Dressing For Your Shape Instead Of Weighing In
Focus On Dressing For Your Shape Instead Of Obsession Over A Weight.
As a woman and a Fashion Stylist, I hear other women talk about their weight loss resolutions for the New Year, they want to lose weight and strut out of those gym doors as a total Effortless Bitch. But it's not all rhinestones and stilettos in the world of weight loss, bikini ready bodies and calves thin enough to zip up a killer pair of knee high boots isn't part of the recipe to Effortless Bitchiness, style is, and it comes in all shapes and sizes.
While you're reading this, you're sitting down somewhere, on your phone on the way to work, at your desk or even on your couch, and you're thinking 'Yeah, but I still need to lose a few kilos.' And when you say these things to yourself, your inner Effortless Bitch steps back, totally offended.
Putting off buying new clothes or avoiding putting much effort into your appearance until you get to the weight you want to be at has your fairy bitch mother just about bursting with frustration. The women we see in the magazines, the ones we see on the latest ad campaigns and billboards don't show you what an average woman looks like, they teach you nothing about dressing for your shape, they just make you feel inadequate.
These advertisements show you models that have been made up for hours, had their clothes clipped to fit them perfectly from the photographers angle, photoshopped so that their skin looks like porcelain and curves so slight that they're probably not completely developed. We're looking at images of girls between the ages of 16 and 20 and we're wondering why we don't look as good. We're being total bitches to ourselves for no good reason.
Want to know more about dressing for your shape? Check out: Plus size rules we need to break!
There is an effortless bitch inside of you and she's clawing her way through those oversized monstrosities you call a tunic to get out. Let her shine! She's wasting away in those elasticised pants! So today's post is all about ditching the weight loss excuse and making a new years resolution that gets you looking good from day one, it's time to start dressing for your shape and your style. Start off your new year with a new mantra. Ditch the I'm not good enough, slim enough, tall enough or tanned enough, embrace your assets, flaws and the parts you have love hate relationships with. Embrace your style and your mirror and when you see yourself, make sure that what you're wearing makes you feel fantastic. If it's not fantastic, it's not meant to be.
STYLIST TIP: Every time my client tries on an item, I wait to see their reaction when they look in the mirror and if the seem unsure, I tell them two things; one: put it on hold and come back for it if you find yourself thinking about it more and more. Two: If you don't get excited about it, don't buy it. Everything that hangs in your wardrobe should make you feel great, it should be love not a ho-hum feeling that doesn't give you a kick in your step.
DRESSING FOR YOUR SHAPE IN THE NEW YEAR
STEP ONE: Get fitted for a bra, FOR THE LOVE OF V-NECKS, do it. If my client is wearing a poorly fitted bra, anything she wears on her top half is going to look wobbly and sad. When those girls are strapped in and pulled up, they make your waist smaller, your torso longer and your beverages cheaper (or free).
STEP TWO: Forget the size on the tag, gone are the days when sizing was standard and you could pick up a garment off the rack and buy it before trying it on. You might be a 16 in Katie's but a 12 in Sportscraft, it comes down to the way things fit. If they pull or gape, they don't belong on your back, if they skim and fall gently, they're winners.
STEP THREE:Clean out your wardrobe. You can't expect to buy anything new and exciting if you don't know what you've got already. Clean it out then reorganise it by style and colour. You'll soon find out that you have too many black cardigans.
STEP FOUR: Get some inspiration. It doesn't just have to be from fashion magazines, look at actors, characters, musicians, politicians and style bloggers to get your ideas and then create a board on Pinterest to get a good overview of your ideal look.
STEP FIVE: Create a list of what you NEED, then a list of what you WANT. Start with the basics, if you need new jeans, a great black blazer and a new leather belt, prioritise them. Pick core colours and don't stinge on the quality. After that, if you want a bright blue pair of palazzo pants, go for it, as long as they fit your shape and not your idea of the ideal size. If you have to go up a size to make them look good, do it, don't put them back on the rack. Going one size up to make them fit beats sticking with the size that pulls in unflattering areas and makes you look worse, am I right? Or am I right?
STEP SIX: Set yourself a budget, stick with it and shop with purpose. Don't walk into a department store with a rough idea of what you went in there for. If you need jeans, go straight to the jeans area (I recommend Levi's and Witchery), don't let yourself get distracted or you'll end up at square one with a wardrobe full of clothes and nothing to wear. Now put on your game face and get in that fitting room!
Speaking of shopping, don't forget to look at our shopping posts below before you hit the shops so that you can maximise your time dressing for your shape and minimise your time exercising that savings card!
STYLIST: ALARNA HOPE | H&MUA: LIV SLEE | PHOTOGRAPHER: JAN ERICK LUZURIAGA