Ever since we picked up our first etiquette books (White Gloves and Party Manners, quickly followed by Mother’s copy of Amy Vanderbilt’s Complete Book of Etiquette:  The Guide To Gracious Living) we’ve been addicted to style guides of every genre. 
No matter what form it takes-- magazine, book, podcast or vidcast, if the topic is fashion, style, beauty, interior design, etiquette, housekeeping or organizing, we’ve probably seen or read it.  In fact,  if it’s even marginally good, we probably own it. 
We’re not telling you this because we’re particularly proud of our shallow pursuit [and it’s not as if we don’t ever consume other forms of literature--it’s just that we’re more likely to download audio versions of, say, academic essays and high-quality fiction to our iPod than just sit and read them.   After all, if there are no pretty pictures to look at, we’d just as soon be doing something, you know, useful, like lacquering our dining room walls or soaking in a milk bath with cucumber slices over our eyes.]

We’re just pointing out why, when we say that Colin Cowie Chic:  The Guide To Life As It Should Be is one of the best “lifestyle” books we’ve read in a long time, we’re speaking as true experts. 


Up until now, the only impression we’d had of Cowie was that he was just another successful and talented event planner trying to make the lucrative leap into national brand-dom as a “Lifestyle Expert”.  (Ever since Martha forged the way with her Omnimedia model, it seems like every butcher, baker, and candlestick-maker wants a piece of the celebrity action, doesn’t it?) .


And there’s no denying that he has an impressive website, his parties are unbelievably gorgeous (check out the Coral Wedding-OMG!!!), and his HSN line of tableware is super cute.


But this book goes way beyond throwing great parties and setting fabulous tables--it’s actually a very practical guide to creating a functional and beautiful life, at home, at work, and everywhere else.   Cowie offers advice on things like how to run an efficient and organized household (his tips on hiring domestic employees are worth the price of the book alone),  how to be a charming host, guest, customer, traveler, employee, and boss.   He shows us how he’s set up his own home and office, and how he navigates his day.  Maybe it’s just our mood, but we feel like his sleek, elegant style is such a refreshing departure from the last two decades of the Martha Stewart-dominated, retro-country-chic aesthetic. (We don’t know about you, but if we see one more kitchen like this:


we’re going to scream… )


We just couldn’t help but be inspired by this book, especially when we saw pictures of the inside of Colin’s beverage refrigerator:

(Who needs food when you have beverages like those?)

Or check out this china closet:

(And don’t even get us started on the drawers he shows us.)

So while the term “gracious living” may sound like something from the Kennedy era espoused by women like Jackie

or Babe Paley

or something that’s only done in the retro-ironic sense (Amy Sedaris and Brini Maxwell come to mind), take heart:  It’s not dead, and it didn’t move to the country with Martha.

 It’s just been reconfigured for the twenty-first century by a man with a South African accent a killer fridge. 

Move over, Martha!