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Minimise your middle

AWW Fashion
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
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Question: I am larger around my middle what should I wear to disguise it?
From Karen, via email.

Answer:

Dear Karen,

Thanks for your email.
It’s not that some women look good in clothes and others don’t, it is about choosing shapes and styles that suit your shape.

The first step to dressing well is to identify your body shape, which you have done! And then work on accentuating the positives. Eg: great legs, height, bust, curves etc.

Part of our job at AWW involves dressing women of all shapes and sizes, both celebrities and real people. Here are our tips to dressing to disguise your middle:

  • A narrow tunic style top worn over slim pants will create an illusion of overall slimness and divert attention away from your stomach. Stay away from billowing smock style tops or blouses – these will only make you look larger.
  • Make sure you balance your proportions. If you wear a loose fitting top which is a great option when dressing to disguise your middle, wear a tailored pair of pants or leggings to highlight a different part of your body. In this case it is your legs, this is the perfect way to flatter your figure.
  • You are not only limited to unstructured items of clothing. Tailored pieces are perfect for your shape. Just stay away from pencil skirts and body hugging silhouettes. A line dresses and skirts, empire lines and styles that come in at the waist (just above your middle) are very flattering styles for your body shape. Remember that dressing in head to toe baggy clothes will look awful.
  • If you have curves like Beyonce – flaunt them! Wear belts to cinch in your narrow waist to show off your divine feminine shape.
  • Wear colour! Try to stick with solid colours rather than patterns – some patterns can make you look bigger – eg: large spots.
  • Colour will lift your spirits and keep you looking, fresh, stylish and young.
  • Another great minimizing trick to cover your middle is to wear darker colours up the top and light colours at the bottom.

Have fun with your shape! And learn to accentuate your positives

The AWW Fashion Team
Your say: What are your body problem areas? How do you accentuate your positives? Share with us below...

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User comments
I am tied of looking at magazines with all the beautiful young models looking slim trim and terrific come on in the real world things are not that way. Women in their 60's want to dress nice smart and modern and feel good about themselves. All the dresses this summer( and its nice to see dresses again )are short sleeved ....who wants to look at my 60 plus arms. Please help us out we maybe for the first time in our lives have some money to spend.
Thanks for the comments on dressing to hide the flaws, but being like Suse, from Shepparton, and 60 years old, I would love some easy exercises to help remove the 'love handles' and 'spare tyre'. I am very close to my BMI and am happy with my weight, just not with the extra I have around my middle. Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.
I loved this article because in general it applies to me as well.Being a "pear"shape,short,a little on the "tubby"side and in my early 60,s,I still love to dress up and look as fashionable as I can,not always easy with an "odd"body shape.! I love jeans and tops but finding the right ones for me isn,t all that easy and sometimes I make a fashion faux pas with the wrong size,colour,style etc because I see something I really like,buy it,then when I get home and put it on I just go"yuck"what did I get that for.!! I want to avoid the mutton dressed as lamb look,but don,t want to look like an old granny either(which I am anyway)so,as the article suggests,balance is the key,along with more thoughtful purchases and no impulse buys.A great little book that I have come across that has helped me tremendously is "grown up and georgeous in your 60,s"by Nivea Visage,highly recommended.!! I don,t really have any thing I want to flaunt,but I do want to look good,feel great,and enjoy what I,ve got.!!

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