"Does Your Life Include an Exhilarating Dash of Concerts, Theater-Going and Dining Out?"

Once upon a time, Seventeen magazine put out books that weren't about prom or traumarama. The most classic was called The Seventeen Guide to the Widening World, first published in 1965, and it's one-part timeless, one-part hilarious. Sure, it talks down to its wide-eyed reader, but it does it in that that Suze Orman way: with the decisiveness necessarily to convince you that you do need a 401k or to write thank-you notes. The book—replete with an index of entries like "Joie de vivre, expressing, 16"—is broken into chapters like "How to Enjoy Your Family" and "How to Give Perfect Parties." One key sub-chapter is "Balancing Your Clothes Budget." An excerpt:

"Does your life include an exhilarating dash of concerts, theater-going and dining out? Little wool dresses, ore or two in glowing colors, are indicated here. You might want to look for a classic evening suit in a conservative color, again changing it with blouses or a variety of accessories."

Now, I'm not so sure that this evening suit business holds up today, but the section on what not to buy is still plenty valid:

"As for the discipline needed to maintain a well-balanced clothes budget, try to resist:
...the eccentric color or fad fashion that attracts simply because it's new.
...the costly party dress that can be neither dressed up nor dressed down, but just is.
...the tempting separates or accessories that have no foreseeable future in your life."

The 2008 application: skip mustard yellow if it looks like crap on you, don't be wooed by over-priced satiny things with sequins, and leave the Kanye sunglasses to people that put on live shows.