Flattering Your Figure, No Matter Your Size

Appearances matter.

Roberta Gruber says her job wouldn't be a good fit for her if she didn't believe that.

Says the fashion design professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia and director of design and merchandising with the university's College of Media Arts and Design, "You walk through any door and, whether you like it or not, you're judged first based on appearance."

And, she says, whether we like it or not, clothes do "make the man," or woman as the case might be. "The right clothes can certainly make someone more attractive," Gruber says. And a wasted opportunity to make a good first impression could lose someone a job, or a second date.

Camouflaging Figure Flaws
Fabric, fabric, fabric — it's to clothes what location is to a home. "Better-quality fabric usually means a better fit," says Gruber, who adds that a savvy shopper with an eye out for bargains needn't pay top dollar for top-of-the-line material.
But even the best fabrics can spell fashion faux pas if they're not right for your body type. Gruber calls Lycra "one of the best fabrics around," but mixed with a knit, it can contribute to what she pinpoints as people's biggest fashion mistake: wearing clothes that are too tight-fitting. Mix lycra with a denim, she says, and it's a flattering fabric "that doesn't accentuate every lump and bump."
It's best to choose clothing that skims the body and follows the silhouette without being too tight, Gruber advises, particularly for plus-size women. As for the pattern, a dress can be a solid color or an all-over print to best hide figure flaws, but shouldn't be "chopped in half" with the top different from the bottom.

Size 16's, Don't Despair
World-renowned plus-size model Emme has experience looking for figure-flattering dresses (at the right price). "I know women of all sizes have the same anxieties, but it seems an unusually troubling challenge for us full-figured women," she writes in her book True Beauty.
On material, Emme recommends in her book, "Stay away from fabrics that love static cling!" She likes these fabrics instead: Viscose; wool and cotton gabardine blends; charmeuse; georgette; washable silk; cotton; crepes; and cotton and wool knits.
The size 14-to-16 model, whose style rivals the sophistication of skinnier size 6es', offers this additional clothes-buying advice to plus-size women trying to accentuate the positive:

*Know the image you want to project and what clothes reflect your personality.
*Keep patterns small, as a rule, so they won't overwhelm you.
*Don't over accessorize. Consider wearing simple earrings and a pearl necklace, for example. *Forget the muumuu! "We don't have to wear a tent to cover our frames. There are choices, women!"

Emme chooses to wear high-waisted wool gabardine black palazzo pants; a flat, A-line skirt, worn 1 to 2 inches above her knees; or a pair of jeans, worn with a classic white shirt with French cuffs and a simple blazer.
And for a sexy night at home, Emme enjoys lounging in her lingerie. "Sometimes, when I stand in front of a mirror (or in front of my husband), looking voluptuous in a sexy new outfit," she writes, "I'll think to myself, 'Yeah, I'd like to see that girl from the jeans ad wear one of these.'"

If the Shirt Fits ...
Today!Finally, says Emme, buy clothes that fit you now: "Don't fall into the trap of buying for what you might look like after 'the diet,'" she says. "Shop for the person you are."

Emme accepts herself at her now-size 14/16 but emphasizes that she still walks at least 30 minutes several times a week to feel fit and energized. "Real changes take real time. And action. And buying a too-small bathing suit is not an action with an effective result."