"Confessions of a Shopaholic" or How to Shop for your Body Type

With great frequency new styles of clothing appear on the racks in the stores. Every winter and summer we watch to see what the fashion "experts" think we should be wearing, and without fail, we add to our wardrobes something that will make us look up-to-date. Unfortunately, not all of it will enhance, in fact, a lot of it detracts from, the unique shape of an individual body.

Detraction can be seen, for example, in old saggy arms exposed in a sleeveless dress, a bouncy rear end that is jiggling in a pair of tight stretch pants, two or three stomach tires drooping in a knit shirt and low rise jeans, mounds of body bulging out of a tight shirt, even bony legs in jeggings and a skin tight top that makes even the skinniest reveal their lack of bustline, a double chin or rolls of neck set off by a wide neckline. If you think I am focusing on undesirable body parts, you're right. Every person has one or more of them at some time or another in their life. So, if a body part is undesirable, why emphasize it in choice of clothing?

Any body will look fatter or bigger than it really is when the clothing is tight against it just because tight clothes actually don't fit. Cotton or polyester jersey knit and rayon materials tend to be clingy and reveal every curve and shape. Heavier fabrics such as denims, corduroys, and linens keep their shape rather than take on the shape they are next to. Hips too wide can be camouflaged with a shirt that creates a vertical line from shoulder to hip. Shoulders too narrow need shirts that are designed with wide shoulder seams and sleeves that begin down the arm. Pudgy legs should not wear shorts or tight pants. All of these body parts can be de-emphasized with proper clothing choices.

Low-rise or mid-rise, now the norm, have changed the way women wear pants. (Someone please tell me why they were invented. I lived for 50 years wearing pants up to my waist, and now pants to the waist are considered weird. By the way, I still wear pants up to my waist.) Low-rise or mid-rise look good only on slim bodies because the pants aren't going to stay up unless they are tight, which tightness usually makes the stomach protrude creating a roll around the waistline (a characteristic distressingly common in this generation of female bodies). A few years ago women wore pants up to their waist, and the stomach was supported by the fabric and zipper and perhaps even a belt. Now, nothing is supporting that stomach, and in fact, revealing a roll of fat that most women would consider to be embarrassing.

I have wide shoulders. On the surface that wouldn't seem like an undesirable body part, but shopping for those shoulders can be frustrating. If I buy a shirt to fit the width of my shoulders, which would also be the comfortable thing to do, usually the body of the shirt is huge, looking frumpy. And vice versa, to buy a shirt that fits my body requires that my shoulders be unfitted. Instead, I have found that raglan sleeves de-emphasize that width and create a slimming, attractive line extending to the hip.

I also have long legs which are out of proportion with my upper body. So that I don't appear to have "all legs," I must avoid tucking shirts in at my waist, instead wearing shirts that extend over my hips. The longer shirt gives the illusory effect of lengthening my upper body and shortening my legs.

As I have aged, I have had to avoid wearing short sleeves. They reveal my droopy, less than toned arms. I also find myself preferring long pants to shorts because my legs aren't as youthful as they used to be.

In this world of casual dress t-shirts, I have to remember to wear tops that give me a waistline. I have one that is designed to do that, and I always get compliments when I wear it. Not strange to hear then that I bought two more of them.

A TV program that aired for several years on the TLC channel called "What Not to Wear" was an excellent vehicle for tips in attractive dressing. There were many women who came on the show with body types that had challenging problems, but the MC's were able to resolve all of them. Therefore, finding the right look may take some searching, turning down desired styles may be necessary, buying nice looking clothing may increase the budget, but everyone can find something that enhances rather than detracts from their natural beauty.