One of the things that PeaceBang does for you when she has time, is to peruse on-line clothing stores looking for suggestions and for bad examples to warn you away from. One of the great things about this exercise is that it helps me see what is out there that the fashion people are trying to foist on us suckers (seriously, the horrors never end!!), and it also provides an opportunity to see the same human being in a variety of different looks, just like when I visit with one of you and we do a little fashion show out of your closet. This opportunity to view a dozen different looks on the same model is very instructive. You see in a flash how proportion, fit, color, style and fabric can either help or harm someone’s natural beauty and either flatter or insult their figure.
Here’s an example from Carson’s, which I remember fondly from my years as a Midwesterner. We knew it as Carson Pirie Scott and they gave me my first credit card when I graduated from college.
Click on the image to enlarge:
Helpful, innit? Beyond your personal opinion about the various styles, you can see that certain cuts are pretty and others just do mean things to her. Like the fifth and sixth options: yikes! If you wonder if it’s worth all the fuss to take a lot of care with your clothing purchases, yes, it most emphatically IS worth the fuss and effort. And it’s not just a matter of “Oh, I like that and I can fit it over my head.” It’s a matter of quality for the price, how often you’ll wear the garment, real fit (not just, “I can button it, so it fits”), detailing of style (too much cleavage when you lean a little ways forward? Away it goes, and too bad. A print that washes you out, because you don’t wear make-up? Sorry, not worth the price even on sale) and suitability for your work and your image.
It is eminently worth it to treat your selection of clothing as a serious matter worthy of dedicated time and full attention. Think of it as curating an art collection (you are, after all, a living work of art), and not just accumulating random things to wear every day.
Thank you for this. I have recently discovered, much to my horror, that I’ve been dressing for the wrong body shape.
Over the weekend I went shopping with a great friend and we have adopted the mantra “Just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean I have to buy it”. Having said that, I did get some great deals, and they flatter my body type.
My closet is darn near empty, and I’ve sorted through shoes and accessories. Now I know WHAT to wear and I can keep an eye out for things that flatter and work well with my type.
It’s not about body shaming, but celebrating the body God has given me and playing to my strengths, yes?
Thank you for all you do. This blog is the only one I read with any frequency and I always take something away.
You rock! You and your fabulous self!