As you can probably guess, one of my favorite television shows is TLC’s What Not to Wear. One of Stacy and Clinton’s favorite mantras is when you wear clothes that fit your body, you look smaller. In other words, wearing loose or baggy clothes will make you look larger than you are. Within the realm of “clothes that fit your body” there are many variations. One of the fits that flatters most bodies is semi-fitted. For today’s post, I want to sing the virtues of the semi-fitted top. “Semi-fitted” is just what it sounds like. It’s not tight and it’s not loose, a.k.a. baggy. These tops hint at your body shape without showing it off or flaunting it. Hence, this is a great style for business, too. Semi-fitted tops best flatter women with a straighter waistline and women who have a tiny bit of a tummy. No matter what physical shape you’re in, if you have a boyish waist line, wearing tops that are tight or hug your torso only emphasizes your lack of curves. Likewise, wearing a tight top over your belly emphasizes the curve of your stomach. Alternatively, semi-fitted tops, as you can see (Read more...)

TLC’s What Not to Wear hosts, Stacy London and Clinton Kelly, insist you should always be able to button your jackets. While I love Stacy and Clinton, I completely disagree! I never button my jackets…ever! It’s not my personal style, nor do I like the uber-constricting way it feels. Typically a size 8 jacket fits me well. Because I have a wide torso and back, if I wanted to button my jacket, I would need to purchase a size 10 and have many costly alterations made. It just doesn’t make sense to do this, as I’m just not a buttoner. Are you a buttoner or a non-buttoner? As an image consultant, I  always like to find out if my clients prefer to button their jackets or leave them open, as it will many times determine our choices. Whether you’re a buttoner, a part time buttoner, or a non-buttoner, here are a few considerations:

• If you button your jackets, even part time, you should never have any pulling across your back or at the buttons. When pulling occurs, you will need to buy a size larger and have the jacket tailored

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I just got back from seeing Clinton Kelly (from TLC’s What Not to Wear) “Makeover America.” at Macy’s. The turn-out was amazing and even more amazing were the transformations that Clinton performed on 15 Denver women! The show started out with C.K. offering to do a couple of audience member style critiques. First to jump up on stage was a blond haired woman wearing a black zip up hoodie with kangaroo pockets and black jeans. He first told her that black was not “her” neutral. She was washed out in the black and needed to look for a softer neutral such as navy or khaki. Next he told her that hoodies do nothing for anyone, and the pockets just give us a kangaroo pouch! Our next volunteer was wearing a pair of jeans that were far too saggy in the seat. Kelly stressed the importance of fit in a great looking jean. He claims that making your butt look great is really the only reason to wear jeans. This subject was also wearing a bright colored, horizontally striped t-shirt. While horizontal stripes aren’t always the worst thing, Clinton emphasized that they can tend to make most women appear a bit (Read more...)