Just because your body isn’t quite what you would like it to be doesn’t mean you should abandon all sense of style.
The right clothes, carefully chosen, can make you look slimmer, not to mention boost your mood and your confidence
“Bad fit is never going to flatter your body shape,” stylist Kendall Farr writes in “The Pocket Stylist,” a new book about dressing with flair. “If it’s not flattering, what’s the point of wearing it?”
Determining whether a garment fits means taking a critical look in the mirror. If it pulls, gaps or cuts into your flesh, it doesn’t fit. If it skims smoothly over your contours, it probably does.
Of course, every body has its own quirks. Happily, some rules for dressing to look slimmer work for just about everyone.
What works
– Vertical lines.
“Anything that goes vertical is good,” says Steve Rusgo of Paul Cicchini Custom Clothier in Birmingham, Mich. “Anything that goes horizontal is bad.”
– Pinstripes and muted windowpane plaids give a trimmer look than bold, multicolored plaids.
– Straight-legged pants (for women, with a side or back zipper) are better than very tapered styles, which only emphasize how wide the rest of the body is compared with the ankles.
– All-one-color outfits give the illusion of more height. Dark colors are slimming too.
– Tailored clothes, especially suits. Look for longer jackets that cover the hips and rear.
– Open collars and V-necks. A glimpse of collarbone is slenderizing.
– Similarly, any detail near the face pulls the eye upward, away from trouble spots. Women can try jewelry or scarves; men can add interest with bold ties and pocket squares.
What doesn’t work
– Wide horizontal stripes.
– Bulky fabrics.
– Baseball jackets or sweaters with a tight band at the bottom.
“Anything that stretches tight over the front or behind doesn’t distract from that area, but beacons it,” says Robin Smith, owner of Born to Shop, a boutique in Rochester, Mich.
– Fussy details such as cargo pockets. They add weight.
– Down-filled puffer jackets.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale (cdipasquale@tribune.com) and Victoria Rodriguez (vrodriguez@tribune.com)
