What Not To Wear
Clinton Kelly of "What Not To Wear" offers awesome advice for how to flatter a larger frame.
"Women should also be careful with things that look dinky, carrying a little bag or wearing itsy-bitsy jewelry actually makes you look bigger. Pay attention to proportion when it comes to bags, accessories and jewelry."
That's pretty good advice. It's all about proportion. And if you have money to invest in nicer, tailored pieces, there's this:
"What you do is to find something that fits the largest part of you and then take it to the tailor. Don't feel like you're a victim of designers and stylists. Women have it in their heads that they have to find something on the rack and that it has to look good, but men when they go to stores to buy suits, they have to have them altered. And women have more curves than men, so how does that make any sense?"
Link via The Pretty Pear
"Women should also be careful with things that look dinky, carrying a little bag or wearing itsy-bitsy jewelry actually makes you look bigger. Pay attention to proportion when it comes to bags, accessories and jewelry."
That's pretty good advice. It's all about proportion. And if you have money to invest in nicer, tailored pieces, there's this:
"What you do is to find something that fits the largest part of you and then take it to the tailor. Don't feel like you're a victim of designers and stylists. Women have it in their heads that they have to find something on the rack and that it has to look good, but men when they go to stores to buy suits, they have to have them altered. And women have more curves than men, so how does that make any sense?"
Link via The Pretty Pear
posted by mo pie at 1:03 PM
7 Comments:
Women seem to have this notion that tailoring is massively expensive, but it's not. Get a jacket that fits you through the shoulder, back, and rib cage, and the rest is usually just taking in the sleeves, which might run $15.00 or so. Hemming a pant is $5.00 - $10.00. Better that than a closet full of stuff you never wear, because it doesn't fit. You can also tailor jeans, BTW, which is a lot cheaper than the 17 pairs you have because of the endless quest for the "perfect" jean. The only "perfect" clothes out there are the ones tailored to fit your unique body. And it really does end up costing less.
You know, Anonymous, I absolutely tend to believe you. It's probably way smarter to have one or two pieces tailored to really fit you well, rather than buying a whole bunch of clothes that "almost" fit. But of course you have to choose very high quality pieces in the first place, which is where the expense comes in.
That's some really great, common-sense advice. Wish I'd had it back when I was 12 and grew about half a foot in 3 months and started feeling crappy about the bod when I was, oh, about 12.
But on the bright side, I guess you use it when you can get it. Thanks, Mo.
That's some really great, common-sense advice. Wish I'd had it back when I grew about half a foot in 3 months and started feeling crappy about the bod -- round about, oh, 12.
But on the bright side, I guess you use it when you can get it. Thanks, Mo.
Some clothes you can even "tailor" yourself without being a whiz at sewing or investing a lot of time. I regularly cut the bottom off tops and re-hem them (because they suit me better if they hit me at the waist, rather than clinging to my hips), and I've altered quite a few wrap dresses so they fit me perfectly.
The rest of the advice doesn't sound too bad, although I loathe WNTW with a passion. I've only seen the original UK version, but it's the concept of telling someone all their favourite items are wrong for them that I don't like. I will defend to the death any woman's right to wear clothes that don't "suit" her if she's happy in them. What's wrong with a little individuality?
I am about to get a pair of trousers altered, which will be the first time I've had this done. I bought them recently, they fit my hips but gape at the waist. I can report back on how much it costs.
I was regularly subjected to my mother's version of "tailoring" when I was younger. It usually involved "we'll just add some elastic, then it'll fit". Not pretty. Ill-fitting clothes held in place with elastic are still ill-fitting clothes, they're just oddly puffy.
Hmmm...so it's really not that expensive to get things tailored? I kept thinking that I should eventually get into sewing and make my own clothes, because I have found that apparently if you are a size 24 (or so), you have to be seven feet tall, not 4'10" like me. Or have no boobs. Or all of the above. I spent an hour just trying to find a pair of shorts, for crying out loud. (And since there is always a tall person out there who thinks that fat clothes are made for people two feet tall, I think we should connect - I'll send you my extra material, or maybe we could buy clothes at our respective stores and send them to each other. I swear, the clothing world is out to get us.)
I only wear about six pieces of clothes anyway, because I can't ever find anything that fits. Imagine, a short sleeve shirt with sleeves that go above my elbows? Hmm....
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