10 Clothing Habits That Visually Add Pounds & 10 That Are Naturally Slimming
Are Your Outfit Choices Flattering Your Body Shape?
The way you dress can affect the way your body looks in surprising ways. While certain patterns, fabrics, or styles can widen your waist and highlight your problem areas, others can naturally slim and elongate your figure. Here are 10 style mistakes that make you look bulkier and 10 that minimize the pounds.
1. Horizontal Stripes
Horizontal stripes, particularly if they're bold or thick, create an optical illusion, making the body look wider. This effect is particularly apparent on wider bodies.
2. Overly Baggy Clothes
While there's a common perception that wearing baggy garments will conceal your body, they will do nothing to flatter your silhouette. You should aim to accentuate your natural curves instead of hiding them.
3. Clothes That Are Too Tight
Inversely, squeezing into clothes that are too tight will create bulges. This emphasizes the areas you're the most self-conscious about.
4. The Wrong Undergarments
Wearing the wrong underwear can destroy even the most well put-together outfit. An ill-fitted bra or panties can ruin the smooth lines of your body and create an unflattering silhouette.
5. Choosing Large Prints
People who are concerned about their body image often opt for large-scale prints, thinking it will mask their size, but it actually has the opposite effect. Choosing prints with oversized patterns can overwhelm your frame and create a broadening effect.
6. Light Or Shiny Fabrics
Light or shiny fabrics reflect light, which emphasizes your body's volume. They also tend to highlight the parts of your body that you consider imperfections because of the way they interact with light.
7. Low-Waisted Pants Or Skirt
Hip huggers are, unfortunately, back in style, despite not being very flattering on most figures. They accentuate our least confident areas like the midsection and muffin tops, elongate the torso, and make the legs look shorter.
8. Cropped Jackets
Cropped or short jackets tend to cut the body line in an awkward place and make the body look disproportionate. They generally make the top half of your body look even larger.
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9. Cropped Pants
Pants that are cropped mid-calf, like capris, make your legs look shorter and thicker. To elongate your body, either opt for shorts or long pants, never in between.
10. Wearing A Thin Belt
Adding a belt can be an excellent way to cinch the waist and highlight your natural curves. However, if you have a curvy figure, choosing a very thin belt can have the opposite effect than what you're looking for, making the waist seem wider.
Now that we've talked about dressing habits that can make your figure look wider, let's talk about ones that have a slimming effect.
1. Monochromatic Outfits
Wearing a single color makes your body look taller and slimmer. It does this by creating a single, uninterrupted visual line from head to toe.
2. Dark Colors
Darker colors make you look slimmer because, in contrast to light or shiny fabrics, which reflect light, they absorb light. This hides imperfections, creating a more streamlined and flattering silhouette.
3. V-Neck Tops
V-neck tops create a vertical line that elongates your torso, making you look taller and leaner. The V shape makes your shoulders look broader and your waist look smaller.
4. Vertical Stripes
In contrast to horizontal stripes, vertical ones make you look slimmer and taller. They create an optical illusion that causes the eye to travel up and down the body, visually elongating it.
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5. Fitted Clothing
Don't try to wear clothes that are smaller than your size or try to hide your body in oversized garments. Clothing that's well-tailored to fit you properly is the best way to flatter your silhouette, defining the waist and drawing the eye exactly where you want.
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6. Fit & Flare
Fit-and-flare outfits match a fitted bodice with a flared skirt, creating a slimmer waistline. This instantly creates an hourglass figure and hides "problem areas" like the belly and muffin tops.
7. Long Jackets & Sweaters
Always opt for longer jackets that elongate your silhouette instead of short ones. These create a clear, uninterrupted line and tone down the midsection.
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8. Heels
There's a reason women endure the pain of wearing heels: they're super flattering. They alter your posture, elongating the spine, and make your legs look longer and more toned.
9. Smoother Fabrics
Smoother fabrics like matte jersey or high-quality cotton blends drape the body more gracefully than materials that cling or stretch. Avoid satin, shiny fabrics, or velvet and opt for materials that help create a smoother silhouette.
10. Shapewear
Shapewear is a type of undergarment specifically designed to smooth out bulges and create a more streamlined silhouette. It can give your outfit the slimming boost it needs and help make you feel more confident.
