Dress to Impress. Yourself!

Recently I read an article where a woman advised women to dress according to their shape and not to show those extra inch (es) of fat. This is not the first time someone has said this. There are countless advices for over weight women on how they should dress.

You will never see these kind of advices for men. Even men have huge beer bellies / lanky legs and not all kind of outfits suit them. Not everyone looks good in skinny jeans / suits where buttons seem to burst from the seams. But then what other option they have? They could wear loose Kurta / baggy jeans though 😉

This reminds me of my growing up years. I was healthy overweight since I was born but I always dressed up in so called western clothes like skirts and midis. As I entered college, I started putting on weight with the speed of a bunny. I was advised to drop the skirts and wear full sleeved dresses to hide my flabby arms, elephantine legs and a bulging tummy.

Of course they made me look more flabby. If you look at my pics of those times, you can see only my face (thankfully no one suggested to wear a mask to hide the face fat) The rest of my body is covered in what I can only call a tent.

When I started working, I saw an overweight woman in my office wearing a skirt. I told mom that she wasn’t looking bad. I got permission to wear one (Of course I had to get it stitched as plus size clothing wasn’t available so easy few years back). Since then there has been no looking back. I started wearing dresses which flattered my shape rather than hide it. All the A line skirts / dresses, short sleeves, etc which were forbidden by fashion gurus, actually made me look slimmer and more importantly, happy!

So my advise to overweight or otherwise, women is, do not listen to these judgemental advices. Not everyone is born with the same shape. Some body parts would be thin and some would be fat. If the fat / skinny parts look ugly to people, it is their problem. Imagine if we weren’t wearing clothes. Imagine the world was a nudist colony. Would these judgemental people ask us to chop away the ugly parts?

And as regards what to wear, wear only what you feel comfortable in. If a bandage dress makes you feel sexy and boosts your confidence, wear it even if you have a bulging tummy. As for tights / leggings, everyone would vouch how comfortable they are as compared to salwars / pants. But the key here is comfort. If you are wearing a sexy tight dress but it doesn’t allow you to breath, do not wear. The discomfort wears your confidence off surely.

There is a proverb in Hindi, Khaiyye man bhata, peheniye jag bhata. Translation: Eat what you like, wear what people like. But I disagree. Why should we wear what people like? We should wear what makes us happy. So don’t worry! Dress up. To impress. Yourself!

Have look at the women in the pics below. Don’t they look just fabulous?? 😀

ericawatson_couchIMG_1079zara-striped-blouse-fashion-ootd-blog-fat-curvy

 

Fashionable and Me?

Some years back, Me, S & her friend were going for a movie. I was meeting S’s friend for the first time. I was wearing a short striped kurti & patiyala with an abstract pattern. I loved that dress and felt very cool. Not that anyone told me that ever. That I was cool that is. Also I usually dressed in tent like clothes to cover up my excess fat. The days where I used to wear only midis and skirts seemed like a distant dream.

Next day S told me her friend said I carried myself very well. And I was like WHOA! Do I? And that was the moment I decided I would get more such clothes in my wardrobe. Bye Bye ugly tents 😉

Over the years I lost some of my excess weight and also better clothes for plus sized people were available in the market. (steeply priced though :-/ ) Anyway, I started wearing skirts and western clothes again. My dressing sense was appreciated very much & it was flattering as well as overwhelming. Suddenly people were asking me tips on what to wear, where to buy clothes from, etc etc

What was happening? How did I become a fashionista? I never followed trends. I only wore what I liked. And my mom can vouch that my shopping doesn’t take more than 5 minutes :-p

That is the key I guess. Wear what you like, what you are comfortable in. With CONFIDENCE! It doesn’t matter what brand your clothes are or how much they cost or are they trending or not. Create your own trends. Be a fashion icon rather than follow fashion icons 😉 Be Cool!

diva

High High Higher!!!

 

All I want are high heels, high heels. If I was a girl, I’d wear a lot of high heels. High, stiletto heels!! – Isaac Mizrahi

Why you may ask..’coz Wise men aka doctors always advise against it! Five Reasons you shouldn’t wear them:

1. Alters the anatomy of your calf muscles.
2. They might cause you to trip & fall.
3. Create Foot problems.
4. Put stress on back & knees.
5. Causes Pump Bump.

Why you may ask…’coz Wise Women aka Members of High Heel Club advise to go for it! Five Reasons you should wear them:

1. It makes you look taller.
2. It adds oomph & confidence to your personality.
3. It gives you a feeling of floating in the air.
4. It makes flatters envious of you.
5. Looks great with Indian dresses as well as westerns.

Who cares about med problems? They can be cured with Meds & TLC but nothing can beat the advantages of wearing heels!

Just wear it once & increase your SQ! (Sexy Quotient ;-))

So many varieties to try from…

Platforms, Wedges, Chunky, Kitten, Cone, Spool, & the best the Stilettos!!!