Looking your best involves playing up your assets and downplaying your, ahem, flaws. While I don't like to use the word 'flaws' per se, I use it here to make a point. You know what your flaws are, just as much as I know what mine are. Not sure? Your flaws are those things about you that you typically hate (again, another word I don't like) and are quick to point out to others. That drive you crazy and you wish you could just zap with a laser beam and be done with. But that you're stuck with for now and evermore.
What if I told you that there is really nothing wrong with your body. Would you believe me? What if it was your clothes that were making you look fat? Let's explore this idea further and see how it just may be so.
I find that my clients and women in general aspire to great heights when it comes to their image. You're served up ideals of rail-thin models who look great in everything they wear on a silver platter. You embrace those ideals as your own, regardless of how unrealistic they may be. You diet, you exercise, yet, the cold, hard truth is that you're just not built that way. You have curves. You have a few extra pounds. You're what I like to call a 'real woman' and you're never going to be a size 2, ever, and that's ok because you're perfect just the way you are (more on that later). What I've found, though, is it really isn't about your size at all but about how you wear your clothing and how you present yourself. You can be a size 22 and still look great if you are wearing clothing that's right for you. Feeling big is a mindset and often what happens when women feel big (I know, I've been there) is that they just let themselves go and wear what is comfortable rather than what they truly want or what is right for their body.
When you perceive your body as imperfect and your inclination is to 'hide' it in big baggy clothes, items that are ill-fitting and things that simply make you look bigger than you truly are. It's just second nature to want to cover up what you perceive as a flaw, but what really is happening is that you're visually adding pounds. Your clothing becomes high-fat and makes you look bigger than you really are. Sounds crazy, huh? Yet it's true.
Here are five signs your clothing is high-fat and visually adding pounds to your bottom line:
1/ Lack of Definition - Your clothing is bigger than you are and, quite simply, shapeless. Your body gets lost in the excess fabric, making you feel smaller but the truth is what people see is the shapeless, amorphous clothing. Which looks big. Which in turn makes you look big. It seems counter-intuitive, yet it's a fact; wearing clothing that TRULY fits your shape will visually take off pounds and inches. Try it and see how great you can look, no matter what your size.
2/ You Feel Frumpy - Frumpy is usually synonomous with sloppy, and if you feel that way it's a pretty good bet that you look that way. Start with small steps and do what it takes to boost your image and take care of yourself. Get a haircut. Have your nails done. Get more exercise. And wear clothing that makes you feel fabulous!
3/ You Wear What's Comfortable - While dressing for comfort doesn't always mean that you look frumpy, the key is that you don't sacrifice style for comfort. Sure, comfort is key but so is looking great. When you sacrifice style for for comfort you begin to lose your sense of style and venture into that treacherous territory where frumpy slowly overtakes your look. One day you'll wake up and ask yourself who it is you see staring back at you in the mirror. Then you know you're in trouble.
4/ Wearing Bright, Shiny Objects - Yes, I want to encourage you to wear color, but no, I don't want you to get carried away and be the first thing that the vultures see while they're circling from above. Color is a tool that can work for you or against you. Shine is an element that can amplify color and turn a mild-mannered top, dress or skirt into a high-fat nightmare. If you're not at your ideal weight or have more than 5% body fat, I want to advise you to steer clear of shine - aka satin, silk, patent leather and the like. When clothing has shine to it, it simply makes you look bigger than you are. Add in a bright color and you're looking heavier than you've been in years. Shiny fabrics, like clingy knits, show every lump, bump and bulge and do nothing for your bottom line. Not good, huh? Yeah, steer clear. You can thank me later.
5/ You Don't Have a Good Foundation - Few things are more important than a good foundation, and by foundation I mean lingerie. Wearing a bra that you're spilling out of, panties that leave unsightly bulges or lingerie that is too bulky for the clothing you're wearing will only add pounds to your look. Have a bra fitting and ensure you get a great bra that won't leave lumps and bumps. Invest in different styles of undies - boy shorts, thongs, panties, shapewear - that will lave you with a smooth bottom line, which can make you look pounds thinner. You want to create a sleek look under your clothes which can guarantee that you'll look slimmer and trimmer, no matter what your size.
Want to learn how to dress to look pounds thinner? Contact me to set up a complimentary Find Your Style Inquiry session at michele@onechicmama.com and we'll discover how you can look your very best!
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In our lives there are many things that we tolerate each day that are out of our control; the traffic during your daily commute, your take-out order that got screwed up, your in-laws who decided to drop in unexpectedly. Sometimes we just need to embrace things and move on.
