Inspired by this thread, and considering my post in this thread, I thought a thread for the fashion-challenged woman might be in order.
You see, I just moved to New York, where I happen to be the worst-dressed twenty-something girl in the city. Today, I’m wearing a coral-colored stretchy T-shirt top thing with khakis that make my butt look big. Yesterday, I wore the same khakis (hey, I’m lounging inside today) with a brown sccop-neck top and a pink-flowered button-down three-quarter-sleeved blouse over it.
Not pretty.
In a week, I’m starting a new job. It’s business casual, and nice jeans are allowed, but I feel like I’m in need of a fashion upgrade. For starters, I don’t look cool. I look out-of-date, colorblind, and boring. Secondly, I’m not very good at finding clothes that flatter my body type. I’m about a size twelve in the hips area, but pants that fit my hips don’t usually fit my smaller waist, and I have a slimmer upper body and a big chest–size 34D bra. So my weird pear-shapedness doesn’t allow me to wear most dresses.
Now, I only have so much to spend–I’m thinking H&M price range, not Nordstrom, but I am willing to make some sacrifice if I’m getting my money’s worth. I can recognize a well-dressed woman when I see one, but I can’t put myself together to save my life.
I do have fabulous natural nails, though, and I’m willing to trade my secrets. HELP!!! Please?
There are people with waaaaaaaaaaay more fashion sense than me on this board. They will be along shortly
But my advice would be to wear mostly black or navy. I look good in brown so I wear that a lot. Try to buy things that you can mix and match. Buy a really nice pair of shoes and a well made purse.
I recently did the aquire-a-professional-wardrobe thing, so I have a little advice I can give you.
Watch What Not To Wear. I’m a lot more confident when shopping because of it. It’s great when they do someone who’s like you (same body shape, same coloring, or same past fashion disasters) but they also have a lot of generally good advice, especially about building a wardrobe from scratch. And in general, I find it very uplifting. It gives me a positive attitude about shopping (which I generally hate.)
Get rid of what doesn’t work. I’m cheap, so this is awfully hard for me, but if your khakis make your butt look big and you hate them, ditch them. If they’re in good shape, donate them, or sell them at a second-hand store, or consign them. If they’re worn out, pitch them. If you feel guilty because you spent $X on them and only wore then N times, just think of it as a karmic gift that person who’s out there somewhere who is exactly the right size to wear them who will treasure them forever. They can’t do that while they’re hanging in your closet, or on your butt makin’ it look fat.
On Doper advice, I just got rid of TEN PAIRS OF PANTS because I lost weight and they don’t fit me. I had one pair that still fit, one I bought last month, and I went out and bought two new pair. I have two black pair of slacks, one brown pair of slacks, and one pair of green khakis. Period. That’s it. But they all look good and so far, I’m surviving just fine. Which brings me to . . .
Start with a small number of good pieces. Decide what your basics are going to be. For me it’s brown pants and black pants. I shy away from stripes and textures because I’m paranoid about them, but also because you can wear the same pair of brown pants three times a week, and if they’re just basic brown pants, nobody’s going to be thinking, “Hey, didn’t she wear those Tuesday?” You can get some fancier stuff later after you’ve established a basic wardrobe. Ditto shoes. Get a brown pair and a black pair. Branch out later. Find the Killer Blazer, the one you can wear with plain a V-neck tee and jeans, or with a nice blouse and a pair of slacks.
Then think in outfits. Don’t buy a blouse unless it matches two things (like a blazer and a sweater.) Survey your wardrobe and think about pieces to add for more flexiblity: a white camisole that you can wear with blouses or blazers, a simple, brightly-colored cardigan that you can wear with a T-shirt, a camisole, or a matching blouse.
This is what leads to looking put together, planning outfits rather than just throwing them together from a bunch of things you bought because you liked each one individually. It also saves money, because you don’t spend $80 on a blouse-and-sweater combo (1 outfit), you spend that $80 on a blouse that you can wear with that sweater and two other things, and a sweater that also matches two other things, so you expanded your wardrobe by 5 outfits, not one.
Lay out your outfit the night before. They you have time to iron that blouse that picked up some creases in the closet, and decide that, no, that sweater really doesn’t go with that shirt but that other thing will, and get everything all squared away, including socks, shoes and underwear. Then in the morning you jump out of bed, hop into your outfit, slide down the firepole and hit the street running.
Definitely agree with these two pieces of advice. And speaking of What Not to Wear (the US version), they have a book out that’s pretty interesting. They take different body types and demonstarte what looks the most flattering on petite, average, and tall examples fo each type. And they use real models so you get a really good examples. I don’t know if I’d buy the book but I enjoyed browsing it at the bookstore.
Suggestion number two is primo. I’ve always hung on to stuff I dislike because it’s too “good” to give away. But I feel rotten and unattractive wearing clothes I dislike even if it’s just laundry day.
