Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to wear trendy, fashion-forward clothing to look amazing. This may be a shock to some, and fashion-lovers may shake their heads in disapproval at the suggestion that anyone can look good in “regular” clothing. And no, you don’t need the body of a supermodel or an Olympic athlete either.
There are a lot of things I could talk about, but instead I'm going to focus on two simple rules.
Rule #1: Fit Matters
I really can't reiterate enough how important this rule is, I don't care if you're wearing a $500 designer shirt, because if it doesn't fit you right, it'll look like a $5 shirt. Most of us are at least somewhat conscious of fit. However, there are times where you just aren't sure if it fits well or you don't have someone to give a second opinion or your size is out of stock so you just buy the next size down or up.
If you don’t know how something is supposed to fit, the best thing to do is ask someone. As a general rule, you don’t want anything skin tight (unless of course it’s skinny jeans, but even then there is such a thing as too tight) and you don’t want your clothes to hang off of you either. Looser-fit styles are popular right now, but those styles do have an “ideal looseness”, and I know it’s tempting to get a smaller size because it “still fits”, but don’t compromise ideal fit for the sake of the letter or number on the tag. Chances are, if you know it doesn’t fit like it should, you won’t wear it much anyways.
The only thing that usually should be bought a hair too tight are jeans. Women’s jeans are usually made with spandex and will relax after several wears, so if you buy the pair that fits perfectly in the store, chances are they will end up being too big. Now you don’t need to buy the pair you can’t breathe in, you just want them a little snug.
Rule #2: Wear What YOU Like
It is nearly impossible to look good in something you don’t like or feel comfortable wearing. I’m sure most of us don’t buy ourselves very many clothes that we don’t like, but we do buy clothes that we love….except we do like how the color looks on us, or it makes our hips look bigger or the sleeves are just a tad short. And those items stay in our closets forever, because we like them and we tell ourselves that we will wear them, but they rarely make it out of the closet because we feel self-conscious wearing it.
Maybe you’re thinking people don’t notice when you wear something that you don’t feel confident in. And certainly, maybe they don’t know why you don’t like it or that there’s small stain on the sleeve, but without realizing it, you will undoubtedly express your discomfort in some way. Maybe you won’t stand as straight or you voice your opinion as much because you don’t want to draw attention to yourself.
The bottom line is this. When it comes to clothes, be aware of how things should fit you and don’t wear anything you don’t feel like yourself in. Even if others don’t like what you’re wearing, if it fits properly they’ll know you’re aware of your body and you are careful to avoid unflattering or vulgar style and you’re confident, they’ll be far less likely to question your style choices.
