During my short beach/camping trip I brought along some reading material. Since beginning college 3 years ago, I haven’t been able to just sit down and read a book without anxiety. This is the first one I’ve read for pleasure in a long time. Cupcakes and Cashmere by the lovely Emily Schuman, is a delightful book full of color and her personality. Essentially, it’s her blog in a book!
Cupcakes and Cashmere: My Thoughts
First of all, this lady is talented! I admire her zeal for life and willingness to be who she is. Her tremendous success is demonstrated through her new clothing line and endless offers from companies to collaborate with her. This leads me to my next thought: Bloggers who have had so much success have lives and budgets that, for the rest of us, are unrealistic. I cannot afford to add all the little accessories and staple pieces for each season to my wardrobe. It’s just too expensive, especially with the brands she chooses and advertises for.
The book is divided into “seasons” (summer, fall etc.) and within each season she includes on-a-budget-beauty-buys. As much as she tries, Essie is not a “budget buy” and neither is Juicy Couture 
perfume. Maybe for the more established adult it isn’t a big deal, but for Schuman’s younger audience it can be a budget buster.
I really did enjoy her suggestions for creating a beautiful home and entertaining. They were practical and pretty at the same time. She even teaches you how to reupholster a bench! The diversity of topics in the book is nice because there is something for everyone.
However, even though the topics range from food to clothes, her taste in clothes isn’t as broad. To be quite honest, most of the outfits she puts together are not my style or taste. Most of it is “what’s in style at the moment” where as I prefer classic pieces with a new accessory here and there. Again, this is just my preference. She gives some good tips on how to put together an outfit for every season though.
What were your thoughts on the book? What did you like or dislike? Comment below!
WITTY 'N' PRETTY 
I am going to put this on my reading list. I don’t know when I’ll get to it as my reading list is very long, but thanks.
LikeLike
Sure! My list is long too!
LikeLike
She has definitely been successful in her blogging, that’s for sure. I don’t think the average woman can afford most of the stuff she features though. I appreciate that you are much more realistic and have learned how to look great without spending a lot of money. Well done!
LikeLike
I am not sure this Emily person is great. I think she started at a good point in the fashion blogging era and she did things right, but I haven’t seen her contributing in any way to women, style or fashion. She wears expensive clothes, makes super unhealthy recipes and takes nice pictures. That’s it. Her videos where readers as her questions are embarrassing to any woman that takes pride in having a brain and a real career. Yes, she has been very successful and there are some things that we can learn from her, like her photo skills, audience creation, content marketing… but this blog is extremely overrated and now all it does is try to sell things, that’s how she makes money.
I seriously don’t want to be evil, I just think the whole fashion blogging world is sick and people like this don’t deserve all the attention they get.
What do you think? Do you really follow her advice? Do you think she has helped you in any way? Please, I would like to know your opinion 🙂
LikeLike
Hey there! Thanks for commenting! In my opinion, Emily has an incredible gift of marketing and making things look nice. At the beginning, I think she was much more real than she is now. I think it’s the fashion world that killed her so to speak. I haven’t seen her videos so I don’t know how she is on camera but I do think she has business smarts and a career going for her. Lord knows she makes more than I do!
I agree though, it’s overrated and not much fun to read. I can’t connect with her. Same with Rach Parcell or Emily Gemma. They may have worked very hard for all they have, but the average reader will not be able to identify positively with the brands they wear.
I don’t follow much of their ‘advice’ but I have picked up a thing or two from them. I usually incorporate their ideas (home decor, food, entertaining, clothes) and make them more affordable and practical.
Thanks for giving your opinion and thoughts!
Liz
LikeLike
I nominated you for a liebster award!… click on my page and answer the same questions I answered on my page
LikeLike