Man Repeller

June 24, 2013
If you can accept the idea of a 23-year-old blogger writing a memoir, then you’ll find plenty of life, love, and fashion advice in Medine’s candid debut. The budding fashionista provides the backstories to many sartorially questionable ensembles featured on her Man Repeller blog, dishes on her lifelong attraction to oddball outfits, and tells “the tale of the Repeller who landed a Man” (she recently married her on-again, off-again boyfriend of five years). The skeletons in Medine’s closet wear some hilarious get-ups: there’s the burgundy tent dress with a Peter Pan collar she wore when she had her first kiss in kindergarten (which gave her chicken pox); the mandatory, ubiquitous black maxi-skirt from her time at a Jewish school; and the outfit she wore the night she lost her virginity. Another incident involves a much-coveted Hermes ostrich-skin clutch belonging to Medine’s grandmother, which was horribly defiled after a night of binge drinking in Paris. Then there are the “violently offensive” gray harem pants that ultimately led to a rekindling of her relationship with the man she would marry, and a pair of shorts that inspired her to create her blog. These essays establish Medine as not just a fashion wunderkind, but a clever and engaging storyteller who’s not afraid to laugh at herself. Agent: Michael Klein, Maxx Sports and Entertainment.

September 1, 2013
Medine writes the well-publicized blog Man Repeller, and her debut memoir reveals extended, comedic stories about her Manhattan upbringing, adolescent embarrassments, young marriage and, always, details about what she wore. The author defines herself as "this girl who accidentally stumbled into what turned into a career that allowed me to penetrate an industry I'd always admired." Her penchant for sartorial choices that have nothing to do with garnering male attention--and her writing on the subject--resonates with thousands of devoted blog readers. She is candid, rebellious, outspoken and able to laugh at herself, and these qualities are on display on every page. "You can rest assured...that each and every sartorial object depicted, dramatized, and described...is as authentic a nod to my memory as it is to the clothing that shapes it," she writes. Peppered with photos of Medine, some of which qualify in equal measure as unflattering and hilarious, the book is divided into chapters according to each one's central item of unattractive clothing. These include "The Tent Dress," "The White Socks," "The Lesson of the Harem Pants," "The Canadian Tuxedo," and, for the closing story of her wedding, "The Big White Dress (And an Organza Jacket)." Throughout, Medine confesses to innumerable outrageous outfits and her present-day verdicts on the clothes; the aforementioned harem pants, for instance, are ruled "violently offensive," but they did contribute, in a funny way, to her reconciling with the boyfriend she later married. In a strong, consistent narrative voice, Medine displays wit, unabashed openness and a knack for weaving seemingly superficial, materialistic details into essays that are rich with sly wisdom and the colorful personalities of family members and friends. Humorous, insightful and sometimes-sparkling essays that will appeal to readers interested in the pure fun of fashion.

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September 15, 2013
Medine is known to fashion lovers as both the voice behind the blog turned style website Man Repeller and the original Man Repeller herself. The girl-power philosophy behind the name implies that enjoying fashion for its art and dressing accordingly can be subversive, empowering, and, often, confusing to the opposite sex. Medine writes in a style tributary to the layered looks she's known for snapping on her siteusing 10 curlicue, roundabout words when a couple plain and direct ones would dobut therein lies the fun of reading her. New Yorker to a T, she delves into dating, her Manhattan upbringing, and her stumble into the A-list fashion spotlight with candor and a surprising amount of physical comedy. Her essay about getting engaged and then panicking about how to come out to her readerswho only knew her as their dear Repellerpresents a uniquely modern problem well told. A less talented writer behind this high-fashion curtain could make it all a detestable snore, but the utterly likable Medine comes across vividly and sincerely in writing what she loves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)