“Wardrobe Woman” offers up advice to help full-figured women look their best
If you’re familiar with Christopher Hopking, aka The Makeover Guy, you may have seen his mother Joann in a few of his videos.
She also works at his appearance studio, which not only provides hair and makeup but full head-to-toe style assessments including wardrobe advice. And that’s Joann’s forte.
Looking your best
According to her bio, “Joann Hopkins has enjoyed a career as a personal shopper, style consultant, eyewear buyer, artist, and interior decorator. She has worked alongside her son, Christopher Hopkins, The Makeover Guy, teaching “illusion dressing” since 1997.”
What’s “illusion dressing”? Well, put simply, it’s deliberately choosing clothing that makes you look slimmer or taller. It’s not magic, rather, it’s about choosing colors and styles that complement a person’s figure.
Of course, we all know that the first rule of true style isn’t trying to look your skinniest but rather expressing yourself in a way that makes you feel confident. And Joann seems to understand that as well, even if she does think some of our staple wardrobe items aren’t doing us any favors.
So how do you flatter a fuller figure?
Should you decide you’d like to look a little slimmer in your clothing, we’ve laid out Joann’s advice.
Leggings
But we’ll warn you, she looks pretty relieved when the woman she’s consulting with says she doesn’t own any leggings. And while we don’t wear them as pants, there are a lot of wonderful, comfortable ways to wear them.
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Joann doesn’t seem to think they’re age-appropriate and warns that “you don’t need to show everything.” We shudder to think about the way she’s seen leggings worn if those are the problems she’s pointing out. We feel ok about wearing our leggings while still covering up our “everything.”
Pant cuts
Ok, here’s something we can definitely get on board with – “anything that pegs at the bottom is going to broaden the top.”
Now, when it comes to pants, there aren’t a whole lot of “peg leg” styles out there, but we have seen some curvy fit pants that just don’t do curvy women any favors. Any extra material at the hips and thighs should continue that whole way down instead of flaring back in. (Of course, skinny jeans are fine since they’re fitting from hip to ankle.)
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It’s good advice, and curvy women often skip straight-leg pants because they think extra material at the calves and ankles won’t flatter them. But most of the time, it’s just not true!
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Swimsuit surprise
Black swimsuits are generally thought to flatter just about everyone, but Joann doesn’t think so.
In fact, she thinks a woman’s silhouette is far more visible in a black one-piece. And if that’s not what you’re going for, she recommends a vibrant color or a medium pattern to break up the focus.
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Undergarments
Most bra-wearing women have learned the hard way that there’s an art to choosing the right piece.
When you’re well-endowed, the key is having a bra that fits snugly around your chest (Joanne says you shouldn’t be able to get your hands up through the bottom) as well as a garment that has 3-4 hooks in the back to smooth things out.
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About 80% of your support comes from the band (as opposed to the straps), and if it needs to be snug, having a thicker band will also make it more comfortable.
Vertical styles
Whether it’s stripes, seams, or pleats, Joann says that having a vertical element to your outfit can help your body look taller and slimmer.
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We’ve all heard that we shouldn’t wear horizontal stripes, but we’ve seen plenty of people pull it off.
Alas, she’s still right when she says those vertical lines do a lot of work when it comes to creating a lengthening effect.
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Another way to lengthen your look is to go monochromatic.
The great thing about the all-one-color look is that it’s chic as well – even in unexpected colors! And adding different textures makes it look all the more stylish.
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Asymmetrical cuts
Joann is really not a fan of anything horizontal, whether it’s stripes or the cut of a shirt that ends right at the largest part of your arm. And that’s fine – sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.
But what she does recommend (if you’re not necessarily into the vertical look) are v-necks and asymmetrical cuts.
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Wrap dresses are the perfect blend of these things.
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Anything round
Joann goes all the way to eyeglasses when she suggests that those trying to slenderize stay away from anything round! She doesn’t even like polka dots!
However, we think they can look awesome.
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This seems like the nuclear option to us, but we understand that roundness is not necessarily what women are going for when they’re trying to look slimmer.
“Round adds pounds,” she says. (But don’t worry, only calories add pounds.)
Colors
While black isn’t always slimming, it’s often the case that dark colors make you look smaller while light colors tend to “expand.”
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She does get a little more specific though, and we agree with the assessment that you don’t want to put your lightest colors in your widest areas. If you carry your weight in your stomach, you don’t want a white waistband. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use light colors elsewhere.
Joann has advice for all body shapes on her YouTube channel.
If you’d like to hear her give advice for full-figured women, you can scroll down below for the video. Or check out her YouTube channel here for more broad advice.
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Source: YouTube – The Wardrobe Woman, Facebook – Wardrobe Woman