Melissa Magsaysay LA Home Photos — City Of Style Author

When we first caught wind that former Los Angeles Times Fashion Editor and WWD Market Editor Melissa Magsaysay was writing an ode to the spirit of the West — City of Style: Exploring Los Angeles Fashion From Bohemian To Rock — we thought, it's about frickin' time! In terms of City Of Angels cognoscente, no one has her alluring act together better. It doesn't hurt that the expert's a beaut (she modeled back in the day), plus Magsaysay's pals with every power pub and fashion maven (mavericks, too!) in town. Her put-together yet uncontrived vibe screams Cali cool down to the last breezy detail.

But obviously this Californication didn't happen overnight. The 2004 convert admits in the book (God, love her for this) that she harbored the same misconceptions most NYC transplants have about Lala Land: We're all either mini-skirt wearing up-in-the-clubbers or flops-and-a-tee clichés. But then she realized: "L.A. style is really like looking through one of those kaleidoscopes you had as a kid: Glistening solid colors that when twisted and spun morphed into something more complex and beautiful. It is colorful, eclectic, and often puzzling — and at its core, rich and inspiring." Well put!

After delightfully whizzing through her recent work — which includes everything from street style to shopping guides to a sartorial history of the city — we caught up with the six-months-along preggers gal and snapped some shots in her South Robertson abode that will certainly have you agreeing with this prediction: There's many more page-flipper tomes in her near future.