Get The Skinny on How to Dress Your Body
How many times have you caught a cursory glance of yourself while passing a window, or had a photo taken of yourself and upon seeing the result, you cringed? You’ve got a lump here, a bump there and your clothes seem to be doing nothing for you. The woman you saw when you were standing in the mirror this morning is a distant, distant relative of the reflection you’re seeing now.
The problem is that sometimes we have no idea what the solution is. Our bodies are not the ones that we see modeling our clothing. We aren’t of the same dimensions as the store mannequins that first lured us into buying our clothes.
This problem is more common than you know. Many woman have no idea how to dress their bodies. We lose weight, we gain weight, we get older, and we get confused by the new trends, but what tends to stay the same is our unflattering styling.
This problem is so common that it was the topic of a recent episode of CBC’s Steven and Chris. Luckily for you, Women Who Run It was there to interview the show’s Fashion Expert Genny Iannucci to make sure that you get the inside scoop on how to dress to make your body shine instead of spending one more day hiding it.
While you can watch all of the tips by going to Steven and Chris’ website, we also got you some tailor-made (pun intended) secrets straight from Genny herself.
Genny Iannucci’s Dress Skinnier Tips:
1. Dressing skinnier boosts your self-confidence.
“When you feel really good about the way you look it just blossoms in terms of confidence. “
When you feel that confidence it radiates from you in a way that will attract others. If you know you look good, others are going to know it too. Dress skinny and not only will it make you look better, but it will make you more confident and confidence is sexy!
2. Create the nicest, cleaning line on the body.
Genny shared that the biggest fashion mistake is wearing the wrong size. “A lot of times we’re just wearing items that are either too big… Excess fabric is going to add some visual weight…on the other hand, people compensate for that and go too tight. If you go too tight it’s the same thing as wearing something too loose.”
Wear clothing that is as close to your body as possible without any pulling or tugging. Clothing should simply skim over your body.
3. No matter how comfortable a woman should never wear something that doesn’t make her feel beautiful.
Plain and simple.
4. No matter how fabulous a woman should never wear shoes she can’t walk in.
This is for everyone’s benefit. For you, and the people who have to watch you massacre everything that is sexy about the stiletto.
5. Know your body.
“Clothing is cut on a standard and we don’t all fit into that standard.”
We need to know where our body differs from this and know what we want to hide and what we want to accentuate. By getting a good grasp on your body you’ll know what flatters it and what a good fit looks like. A good fit is the biggest battle that women face.
6. Or stick to some fool-proof tips.
Genny always suggests keeping it vertical. Draw the eyes up and down, not across. Go with vertical prints, v-necks, heels that will elongate you, and dangly jewellery like necklaces and earrings to keep the eyes moving.
Her idea of a universally un-flattering shape is a giant, shapeless caftan and her idea of a universally flattering shape is a wrap dress or a great boot-cut jean.
Genny’s best tip of the day came when I asked her what most women don’t know about their bodies. We seem to be so stumped about what fits and what doesn’t, so I was looking for some kind of tip that us women are missing when it comes to seeing our bodies. Genny hit the nail on the head when she replied “how beautiful it is.”
So many times we complain about a part of our body, but we forget that there are other women out there who wish they had what we see as a burden. How often have you heard women of all bust sizes complain? We all tend to want what we can’t have but instead we should appreciate what we do have.
Celebrate your body in all the beauty it is and show it off. Don’t look at dressing as a way to hide, but instead to enhance so you never have to hide from that reflection in the window but instead strut past and think “Damn, I look good!”
Taylor Brown
Taylor Brown is an Associate Editor at Goddess Connections for the Women Who Run It E-Mag. She graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications Studies. She is a resident of Toronto and she has a passion for exploring topics on health and fitness, and enjoys writing stories about women’s issues. She also enjoys writing about business and how to build a career. When she is not working for Women Who Run It you can find her exploring Toronto, going for jogs, or simply enjoying life as a strong, empowered woman who runs it. Her goal is to share stories that help women of all walks of life take control of their lives and create balance with ease.