Beautiful well dressed women
I always say that the reason I am inspired to make great clothes is to help bigger women feel good about them selves. A woman's sense of style affects her life. When you are dressed well you feel good about yourself. If you dress sexy, you can feel sexy. If you wear a suit, you can feel empowered. When you wear cashmere and a great pair of heels, you can feel lux. Many people think that fashion is a frivolous waste of time, but have you ever noticed that the people making such scoffing remarks are usually un-kept themselves?
I never again want to see a woman down on herself because she does not feel attractive. I see so many big women that look like they have rolled out of bed and pulled on the first wrinkled and stained garments their hands have come across as they rummaged through the laundry basket to get dressed in the dark. ENOUGH ALREADY LADIES!!!!!!!!! All women are beautiful. Sometimes you need a little push to start caring. As a stylist and personal shopper I hear all sorts of excuses, The two most common are "I want to wait till I loose all this extra weight." and "I cant afford it." in this article I will address these excuses and show you how to dress for success. Someone once said dress for the job you want, not the job you have." You may not think you have anywhere important to go and that your clothes don't matter but first impressions are our calling card and you want yours to say "I matter!"
Excuse Number One: "I want to wait till I loose all this extra weight." Why do you want to postpone feeling better about yourself? I applaud those women that are traveling the hard road toward weight loss. But woman you can update your look and get clothes that fit you NOW and still reach that goal later. Buy a few clothes that fit you, now and start feeling good about your self now. Too many times I have seen women work out and work out and just when they are starting to see the difference they feel discouraged by the way they look and quit. If you look good on the outside- even just with clothes on, you will perceive that your hard work is paying off and you will be encouraged to keep it up. When you look the part of someone who cares about how they look you will care in other areas as well. If you loose weight you can always go shopping for your new size.
The second excuse is ridiculous, I am a huge fan of spending within your budget and I have many of my most favorite pieces because I bargain shop. Goodwill, Ross, Forever 21, Old Navy and Burlington Coat Factory all have plus size options on the CHEAP!!!! If you still think you are TOO broke think about where your money goes. If you spend money on lattes, and fast food or on wasted gas, going on errands that you could do by taking a walk... your wasting money on things that make you and keep you from reaching your goals. Instead tell yourself, "I am not going to get fast food today, I am going to take leftovers to work." Then take that extra $7 and stash it for your shopping fund. Do this every chance you get. You can reward yourself without the extra calories and pounds by purchasing a new outfit.
For a woman that has little in the way of clothing I suggest starting with building a classic everyday look. You can use the pieces to mix and match with each other to build a wardrobe. Here I'll show you how.
First go through your closet and throw out anything with stains and holes. Bag up anything that does not fit you and put the bag out of site for a month. Make a pile of clothes that need repairs i.e. a missing button, a small hole, pants that are two long and need a hem. You can fix these things easily or take them to a tailor that will fix them at a very low cost. Do this with your shoes as well. If the sole is worn or the shoe is scuffed, you can take it to a shoe repair place to have it re-soled or polished to almost new.
Next- asses what you have left in your closet. start thinking about your clothes in terms of outfits. try piecing together outfits with what you already have. Now you are ready to start building a wardrobe.
The key to shopping on the cheap is to make sure to stick to the classics that never go out of style. Old Navy is a good place to get some basics. Good Will is a good place to go for denim. You can then build from here.
Ladies be wary of lazy dressing. Clothes have roles. A swimsuit is for swimming. Pajama's are for sleeping and Athletic gear is clothing for physical activity!!! If you find that you spend most of your time in sweats and tennis shoes you are doing yourself a disservice.
Our bodies need structure or else we come off looking sloppy. My mantra- "a tee shirt does not an outfit make" First of all logo shirts are a bad Idea. I do not own any label or promo tee shirts, why am I paying to do someone else's advertising. In addition if it is an event tee shirt it screams" hey look, I got this tee shirt for free."
Instead opt for solid color tee shirts in a variety of cuts and styles. Such as (tank tops, long sleeve, scoop necks, and 3 quarter length). I shy away from patterned tee shirts because they are really supposed to be a backdrop to the show piece of the outfit which we will discuss later. If you start with a patterned tee shirt then you really have little leeway to build up your outfit.
Once you have a basic shirt as your base you can cover it with a "show piece" such as a jacket, sweater, or another shirt such as a blouse. Remember earlier I said that plus size women need structure. A jacket or sweater, hones in some of the extra curves, gives depth to the outfit, and adds interest with texture and/ or pattern. A blouse can bring a soft feminine aesthetic to a tank top making your outfit look more lux and thought out. The idea here is not to drown yourself in bulky fabric, that will only make you look frumpy and bigger. The goal is not to hide your body but rather to add interest to the outfit itself. The over all affect will be slimming because it will flatter your body. You want these layered pieces to come as close to your body as possible without hugging and pulling. Add a pair of jeans that fit you. You want the bottom of the jeans to hit below your ankle. I suggest dark wash denim, with a flaired pant leg. to keep it modern and elegant. Another thing to remember is that you only need two pair of jeans at a time. No one notices if you are wearing the same jeans over and over as long as you change up the rest of your look. If you wear undies and you don't spill anything on your self your good to go.
Add jewelry that complements colors in your outfit. When in doubt just go with metallic gold or silver. Add on Scarves, hats, watches etc...but be carful not to over do it you don't want to look like a crazy cat lady. Keep it in the same family of colors and tones. Coco Chanel once said “always take off the last thing you put on” I've also heard it said another way... “Always remove one thing before leaving the house.”
Shoes- should be regarded as the foundation of the outfit. They are important. They help anchor an outfit. They need to be comfortable for you whatever your needs are, yet they should not be athletic unless you are working out. I love flats they come in all shapes and sizes and colors. Old navy has really cute flats on a regular basis. As does Pay Less shoes. Depending on your shoe size you may also check, Forever 21, and Nordstrom Rack and Ross for cheaper options. Your shoe should complement your outfit. It does not have to be a matchy-matchy situation. You can contrast with your outfit for a hip look or wear shoes in a pattern that has similar colors as your shirt and jacket. To start if you really feel under pressure not to splurge get a pair of black flats they go with everything, anchoring any outfit and they should be more comfortable than heels.
You can put together this simple look for any size woman for under 50 bucks I promise you! Shoes included. If you already have shoes and a pair of jeans you can get a new look for less than 20.
Another good point to take notice of is dresses!!!!!!!!!!!!! All hail to the wardrobe staple. A one-stop outfit pick. Dress, shoes you’re done. You can wear it in the spring and summer alone, then in the fall and winter add leggings a cardigan and a pair of boots and your good to go. But that’s another article.
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