"Big Girl" Fashion

By now you have seen me mention the "Fabulous after 40" fashion website here in Cyrsti's Condo. Currently they are providing fashion tips for big women.

Most of the time, I see as much practical worth in ideas such as these as I do copying the looks of Andrej Pejic on the runways. But this article is different.

To begin with there are big women and then there are big trans women like me. Proportion is the key of course. I'm aware many genetic women have approximately the same shoulder size and arms I have but in the vast majority of cases have a much bigger hip and thigh area.  I have always been fortunate in that my large frame is at the least rounded and I can use certain pieces of fashion to my style advantage. Check the picture at right for a couple examples of body styles:

Lets get to the tips:


Tip # 1 – Don’t Buy Clothes that are Too Tight Nothing is worse than trying to fit into clothes that are too small. You think smaller sized clothing is going to make you look thinner, when in reality it makes you look bigger. Small clothes on a big body exaggerates your weight. Get the size that fits and forget about the size tag.

 Tip # 2 – Don’t Buy Clothes that are Too Baggy On the Flip side, clothing that is too loose doesn’t work either. When it comes to Fashion Tips for overweight women, this is one you really need to pay attention to. It’s so common to see a heavy woman walking around in a “tent” of a top. What I mean here is a top or dress that is big, sloppy and has no fit. Many larger women think that they can hide behind loose clothing when in reality they are only drawing more attention to their body. Clothes need to skim your body, no matter what your shape. They don’t need to be tight but they need create flow over the curves of your body

The model on the left shows an example of what I am talking about.  Slowly but surely HRT is taking the muscle tone away from my biceps and my skin is smoothing out so in reality, her shoulders and arms are close to mine.  I still have a long ways to go in the hips department so I really need the skim over the hip area.

Let's move on:


Tip # 3 - Wear Dark Colors on the Heavy Bits Color is a wonderful way to camouflage weight. Dark colors recede and bright/light colors advance if you wear dark colors on your heavy parts those parts will look smaller. Big Thighs? Then wear dark navy, brown, black, gray, burgundy pants and a lighter/brighter top. Huge bust and tiny hips? Then you’d want to wear the darker color up top and the lighter color on the bottom.
 Tip # 4- Avoid Detail where you carry the Weight plus size women with bigger bone structure can wear bigger, heavier accessories Buttons, pockets, pleats, embellishment…They all draw attention. So don’t have them where you where don’t want people to look. If you have a generous rear end that you are trying to downplay don’t buy jeans with studs, embroidery or anything else jazzing up the back pockets. If your upper arms are beefy, a short sleeve top with sleeves that end at the thickest part of your arm is going to make them look heavier. A mirror is your best friend.

Aha! That pesky mirror again!!! I can't tell you how many times it has lied to me!!!  At some point of time you have to woman up and face the real image in the mirror. In my case, I know I am never going to be thin enough to run around in the shower to get wet.  I just don't have that body style with my bones and torso- so I have to work with it and around it! Gee thanks mirror!

Finally, the fun tip!:


Tip # 5 - Keep Your Accessories in Scale If you are a heavier woman you need to have heavier accessories. A 200 Pound woman is going to look heavier with tiny, dainty jewelry. She can looks big in medium to even very large size jewelry. Scale is also important when it comes to other things such as the thickness of your heels. For example if you have heavy legs and calves a thin spiky heel is such a contrast to your legs that you are going to look like you have even heavier legs. A thicker heavier heel would be better for you. Imagine a very heavy set woman with a tiny purse. It just makes her look bigger right. Keep your accessories in line with your weight and size and you will look slimmer.

There you go girls. Five really good tips to dressing your body.  As we discussed in a recent post, it may be harder being a woman but if you do your homework and obsess a little with the process, the benefits will be worth it!