Fabulosity: What It Is and How to Get It

"I am a twenty-seven year old aspiring entrepreneur. I read "self-help" and autobiographical books related to the subject for inspiration. I knew about Babyphat and Kimora Lee Simmons but never really considered myself a fan. I watched a few episodes of her reality show and became more interested in Kimora. Consequently, I researched her book. The reviews were on each end of the spectrum and not many readers were in between. It was love it or hate it. That intrigued me even more and I decided that I must read the book and draw my own conclusion. I went to Barnes and Noble and grabbed the paperback off the shelf, flipped to the introduction and read the first page. It told of a time, prior to her success in business, where she took out her checkbook, wrote herself a check for a million dollars and tucked it in a box with her most prized possessions. Her intro was about the fact that you have to dream big before anything grand can happen in your life. I was hooked. So hooked that I put the paperback back on the shelf and ordered a hardback copy from Amazon.com and I am so glad that I did. I was reminded of a lot of good principles to apply to business and life in general. I also developed a more accurate perception of Kimora and have come to respect her moreso as a business woman. Read as many reviews of this book as you choose but the most rewarding thing you can do for yourself is read the book...gather your own opinion."
~ Written on 2008-05-25

"Bought it as a present, and decided to read it first to get an idea of what Baby Phat brand is like. After reading the first chapter, it made me want to throw it out the window! This lady is very full of herself, and it's a bad read! DON'T BUY IT!!!"
~ Written on 2008-03-08

"Really impressed with the thoroughness of this book. A little redundant in parts but well written and informative. I don't know how some of the reviewers didn't get something from this book! I felt inspired to just be me, whatever that may be and tough cookies to those who don't like it. I have plans to use what I've learned to start my own company (small and from home) and found great information on how to do that. More power to Kimora!"
~ Written on 2008-02-04

"Well, first off, I had always been captivated by Kimora, and figured if anyone knows about being fabulous and could teach us a thing or two, it would be her. But right off after a couple chapters through the book, I felt vibes that it was more about her trying to clearly promote a certain image of herself, one apart from Russell, that she wants us all to have...carefully monitoring her words and repeatedly pounding an image of having "already made it big" in her teenage years way before her marriage to him. She spent so much time ranting and referring back to this great and extensive "50k-a year European modeling career" she supposedly had through high school, where she learned how to keep financial records conduct business, handle grown up problems,etc...Not too believable really, epecially when the age she repeatedly refers to is 13. Then looking at the provided photos in the book, I found it very curious that there was only 1 of her(pre-Russell Simmons) modeling years, a United Colors of Benneton ad, where she looks like an average pug-nosed teenager. So I Googled about 50 pages of Images for her and still found NOTHING of any modeling photos of her in that supposed successful modeling decade before-Russell that she continually touts. It became clearer and clearer that her REAL OBJECTIVE for writing the book was to convince everyone that she had "made it" way before her husband came into her life. (which I dont think anyone really cares about). I'm sure she was beautiful and fabby when they met, and Russell married her and elevated her into his monied life...so what? Now, I am interested and intrigued in the opulence of the rich & famous like anyone else, and I love to hear the anecdotes of the successsful, but Kimora just doesnt appear to really have any real depth from life's lessons, in that she went from being basically a teenager to marrying Russell, and at the writing of this book, where she is in her mid 30's, she still seems rather immature and self absorbed. Its easier to be beautiful and fabby with lots of money, and obviously any of her hardships were always easily overcome with their money. She doesnt portray that there was any real blood sweat and tears involved in anything she presented about her life, thus there was really nothing to teach or inspire us. Russell would probably have given us something with much more redeeming value if HE wrote the book!
With the Baby Phat business, I'm sure she certainly must have gone through the guts of up-starting a business, but once again, the obstacles hurdled and the resolutions she implemented took MONEY to get through, (which she had, and which she did successfully), and so I dont think inspires in that regard either. I would have been more satisfied with the time I spent reading the book hearing about how money can solve alot of problems and how fun it is for a girl. There ARE some profound, inspiring quotes that she includes from OTHER celebrities, like: "The thing women have yet to learn is no one gives you power, you just take it"(Roseanne Barr). These made me want to read books by THOSE people.
I think this book is best suited for early 20-somethings, who need to get a glimpse of how to present a certain image, and possibly maximize their potential opportunities in the business world, or if you just want to become more intrigued by Kimora's self-promotion. Not really for a more matured (not talking 'old' here)audience that is already comfortable in their own skin, but are just looking for inspiration for an "image makeover" out of the soccer-mom lifestyle.
Overall, I came away feeling that Kimora was highly calculative and probably thinks most of her readers were easy to manipulate and that she either didnt care about giving us much, or that she is rather shallow, having lacked experience and maturity to offer us much."
~ Written on 2008-02-02

"Real life is the best classroom of all. Fabulosity is fabulous! Madonna was the real deal girl power (forget the Spice Girls) and now Kimora Lee Simmons is showing a whole new generation of women how to play the cards life dealt you with finesse and attitude. This is an autobiographical how to with no apologies about how Kimora created her life. Diva she is but brainy and beautiful too!"
~ Written on 2007-12-20