...at least it is if you have a body like mine, which is all butt and thighs. The ultimate fashion lesson you can learn, and one that I have finally learned over the last three years, is to dress for your body. This may seem like superficial life lesson, but it has made a big difference to my sense of identity and self-esteem. You see, I went through a phase that I think most women go through at some point in their lives, during which I had reached a weight higher than I was comfortable with and wore what Israel referred to as "frumpy" clothes (man, am I lucky to have an honest husband;-)) because I just didn't care how I looked. Except I did care. The better thing to say was that I thought I didn't care about my appearance; what I actually felt was a lack of control over how I looked.
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| Boston, 2009. I certainly could not find a picture of the level of frumpiness reached on my typical workdays, but this picture (in which I was having a grand time, actually!) illustrates the lack of thought I put into my outfits: loose, flared jeans and a square-shaped jacket- NOT flattering at all! |
I got really lucky and lost a significant amount of weight during my student teaching and first year of teaching- this motivated me to step up my appearance. But even a loss of 20 pounds did not melt away my largish arms, nor my"junk in the trunk." So, when making decisions about what to buy and how to wear my clothing, I had to consider what I should wear to accentuate my best physical features. And to learn what to wear, I had to become familiar with What Not to Wear.
That's right- TLC's best guilty pleasure taught me most of what I know about how to dress my body. Before I became just another working gal with a DVR, I was a recent college grad who often made the mistake of wearing quirky trends- I was part hip, part laid back, and 100% hot mess. My main problem was that I knew nothing about proportion, so I would do foolish things like wear long, loose shirts with flared jeans (oh, the humanity!). I didn't realize that, in doing this, I was hiding my best asset (pun intended!)- that place at the middle of my body where my relatively small waist met with my objectively bubbly posterior. While it seemed that I was wasting away on the couch, chuckling at Clinton and Stacy's lovingly bitchy comments, I was actually learning some simple strategies for dressing my body well.
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| What Not to Wear's Clinton and Stacy- tough love is the name of the game. Source: http://corporate.discovery.com/blog/2011/02/28/local-mom-blogger-gets-a-makeover-on-tlcs-what-not-to-wear/ |
If your body is anything like mine (little in the middle, but you got much back, as Sir Mix-A-Lot would say) , you might benefit from ensuring that you own some of the wardrobe staples that I have acquired, as recommended for me personally (through my TV) by Stacy and Clinton.
1. A Belt Fitted To Your Waist
Remember when it was cool to wear your belt slung below your waist? Well I do, because I did it, and made myself look about 10 pounds heavier in the process. As Clinton and Stacy always say, you want to draw attention to the place where your body is the smallest, and the best way to draw attention to it is to outline it! I try to buy clothes that are already cut to fit to my waist, but when a flowy shirt or dress catches my eye, a belt like this comes in real handy. It allows me to achieve a carefree vibe while still keeping my body's proportions. This is where the tucking in of the shirt comes in; any shirt that is going to hang loosely over my waist and past my butt gets tucked in, sometimes with a belt, and sometimes not (depending on how rebellious I'm feeling! :-P). Flowy dresses always get the belt treatment, and always right at the waist.
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| This is how I like to wear a belt to accentuate my waistline. The dress was already fitted, but I thought that belt would make it more flattering. It was also my white accessory for my sister's black and white party (which also had the yummy appetizers I'm chowing down on here!). |
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| I also have waist-fitted belts in black and brown. I find that, with the white belt above and these two, I am covered for almost any outfit to which I want to add a belt. |
2. A Smart Blazer
Smart is the perfect adjective for a blazer. It conveys the fact that a blazer automatically makes you look fashionable and put-together. It doesn't matter what you wear it with. I've worn mine with a Depeche Mode T-shirt and shorts. I've also worn it with a blouse and pencil skirt. And guess what? It looks awesome with both! A blazer is what Clinton and Stacy would call a structured piece- it is made to hold its own shape, so if it has a flattering cut, it holds that flattering cut against your body when you wear it. A well-cut blazer (for me, that's one that comes in slightly at the waist and has a slit down the bottom of the back so it can flare out slightly) can honestly make you look your sleekest and most slender, regardless of what you wear it with.
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| Here is one of the foundation pieces of my wardrobe: my Banana Republic blazer. I wear it with the sleeves rolled up for a more casual look, and rolled down for a more formal look :-). Definitely one of my most prized material possessions. |
3. High-Waisted Skirts
Notice how I specified skirts; those adorable high-waisted shorts that all the skinny girls are rocking belong nowhere near the middle of my body. But a high-waisted skirt is perfect- it sits on my waist, yet flows out to cover the upper part of my thighs (the thunderous part, if you will). Here, again, I tuck in whatever shirt or blouse I am wearing with it, and even add a blazer, cardigan, and/or belt, if I am feeling particularly festive.
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| This is my favorite "fun-day" skirt- too short to wear to school or work, but perfect for a day out and about or a night of dancing, like this one for Taleen's birthday :-). The tank top is long and loose, so I made it flatter my form by tucking it into my skirt. |
4. Button-Up Cardigans
Oh how I love my cardis. I would hope that anyone who knows my sense of fashion can immediately identify the cardigan as my favorite fashion staple. I have always been on the feminine side of the fashion spectrum; even when I feel like mixing it up and going a little edgier, I love the softening effect that a cardigan can have on an outfit. Cardigans are usually flowy, so I remedy this by either securing one or two buttons at the waist (if I am in a more casual mood) or putting one of my aforementioned waist-fitted belts around it (for a dressier/more formal look).
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| The cardigan I'm wearing here is long and loose, so I added a belt to bring it in. Of course, not outfit compares to the cap and gown of an accomplished college grad! (Love you, Jack :-)) |
I have to say, I am by no means a fashion expert. I'm just a girl who happens to be hooked on a reality show that actually taught me something that I found useful, and thought that others might as well. Just know that, if you've been in a funk lately about your appearance, remedying this could just be a matter of making a few adjustments to your wardrobe. And it doesn't really take many changes to the contents of your wardrobe, but rather how you wear them.
Thanks, as always, for reading :-)
-Melissa
SONG OF THE DAY: "Rocketeer" by Far East Movement. This song has been stuck in my head since I heard it yesterday at Ulta. I wasn't sure what it was, since I am out of touch with the top 40 scene, so I whipped out my Sound Hound, found it on Spotify, and have listened to it several times since. Why? Simple- it's not auto-tuned, you don't feel obligated to shuffle to it, and it doesn't feature Rihanna (sorry, Ri-Ri, you're overplayed for sure). It has a catchy hook with nice vocals and a good beat. It made me want to bust out my moves right there in the Maybelline aisle. That's the sign of a good song.
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