WOMEN OVER 40 SHOULDN'T WEAR MINISKIRTS OR SHOULD THEY ?

 By: Unknown    12:51  No comments

Today I asked the title question on Facebook and it kicked up quite a storm, whilst some people agree with the statement, the majority don't - maybe Malta and it's desire and mentality to box and create rules for everything is finally changing and allowing for more 'freedom'.

The fashion world as it is today makes rules one season only to break them the next - case in point - don't match ANYTHING one year..oh actually let's match everything the next year. So with this in mind, can there still be rules and can there still be a concept of something being ‘age appropriate’?

In my opinion, the answer to the title cannot be defined simply by an age number. The basic fundamental fact is that there are women over 40 who look better in mini skirts than others aged 20. Having said that, past a certain age, I do believe that for most women, thin or not, their knees might start to look a little bit saggy and in that case maybe a pair of tights should be considered.

With this in mind, the expression mutton dressed as lamb is one I hear very often and much as I like to say lets disregard rules in fashion and express individuality, there are times when I find myself using this expression in regard to someone's outfit.The truth is that it’s all about the final look and how you piece the items together rather than the individual clothing items.

The final look is the important thing and as a more mature woman, your image should reflect both your age and personality, for example, you should not wear the same exact outfit that your teenage daughter wears, whilst you may be wearing the same blazer, your daughter could decide to pair it with boyfriend jeans and converse but you should pair it with tailored jeans and heels.

As we grow older what is important is that we pay attention to what suits our figure, if we arm ourselves with this knowledge we will generally always look good, no matter what we wear.

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Body Shape Post : Pear Shape and Skinny Jeans

 By: Unknown    08:37  No comments

I know a lot of people who live by the motto wear what you want when you want which is a great motto but the good old truth is that the way you dress yourself can make a hell of a difference in how you look and most people I know care even if they don't admit it.

I've written many body shape posts incl how to learn your body shape, what to wear if you're a pear, what to wear if you're an apple and many more...what I haven't yet tackled is breaking these rules. I'm starting this off today with a how to wear skinny jeans if you're a pear post. Let's start by stating that skinny jeans are probably the worst style of jeans for a pear shaped body, they draw attention to the bum and thighs, they highlight a narrow ankle and create an imbalance..they do exactly what a pear doesn't want them to do basically. 

So why would a pear wear them ? I can only answer this from my own peary perspective. I am currently sitting here writing this, wearing guess what - a pair of skinny jeans and my reason is that they're comfortable, I'm wearing them with trainers (bootcut and flared options I find need a bit of a heel) and I own a million and one skinny jeans because I tend to fall in love with them in the shops. Last but not least, most shops insist on selling only skinny jeans. So this is reality - the truth is we will sometimes wear something we shouldn't wear purely because we want to. I liken this to my habit of eating chocolate every day (I'm lactose intolerant)

So what to do ?

There are ways to minimise the damage a pair of skinny jeans can cause to a pear shaped body. Now I'm going to state a somewhat controversial fact here - I believe that only a slim pear can get away with skinny jeans, I think that if you're slightly on the heavier side, there isn't really a way to minimise the damage or at least I don't think I know how to.

Damage Control for Skinny Jeans

A slim pear probably doesn't have wide hips, it's actually the discrepancy between the pear's narrow waist and hip width that makes them look wide...but their measurement might actually be quite small. This means that we have to do something a bit strange here - we need to grow the waist and upper body. 

Adding volume to the waist & upperbody - this means wearing a loose top, padded shoulders, not wearing belts, not wearing tight fitting tops. Off-the shoulder necklines are also great at drawing attention upwards onto the face and away from the thighs and hips whilst adding a sense of width to the shoulders.

What to Buy?
Avoid too-light washes, avoid whiskering on the hips, or zips on the hips, avoid any horizontal patterns and if they're a bit big from the waist, have them taken in - don't let them fall down and bag at the crotch area.

Hopefully there are a few sad pears out there who can turn their frown upside down now.

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Body Shape : Clothes for an Inverted Triangle

 By: Unknown    04:45  No comments

Our appearance is important and the way we dress is one of the main factors contributing to our appearance. It is very important to understand what type of clothes and what style works for your body and what doesn't. Although every body is different from another we do have basic rules that can generally be applied to a category of body shapes. You can determine your body shape at Learn Your Body Shape.