You don’t have to spend a ton of money to look decent. Check out Old Navy and Target (I wish we had an H&M here). I can often find fashionable pieces that fit decently for a great price. Yeah, they aren’t as well made and won’t last as long as some upper end clothing but they’ll do until you start making enough to shop the better brands.
It’s important to try everything on and not buy a piece just because you “need” something like khaki pants. You don’t need just any old khaki pants, you need ones that fit well and make you look good.
Well, the first thing I would do is get a nice 3 piece suit - jacket, skirt, pants in a flattering color - black if it suits you, grey or dark brown. For NY black is probably the best bet. Then you can break the pieces up to wear with other items.
I would spend the most money you can possibly afford - a suit is not something to scrimp on - think of it as an investment - if you get a good quality, classic style, it will last you for years.
Try to find a jacket with a three button stance, and a fitted waist - that will create a nice hourglass shape, and help keep the girls under control.
For the skirt, if you can get an A-line style, that will flatter your bum. Finally, straight leg pants - not too flare, and never tapered.
When buying your suit - fit your largest part, and get other bits taylored to fit. So if you have roomy hips and a small waist, fit your hips and get the waist taken in. Your garments will look better, and be more comfortable if they’re slightly too large, then slightly too small.
Then with that as your jumping off point, you can introduce other slacks and skirts as you find them.
If you’re just starting out in the wardrobe department, I would skip super trendy items - you’ll spend a shwack of $$ and then look horribly outdated in a year. Better to get a really good foundation, and then you can add the occasional trendy piece if you like.
Today even my boss commented on my clothes! Not that my clothes are bad, disgusting or torn but I’m still trawling around in my lawschool biz cas stuff which is about three to four sizes too big at this point. When your mid-50s no-style boss comments that you look like you’re swimming in your pants you know it’s time to upgrade.
SO MANY thanks for all the great advice so far! I’m going to try going shopping this weekend, so I’ll see what I can find. I often hit the Target and Old Navy “career wear” departments looking for stuff, and I can always afford their stuff. I’ve figured out my next big problem–I don’t have a friend to take along and help me decide what looks good/fits well. You know, check out the angles, make sure it doesn’t ride up/down too much when I sit, etc. My husband is too impatient, but maybe I can bribe him.
I’m definitely going to the Barnes and Noble to check out the “What Not to Wear” book–I watched the show when I got cable and they’re fantastic at making people look good.
I suppose I’m not that fashion challenged, I just thought I was pretty good before the move. I looked pretty good for the UChicago campus (where the squirrels are cuter than the girls and more aggressive than the guys), so when I see how all these NYU chicks look, it makes me feel frumpy in comparison.
alice, I do have a black pin-stripe suit that I wear for interviews and such. Maybe I should start wearing it in pieces a little more. It’s pretty stylish and fits me well, so I’ll try to get more mileage out of it. And maybe I’ll buy another suit when I feel I can spend more…
Now, anybody have advice about what I can wear for fun? Now and then I go out with husband/friends/whomever and want to look cute. Almost all the fashions specifically designed for these “clubbing/going out” purposes are made to look good on sizes 0-6. Ergo, no boob support, too much leg (or too tight around the legs), and lots of “what not to wear” jokes that I’d rather not be made into…
I’m a lot like you, but without the knockers. My body is basically one of a size four teenagers, except with some size ten hips and a decent little tummy. Added to that, I am long waisted and a bit on the short side.
I’ve found I can only wear straight-legged jeans. Tapered and flared jeans make me look like a walking mass of hips. I’ve also found that low-rise pants are good deal for me- I can choose pants that fit my hips without worrying about my waist or my tummy. Generally pants without a lot going on in front (like side zip or discreetly zipped ones) look better than jeans-style with lots of buttons and the whatnot. Discovering “short” pants has been a boon to me, as well. I’m also a huge fan of my sailor pants.
Pants shopping is a long process for me. I recently went to Old Navy, tried on every pair of pant near my size, and bought the three pairs that fit.
As for skirts, I’ve had a lot of luck with simple straight cotton just-below-the-knee skirts with flat elastic waists. The average tailored career-style skirt looks horrible on me- it emphasizes my hips. I can also do A-line skirts. I’ve got a few of these in simple patterns and basic colors.
Heavy construction helps. Filmy, clingy, unstructured clothes just don’t look right on me. I need things with lots of seams and good heavy fabric. I looks for stuff that looks well-tailored and fitted.
My advice is buy a nice winter coat. I’ve got a slick, beautifully tailored, 3/4 length grey wool coat, and a nearly identical one in black with red buttons and a matching red scarf, and a fun thin grass-green one. A nice coat ensures that you will always make a good impression coming and going, and makes you look good whenever you go out running errands and the like, even if you are just wearing pajamas underneath. I got all of mine for under ten bucks at thrift stores.
