OPRAH!
I don’t watch her show but I love her in general and I think she is a beautiful broad no matter how big she gets. I know she’s a fat-strugglin’ sister and it’s hard to watch her go up and down the scale and find one guru after another, lose the weight, proclaim new understandings and wisdom, publish a new book about her exercise and eating habits, and then gain it all back.
I feel like, by now, everyone should shut up about Oprah’s weight. But she is a great role model for women in the public eye because she totally claims her enormity of being at any size. Also, she tends to have great clothes. Of course she has more money than God and can afford them, but she has tended to stick to classics while taking the occasional fun risk. And she does color beautifully. I almost always love her make-up, too: I wonder who does it?
She made a major blooper the other day in Australia, though. Ouch.
The thing about Opes is that, like any of us on a Sunday in our robes, she’s going to be seen at every angle eventually — not just at that flattering angle of walking into the room. She’s not hiding behind a desk (or a pulpit!) and dang, it is really hard to dress for the camera when you’re going to be seen at 360 degrees. I’ve only done it a couple of times and you cannot hide a pound, boys and girls. There’s no magical outfit.
But you certainly shouldn’t exacerbate the issue by clothing yourself in huge, voluminous, shapeless garments like that. The neckline of the top is just awful (note that Oprah almost always wears the far-more flattering v-neck), the shirt is shapeless, she cuts herself completely in half by going from bright pink on top to bright white (and SHINY white! *shudder*) on the bottom. Her bottom half looks not dressed, but rather swathed. It is so unflattering as to be shocking, actually. I always feel that no matter what your shape, HAVE one. Not that I would choose to highlight my yantitas on purpose, but it doesn’t do any good to throw a whole bunch of fabric all over my chumbola and try to hide it.
Look how much better Oprah looks on the same trip. I am guessing that it’s incredibly hot in Australia right now, which may be why she’s choosing those billowy fabrics. The dress here is a wrinkled mess but it’s a pretty color, she always looks better in those wrap tops with a bow at the waist (which shows an actual WAIST, which the pink and white combo completely obliterates), and keeping the color consistent across her whole body is just much more flattering. Plus, the skirt isn’t swallowing her alive:
I’m not sure why she was wearing a full-length skirt for this meeting with Jay-Z but I doubt that the occasion called for one. It would have looked cuter at a shorter length with a fun heel. Oprah loves her shoes, so I’m not sure what’s going on here.
A couple of years ago Oprah told her audience something her father told her, “Look at ya mama, she was big. Look at ya grandmama, she was big. Look at ya aunts, they all big. That’s who you are, a big girl.” I always thought that was pretty insightful of Mr. Winfrey.
Oprah and her relationship to clothes has a lot to do with Oprah and her relationship with her weight…if she’s feeling good about her weight (no matter what size she is at the time), she gets better clothes and looks better in them. If she’s not feeling so hot about her weight, the clothes she picks (or gets picked for her) look it.
As one who has always been a big girl I could have it wrong about Oprah, but I don’t think I do. And the only time I didn’t watch Oprah was when she lost weight and lost her mind at the same time (the time when she did that stupid liquid diet crap).
Oh no! I looked at the top photo before reading very far and honestly thought it was an article about a revival of “The Color Purple” The outfit looked to me like a huge white apron over a loose dress. Yikes.
I thought the white skirt looked like a slip! That’s even worse! I loved, loved, loved the tangerine dress, but it is overly fancy for the occasion. (Not that I’ve ever overdressed to make myself feel confident. No sirree….)
[I am SO in favor of over-dressing to make yourself feel confident! Keep it up! – PB]
My mother’s advice to me was “you can never be too dressed up”. I agree with that the majority of the time.
Oh dear, PB, say it isn’t so…
“she totally claims her enormity of being at any size…” No, no, no, NO!!!!
Enormity DOES NOT mean simply refer to ‘Size’ — it means monstrous evil. And it’s a terrible sign of the decline of language when my favorite clergy fashion maven forgets that!
And I don’t care if some dictionaries are now permitting the more casual usage. It is WRONG!
And yes, I am a Pedantic English Major.