Today this post is focusing on inverted triangles - an inverted triangles generally has a wider/broader upper body & broad arms, wide back, lean legs, narrow hips and a smaller bum, an ample bust might be present but this is not always the case.

The fundamental fact about this body type is that the upper half has a lot more to it than the lower half since we always aim at a sense of proportionate as a body ideal, what we want to do is add a sense of volume and attention to the lower half whilst ensuring to not in any way adding volume or too much attention to the upper half.

Do's

Wear a-line and fuller skirts, this will make your waist and upper half appear smaller. Short skirts won't work as there simply isn't enough material to draw eyes downward.

Wear patterned trousers, your legs are your best friend draw maximum attention to them.

Wear dresses and tops that nip in at the waistline, these will create a waist even if there isn't one.

Wear wrap dresses - the position at which these dresses fasten are great at hiding midsection fat.

Wear light coloured jeans, this will add bulk to your legs and bum, making them appear curvier. Back pockets will also help.

Wear vertical lines on your lower half, we want the extra width.

Wear dark colours on your upper half, dark colours can make the body appear slimmer.

Wear open necklines - halter necks, cowl necks

Use belts to create a waist

Don'ts

Wear patterned tops, this will draw too much attention upwards.

Wear anything with padded shoulders, we are looking to decrease not increase the shoulder size. 

Wear narrow, tight pencil skirts - the narrowing at the bottom will make your shoulders appear broader.

Wear horizontal lines on the upper body.

Don't wear very tight trousers, this would emphasis you lean legs and by comparison make your stomach seem fatter.

Shopping Ideas

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Random Post : Knowing Your BRA SIZE

 By: Unknown    01:00  No comments

At some point in my life, probably somewhere in my late teens, I read somewhere that a large percentage of women wear the wrong bra size..I wanted to make sure I wasn't one of them so of course I researched the topic and found out how to figure it out. For some reason, I assumed all other girls/women must have done the same. However, I recently found out that actually here are a lot of women out there who aren't aware that there's somewhat of an equation to know your bra size which is a shame as this is very important knowledge for a woman and can make a wealth of a difference both to comfort and posture. Bad posture as a result of a bad bra can lead to back and neck problems etc etc and yes the wrong bra size could result in sagging boobs.

So how does this 'equation' work ? It's quite simple....first of all remove your bra and all clothes and grab a measuring tape, when taking any body measurements, take care to hold the taps parallel to the ground and measure in inches.

1. First Measurement is to get the band measurement i.e the 32 /34 /36 /38Measure the area just under your bust, hold the tape somewhat snugly and exhale. Round to the nearest number. If the number is even, this is almost definitely your correct size, If it’s odd, you will need to try on the number before and the number after to see which fits best. Your band size is the sum of this calculation.
2. Second Measurement is to get the cup measurement i.e the A / B /C /D /E...Measure your fullest pat of your bust and again round to the nearest whole number.
3. To determine the cup size, subtract the first band measurement from the second cup measurement.

Less than 1 inch size is generally an AA.

Approx.  1 inch = A

Approx.  2 inches = B

Approx.  3 inches = C

Approx.  4 inches = D

Approx.  5 inches = DD

Approx.  6 inches = E

Approx.  7 inches = F 

Approx.  8 inches = FF

Approx.  9 inches = G 

Approx.  10 inches = GG

Congrats you have obtained your guideline bra measurement. Now this doesn't mean you can avoid trying on a bra...this measurement should only be seen as a starting point but the next step is to get yourself down to a lingerie shop and experiment with a few sizes. 

ALWAYS try on a bra before buying 

This is how to wear a bra correctly:

• Alter the shoulder straps accordingly so that they fit over your shoulders. 
• Fasten the bra on the first i.e. largest fastening - bra straps loosen so when buying you should always start off with the largest fastening and work your way over time to the smallest . You should be able to slide only one finger underneath the band.
• Check that the shoulder straps are at the right length, they should not slide off and neither dig into your flesh. 
• The back of the bra should be level with the front.
• Position your beasts by lifting them towards the middle of each cup.

NOTES

• Your breasts should sit midway between your shoulders and elbows. 
• If you feel the band is not tight enough, try on a smaller band but with a larger cup size and vice versa. For example, if a 34B is too big for you, move to a 32C. 
• If a bra feels too small it might be either because of the band or because of the cups so experiment with different sizes in both areas.

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