The harsh (but helpful) fashion advice that you need, to improve your image and style.
The Case Against Black
The one predictable, boring, and one dimensional mistake everyone makes in fashion and it belongs in the grave is — wearing black. There are many reasons why someone would choose to wear black. I’m here to address only the most popular — hiding weight. As a Fashion Designer, my main advice for women and men is to avoid wearing black, especially to “cover up weight ”.
The apparel world has long fed us a lie that wearing black is going to hide that unnecessary fat and make us appear slimmer (and as a result more desirable). In reality, no matter how black the outfit is, that muffin top will show through. This trend is steeped in insecurities, and while it means well it causes more damage than good. We are the light of this world, so why should our personal radiance be covered up at the cost of concealing a few pounds?
Fashion wasn’t created to hide, but rather to enhance. This is a page out of the vintage classic European notebook of style. By classic European style standards, one focuses on accentuating their strenght. This implies two things: that everyone has a weakness and that everyone has a strength/feature.
Downsides of Trends
Terrifyingly, today’s fashion and beauty trends burden the individual to have everything — perfect hair, skin, face, and body. Realistically we all (maybe) have just one physical strength — be it our eye color, height, weight, facial features, hair, etc. It’s important to focus on highlighting that one feature and abandon attempts of hiding everything else.
There is a horrifying trend of wearing black and grey suits to business interviews to make one stand out as an “ideal” candidate. However, what it really does is make us easily forgettable. After a long hard day of sifting through many candidates, who would recall that 5th girl who ALSO wore black pants, a black blazer and a white blouse? Replacing that look with a flowy dress or skirt, a colourful hat/cap or radiant scarf will make any candidate stand out visually and mentall from others around them.
Black has a more stationary and unlively energy attached to it. It’s a color that says leave me alone, I don’t want to be bothered and it gives anonymity. Everything is vibration and frequency. Even colours emit an energy, although we often are unaware of this and may not feel it in the moment. With that in mind, black isn’t even a color but rather the absence of all color. So what exactly do you emit, when gravitating towards black? And is it what you truly want or what you were persuaded into?
Benefits of Color
So go ahead and pick a color. ANY color will do. Just leave that black and grey at home! While it’s more daring and jarring to wear color, it does a few things for you:
- Increaded Confidence — fake it til you make it. Wearing color makes you appear like a confident individual, even if you are not one.
- High Energy — You will neither radiate nor attract beautiful things into your life if you resemble Darth Vader’s cousin.
- Memorable Image — you leave a lasting first impression, even if you only deviate from your greyscale trend once.
- Fun Persona — Wearing color won’t make you look 30 lbs bigger, but you will appear 30 times more likely to be fun!
A plus size woman dressed in black will not draw much attention to herself. And that exactly is the problem — she will appear bland and un-noticable. What we want to come across like is refreshing and inspirational. Wearing more bright, colourful and exciting clothing will inspire our mood and actions. Fun accessories, bold jewelry, and creative hair scarves or hair pins will bring a breath of fresh air into any look.
This advice also relates to men as most popular male suits, blouses, and t-shirts come in dark hues of brown, grey, and variations of black. Wearing colours, even if it’s just a colourful tie or socks, will make you stand out and be more interesting to others.
Baby Steps
If you still struggle letting go of black clothes, a helpful tip on how to ease into it is to update your shoes, purses, and hats for colourful ones. It’s an easier change to adjust to, than updating your entire warderobe.
- Shoes are the most used black piece of clothing, with bags being a close runner up. Replace your black shoes and bags with beige, caramel or light brown matching shoes.
- If you still prefer dark, try switching to darker shades of blue, green or red.
- Feeling shy to switch up your clothes? Just thrown on a bright, colourful scarf, or glasses.
The most important thing to remember when getting dressed is that we do not need to hide our flaws, to appear more attractive. What makes a person attractive is their energy, their light — so show yours off and let it shine!
