Authored by Kate Beswick in Clothing
Published on 12-12-2009
Women who fall into a plus category in the size department may often feel as though they are swimming alone in a pool full of size sixes. It’s no wonder why! With beauty magazines filling our heads about what “beautiful” means and with plus size specialty stores seeming to offer little more than brightly colored ponchos and huge blouses where one can get lost in fabric, it’s easy to see why plus size women can quickly become discouraged. But for those women who do have a larger fit, there’s lots of hope! Plus size women, just like other women, simply need to know how to dress for their body shape and know how to accentuate their assets and downplay their problem areas.
When looking for plus size clothing, it’s important to remember that larger women can look good in any color that is flattering for them. Dispelling the myth that large women can only wear darker clothes is a major step in finding the perfect wardrobe for you. Just because you may have a larger body type doesn’t mean that you need to walk around looking like you’re about to attend a funeral all the time! Feel free to wear orange, red, gold, or whatever color makes you feel beautiful. The key is not what color you wear but how you wear it. Wearing matching colors, such as a khaki blazer with khaki blazers, is very slimming. To keep it from being too boring, choose a contrasting blouse to wear underneath the blazer or accessorize with different colored earrings, necklaces, or bracelets.
Another fashion tip for plus size women to remember is to wear clothes that draw the eye vertically, not horizontally. Things such as horizontal stripes or zippers that go from side to side are major fashion faux pas for plus size women. Instead, choose clothes that have vertical features such as large buttons down the front, a long necklace, or vertical stripes. Wearing things that are vertical rather than horizontal lengthens the body by drawing the eye up and down instead of from side to side, which can draw attention to larger areas.
One of the most important fashion tips for plus size women is to always try clothes on and make sure that they fit properly. This is actually a fashion tip that women of any size should follow. But the problem is that plus size women often think that wearing smaller clothing will make them appear smaller when in fact the opposite is true. Wearing blouses that have buttons that pop open or pants that squeeze the waist too tightly will only draw negative attention to the plus size figure instead of flattering it. Even if you know that you usually fit a size 16, try every single piece of new clothing on before buying it. Some clothes fit differently than others and you want to make sure that everything you buy will look great on you!
Lastly, it’s most important that plus size women find a department store they like that specializes in plus size clothing. It may take a few tries but finding a store where you can actually see yourself buying something and loving it will be more than worth the extra time it took to find the store!
