Val's View: How to dress to look 10 pounds thinner

Let me venture a guess: If you’re reading this, you’d like to be 10 pounds thinner. Unless you’re Susan Lucci of “All My Children” or Angelina Jolie. Then, you need to go out and eat some barbecue. Right now.

The rest of us need some help creating our “Dress Skinny” wardrobes. Because we don’t want to starve ourselves. Remember – the first rule of Florida resort style is comfort. That means no starvation.

Fortunately, if you shop at Anthony’s, you can be comfortable and dress skinny at the same time.

Here are five ways I can visually drop a size, and I discovered all of this by shopping for women’s resort fashion at Anthony’s.

Tip No. 1: Have a fit over fit

Clothes that are too tight or too baggy make you look fat. Sorry, but it’s true. A great fit is the anti-fat. A great fit is the No. 1 rule of “Dress Skinny.”

Tip No. 2: Focus on the narrow

What’s the narrowest part of your body? When I was young, it was my waist – but now that my waistline has expanded a bit, the slimmest part of my body is just above my natural waist. This is the “empire waist” spot – a few inches below the bottom of my bra. I love tunic tops with an empire waist and an A-line silhouette, because those tops hug me where I am narrow and flair out where I am wider. They make me look 10 pounds thinner.

Tip No. 3: Proportion, proportion, proportion!

If you’re wearing a flowing skirt or flowing pants like palazzo pants on the bottom, your top must be closer to the body. And vice versa. A slim black pant (the Kristin Crenshaw pants at Anthony’s are perfect and reasonably priced) with a flowing tunic will make you look thin.


Tip No. 4: Keep the bottom slim

The old way of thinking used to be that only black pants could make you look thinner. However, if you wear slim white pants with a flowing and colorful tunic, you will still look thin. Refer to Tip No. 3 – it’s all about the proportion. What you don’t want to do is wear a slim white pant with a top that grabs you around the middle – unless you put a colorful, flowing button-front shirt or tunic OVER the slim top.

Tip No. 5: Show skin at the ankle

Slim ankle pants are the most universally flattering pant shape. Why? Because they create a long line on the leg – and also show a bit of skin where most of us are still skinny, our ankles. Even if your ankles aren’t skinny, showing a little skin there is much more fashionable than having the pant bunch up around your shoes. Capris and clam-diggers are comfortable pant lengths – but they don’t make you look as skinny as ankle-length pants because they break up the line of the leg.

Got it? Now get out there, stop at an Anthony’s, shop around and dress skinny!

LOVE FLORIDA TRAVEL?

Here’s Val’s Florida vacay tip of the week: Take your skinny self out on a date!

You look so good, you can afford to indulge in the new Hot Butterbeer that Universal Orlando resort just started serving up at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Hot Butterbeer is a smooth, hot beverage reminiscent of shortbread and butterscotch. Yum!

1 comment

Sharon kelley

I bought a pair of Kristen Crenshaw black ankle pants and I loved them until I washed them. Washed then in cold water on delicate cycle. Did not put them in the dryer. They shrunk at least a 1/2 inch in length and are now very snug through the legs. I also have a pair in white. I have not washed them and they fit perfectly. They are longer in length than the black pair. I am very disappointed.

I bought a pair of Kristen Crenshaw black ankle pants and I loved them until I washed them. Washed then in cold water on delicate cycle. Did not put them in the dryer. They shrunk at least a 1/2 inch in length and are now very snug through the legs. I also have a pair in white. I have not washed them and they fit perfectly. They are longer in length than the black pair. I am very disappointed.

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