Last year I made the 2014 Fall edition of A Fashionista's Reading List and at the very top of my list was the new and improved Teen Vogue Handbook. five years after its original publishing date,The new Teen Vogue Handbook has an entirely new section, "Digital," featuring extensive interviews with the likes of Leandra Medine of The Man Repeller and Twitter-famous @OscarPRGirl which is a serious upgrade compared to the last edition which only included digital giants Net-A-Porter and Fashionista. Scattered elsewhere throughout the book are interviews with Andrew Bevan, one of my absolute favorite Teen Vogue editors, Phillip Picardi, a hilarious former beauty editor at Teen Vogue who now works at Refinery29, and Michelle Phan, THE Youtube Beauty Guru.
If any of you are familiar with the original Teen Vogue Handbook don't be mistaken, the newer edition isn't filled with just new fashion talent. There are interviews with classics like Marc Jacobs, Anna Wintour, Arthur Elgort, Pat McGrath, and Chanel Iman. I will say that I don't believe the 2nd Edition is filled with 90% new content, as advertised (more like 40-60% to me...), but the newest parts are some of the best. The biggest improvement: the index that once had lists upon lists of fashion and art schools now is pages and pages of interview advice and compressed tips about getting ahead in the fashion industry. But the number one piece of advice I took from The Teen Vogue Handbook 2nd Edition was that being a fashion blogger or having tons of followers on Instagram doesn't mean you qualify for any job in the fashion industry. More than anything getting an education in the fashion field of your choice is the best route to take and having a strong online presence is a great bonus.