Dressing Your Body

This is something that I've been getting better at lately, I think. Sometimes it's hard to be objective about what looks good on your own body-either it just doesn't occur to us, or (and I think this one is more common in women, personally) we think everything looks bad (I've been getting better at not doing this). I think sometimes it makes a big difference if we have a little help, especially at the beginning, an unbiased observer, if you will, that will tell you what they think about how something fits or if a color flatters your complexion. I'm not saying that we should base all of our fashion decisions on what other people think, just that (especially for someone like me, who hasn't really thought about what flatters me until recently), it can be helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off of, or someone to give an opinion that maybe isn't so mired in one view of your body like you might be (I was stuck in the "I don't look good in girly things and I feel like a giant frilly cupcake so therefore it must all be stupid and I shouldn't even try" mentality. Anyway, I found this post today through a link at Already Pretty and I thought I'd share it with, well, anyone who happens to be reading this blog today (which, thanks to H's intrepid participation in the 30 for 30 endeavor, is probably more people than have been reading it). I found it helpful, and it explains why some things look better on me than others. Hopefully it will help me make more informed decisions when shopping and dressing myself...

4 comments:

  1. That was incredibly helpful!!! I'm so glad that I'm not the only person with my crazy body shape (which I now know is an 8). The article was very helpful on "how to dress" myself. Some of these things (e.g., no protruding pockets on the hips, belt at the narrowest part) I've discovered through trial and error, but some other ones--no A lines, trouser pants don't work--I didn't know and am slightly sad to discover. (The trousers especially.) But it's better to find out now than to keep on doing things that accentuate the wrong parts or detract from the better features of my figure.

    Thanks for sharing this!!! And you're right that an unbiased eye is sometimes needed, but at the end of the day dress in such a way that makes YOU happy, confident, and expresses your personality in a positive way.

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  2. I've had trouble with this too. That's why I love "What Not To Wear," because their whole goal is finding what works best for each body. I'm gonna figure out what shape I am after work tonight!

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  3. Great post. I think we often think that we are one body type when we might be another. The better we understand our bodies, the better equipped we are to dress in a flattering manner.

    However, it also depends on your personal style. I find that although I have an hourglass shape, I like to dress in menwear-inspired styles that hide my waist. Everyone says to show off your curves, but I like to keep it subtle...it's there, just not in your face. =P

    As long as you're confident in what you wear and you love what you are wearing, that's all that matters...flattering or not. But having some help and some objective opinions help fetter out the things that are too extreme for our daily outfits.

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  4. I'm glad you posted this- I really like what you said about having an objective opinion instead of just sinking into the everything is terrible head space. In my head I was totally going to use this as a place to say insightful things and encourage other people to realize how awesome they are, and fortunately, you're helping further these ideas. As far as developing personal style though, I think Stylepint hits a really good point that having confidence in what you're wearing is just as or more important as following guidelines- don't they say in writing they you need to learn the rules and then you can break them? Maybe that's the best attitude to take towards dressing yourself.

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