During my 15 years in the styling business I’ve worked with many individuals, corporates and been a Westfield Stylist helping run their fashion events for over 10 years. So as you can imagine I’ve see a LOT of women of all different shapes, colouring and sizes. I wanted to share a common theme many women find challenging.
I shall begin with a question. How many of you go up an extra size in your clothing because you are highly conscious about your tummy? I reckon I would see a lot of hands in the air on this one. This isn’t age dependent either. Having seen every age from teenagers to 70+, this seems to be the major concern and issue – other than covering arms & knees which I’ll save for another blog post!
My advice to you is to not go down the road of buying an extra size up to ‘hide’ your tummy. Categorically what then happens is you just end up look like that extra size ALL OVER. Bigger arms, shoulders, chest and in most cases you lose your most precious feminine asset, your shape.
No matter how small or non-existent your waist is, you still have shape under your bust. If you lose this you will look 1 or 2 sizes bigger. The key is to finding pieces – whether it be via the cut of the clothing or the drape of the fabric – that shows your shape down the side of your body, and falls gently over your tummy in a way that doesn’t add fabric, but also doesn’t cling.
Impossible I hear you shout! It really isn’t. But I do understand that unless I can show you cuts and fabrics that do just that, you may be sceptical. So while it isn’t easy, it is worth putting the effort in to make sure your clothing fits you properly on your shoulders, arms and bust. Rouching under the bust or at the side or even patterns on a top is another tip on keeping they eye distracted so it is unknown as to what is a natural lump or bump and what the fabric. The popular trend for sheer fabrics is also another easy way of showing a bit of shape, as long as you can see through the fabric, it’s that a little bit floaty and not clingy over the body.
My other advice to you is to please don’t let your worry of a certain part of your body stop you from for doing the best with the great assets you DO have. Good luck ladies. Feel free to email or contact me if you need more advice on any other styling issues.
TRUDI XX