Three Image Rules to Create Balance and Shape

It is critical that you dress yourself correctly in order to flatter your shape. Properly fitted clothing will give you the appearance of being taller, leaner and of course being well coordinated. To ensure that you are putting your best look forward, it is important that you work with your body type instead of against it. 

Yesterday I had posted a few looks on Facebook for Fashion Friday and had a little memo on one of them about why the style I chose was critical with the look. I will use the pieces from yesterday in this first example. The "Smarty Pants", on the right, have a puffy or ballooned section at the top of the pant and a fitting leg. It would be really easy to make yourself look heavier than you are if this style is not executed properly.

 RULE ONE: Create illusion of an hour glass by balancing your pieces.
Imagine an hour glass. Top and bottom are proportionate with the center being smaller. By pairing this style pant with a short cut, fitted jacket, like this one on the left, you create curve and the illusion of the hour glass figure because of the waist definition in the jacket. The shoulders create upper definintion and the bottoms have a ballooned top. Because these pants come up higher on the waist, a jacket with shorter length is ideal. A critical error would be choosing a jacket that is 3-4 inches longer in length. Why? Because it will cut at the widest point of most of your bodies and it is at the center of the balloon eliminating your waistline making you look like a box.

Today, I am going to show you a perfect example of how ill-fitted pants can make you look worse rather than better. ***Don't judge the pictures and more so don't judge me. Remember, this is all in the name of blogging for you.

RULE TWO: Buy clothes that fit you.
When clothes fit right you feel better and will always look better. The pants below on the left are the new pants that are too big. Yes, they stay up and yes, to the untrained eye these could work. However, if they were they correct size, they would be even better. The pants below on the right are fitted but not a good fit for my body type. Nothing is worse than seeing someone who has a great shape hide it with pants that are too big. I really like the pants on the left and think they would be the better fit IF they were the right size.

Where do I begin? Both of these pants are disastrous in their own right so I will cover the pros and cons of both with the main focus being buy clothes that fit you properly. Don't buy them too small OR too big.
The pants on the left have a better waistline because they are higher up on my hip bones. This creates curve as you can see. The pic on the right looks square.

Here you can see that the definition of the butt is lost on the left but see how they give the illusion that I am taller and have longer legs. The higher waist line is more clearly more flattering for my body type. The wide band on the right accentuates my widest area which is a no-no. You can see that illustrated above best.

 Loosey goosey booty on the left. You can tell where there is access material making me look saggy and wide. You can literally grip the access fabric with your hand there is so much. Not the case on the right. As you can see, there is more thigh and knee definition (yes, I am working on the saddlebags-don't judge) I think the pants on the left would hide those better with a smaller size.

RULE THREE: Forget about the numbers. 
Try on every size until you find the perfect fir for you. Don't get caught up in the numbers game. It's a fit game. Get the right fit.

There you have it. Buy clothes that fit you and have a great day. -Cyn