomanStyle offers sophisticated, timeless, fashion ideas for every woman who cares about clothes. Unlike style guides that came before it, WomanStyle was the first to make fashion fun and accessible – and the first to provide a set of easy precise standards for identifying your body type and specific proportions.

Leah’s expert advice – on everything from color combinations to pinpointing your best styles to wardrobe planning – is interspersed with observations, tips and strategies from some of the seventies top fashion mavens – designers, models, editors, trend setters, et al, including Diana Vreeland, Carrie Donovan, Calvin Klein, Bill Blass, Steven Burrows, Way Bandy, Suga, Kim Bassinger, Maud Adams, Bethann Hardison, Sunny Griffin, Shelley Smith, Beverly Johnson, and Susan Blakely.

Complementing Leah’s clothing magic are superb illustrations and terrific color photographs by some of the world’s best fashion photographers. A classic definitely worth owning.

Published by Clarkson N Potter. Out of Print. Check on-line Used book stores

 

DRESSING RICH
A Guide to Classic Chic for Women with More Taste than Money

Dressing Rich is a guide for all women who want to achieve that understated, sophisticated status look that has been the unmistakable signature of elegant women from Garbo to Jackie O. Leah’s original Dressing Rich system incorporates all her fashion beliefs – theories that will never be out of date: Investment buying, quality recognition, a compact and select wardrobe, practicality, style, and elegance.

Dressing Rich, as Leah astutely points out in this book, is a simple matter of mind over money. What you lack in capital you can make up for with solid know-how, resourcefulness, and a good viable strategy.

Dressing Rich shows you how to dress with style, taste, and elegance. Clothing trends will change from year to year, but the concept of classic chic defies time – it is always a winning constant.   A Book-of-the-Month Club top-seller for over 5 years.

Hardcover and paperback published by Putnam. Republished by iUniverse. Available through Amazon

 

TRAVELING LIGHT
Every Woman’s Guide to Getting There in Style

Traveling Light offers the no-muss-no-fuss system for hassle-free travel. This incomparable collection of travel tips and practical know-how takes the mystery out of the most complicated travel situation and shows you how to travel light in spirit as well as baggage. It offers practical tips on trip planning; exercises on the go; planning and packing annotated checklists; staying organized for a quick exit; streamlined versatile travel wardrobes; best fabrics, styles and luggage for all travel situations; easy, efficient wrinkle-free packing.

(Authors note: While a lot of info in this book still holds up, travel has changed significantly since it was first published in 1985. Travel fashion is, of course, much more informal, all luggage has wheels, and don’t even get me started about the TSA. Bottom line: Read this book for the still pertinent info and disregard the outdated. Even I can’t consider it the definitive word on stylish travel in today’s world.)


Originally published by Putnam   Out of print. Check on-line used book stores

 

 

GRINGO HAIKU
The unabridged San Miguel Edition


I wrote this fun little book with my old pal, Lulu Torbet in San Miguel de Allende Mexico over shots of Tequila and musings about our new adopted home (a great serendipitous coincidence) and the vagaries of ex-pat life.

Haiku is the ancient, venerated Japanese verse form, consisting of seventeen syllables in lines of five, seven, and five syllables. Gringo Haiku is a shamelessly irreverent perversion of this verse form. The scent of plum blossoms, for example, evokes different reactions from the stench of the arroyo. The elevated “Aha!” moment of the best Japanese haiku can more often be translated in San Miguel as “Ay, caramba!” or “Oy vey!”

You get the idea. Here are some samples for you:

On jardín benches
a row of stopped geezers eyes
the brown-eyes chicas.

Carnelian sun slants
on red tiled roofs. I wonder
what it will sell for.

Bored mariachis
serenade beguiled tourists.
“La Bamba,” again?

Warm starlit evenings
through haze of vino blanco.
Ah, the golden years.

In San Miguel you
never know for whom the bell
tolls, or why, or when.

Rain glistens on the
cobbled streets and the arm slings
of fallen women.

Hopeful gringo hordes
cross the guarded border to
Seek a better life.

Copies still available! Only $100 Pesos! Email me.

 

OTHER CO-WRITTEN BOOKS

DSC_0828The Okinawa Program is based on the 25-year Okinawa Centenarian Study, and if there were ever a prescription for longevity, the Okinawans have found it. Considered the world’s healthiest people, citizens of this tropical archipelago routinely live active, independent lives well into their 90s and 100s. Their rates of obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, memory loss, menopausal issues, and breast, colon and prostate cancer rank far below the rates for these infirmities in America and other industrialized countries. Researchers believe many Okinawans are physically younger than their chronological ages. In essence, the Okinawans have found a way to beat the clock. The Okinawa Program reveals the islanders’ age-defying secrets, and provides concrete evidence that adopting these healthy habits pay off significantly in terms of tacking more productive years onto our own lives. A fascinating read, peppered with inspiring anecdotes about these remarkable people.

Published by Random House. Available at Amazon and other on-line book stores.

 

 

DSC_0832In 2001, The Okinawa Program jumped onto bestseller lists, lauding the healthy habits of a group of elderly Okinawans who have some of the world’s lowest mortality rates and best health. (Since then, it’s been reported that younger Okinawans’ weight has been increasing, due in part to the popularity of McDonald’s on the island.) Now the authors, return, expounding on the Okinawan key to longevity: a healthy, balanced diet. Delicious low-cal, healthy recipes included.

 
 
 
 


Published by Random House.  Available at Amazon and other on-line book stores.

 
 

DSC_0827Hormones, those minute quantities of chemicals that run throughout our bloodstream, can rule a woman’s life. When hormones are perfectly balanced, a woman will feel at her peak, mentally and physically. When they’re out of balance, she may feel moody, lethargic, forgetful, uncomfortable or even sick. Hormone specialist and practicing OB/GYN, Greene believes hormonal imbalances can often be corrected by changes in diet, exercise and lifestyle habits or alternative approaches. This book is a solid mix of clear, understandable technical explanation and easy-to-follow advice, as Greene and co-writer Feldon explain the hows and whys of hormones, and then offer copious suggestions for dealing with common problems, like skin aging, hot flashes, dizziness, mood swings, migraines, low libido and poor memory, et al.

Published by Random House.  Available at Amazon and other on-line book stores.

 

DSC_0829An outstanding book both for new parents and anyone working with young children, as well as an excellent resource for academics in the area in speech-language development. Fun, clear, and entertaining, the book is unique in it’s detailed scripts in how to communicate with your baby month by month making this communication part of daily routine. From one reviewer: “I certainly wish this book had been available to me when my own child was a baby. I envy the parents who, thanks to this book, have the tools here to start talking WITH their baby and not AT their baby. Great information and amazing ideas to help parents and babies bond, learn, and have fun together!


Published by Putnam. Available through various on-line stores