In my job as a writer for a successful magazine, I am used to interviewing famous people: from Grammy Award winners to Reality TV stars, I’ve been there and done that. So what was it about this best selling author that was sending me into alternating waves of cold and hot sweat?

I was an hour away from meeting with Charla Krupp, stylist extraordinaire and the author of “How to NEVER Look Fat Again: Over 1,000 Ways to Dress Thinner—Without Dieting” and I was sitting in the middle of my bedroom surrounded by the contents of my closet. I didn’t have a thing to wear. Turns out, I didn’t have much to worry. Charla was disarmingly gracious and charming and very willing to share her philosophies and style sense. That’s the thing about the book and its author, they are both no-nonsense and oh, so practical.

Of course I knew that dark jeans without pocket details work best on a big booty (mmmm…that is if you happen to have one…) or that heavy calves are slimmed by wearing a nude pump with at least a 3 inch heel. And who has not heard about wearing lots of bracelets to camouflage arm flap? Oh yeah, forget about matchy-matchy (that goes for both jewelry and clothes.) It ages and fattens you! Meet Charla, and you also become a HUGE believer in SPANX—don’t leave home without it. I love a book that has a lot of pictures and examples. This is certainly one that had me constantly saying, “Ahhhh, I get it, I understand!” From hair to accessories to shoes, it’s all there. Charla breaks it all down into the very understandable: Hi Fat and No Fat look. She’s not afraid to use herself as a model to show the changes she recommends: