Hi everyone!  After my last post on layering a friend of mine asked a great question.  She has tried layering with some success, but she wanted to know how to tell the difference between tight and form-fitting. 

When I think of tight, I think of something spandex that you would see in the gym.  If the item makes you feel constricted or self-conscious, it is probably tight and not form-fitting.  Form-fitting is when an item fits you well, close to your body so that your shape is decernable, but you can still move freely and feel good in it.  There is a lot to be said for your emotions when shopping.  If you feel good in something your confidence is higher and therefore you wear the garment more proudly and look better in it.  If you cannot stand in the dressing room alone and feel good wearing something, put it back because you will never wear it public.

But her question also started me thinking about fit in general, which is an issue that many women struggle with because it applies to every item in your closet from underwear to outwear.  When the first rule of dressing well is fit, how do you know if the fit is right?

Wearing clothes that fit your body is the first rule when dressing well, regardless of your dress size.  If your clothes are too big and baggy you lose all since of shape and end up looking bigger than you are, while if your clothes are too tight you also end up looking bigger than you are because you will look like you were stuffed into a sausage casing.  No one wants to look bigger, and the best way to avoid that is to buy clothes that fit.

So how do you find clothes that fit?  Generally in America mass market garments are made with one goal in mind, to fit the masses.  In order to achieve that goal, most garments are boxy and shapeless which is unfortunate because not everyone who is a medium is the same size medium.  It is very rare to find an item that is a perfect fit right off the rack.  It may be passable and fit "ok", which is fine for daily casual wear, but not for your professional and evening wear.  Professional and evening wear needs to fit you perfectly if you want to stand out and look your best.

When I take clients shopping we always talk about fit and knowing what to look for in a garment to know if you need to go up or down a size.  The golden rule for clothes is to FIT THE WIDEST PART.  Whether it is your shoulders, chest, butt or thighs, you need to make sure that area fits comfortably in the garment first.  Everything else can be altered.  That means if a medium fits you perfectly everywhere but your chest and the buttons are pulling apart, you need to buy the large and take it to your tailor.  You can always take away fabric from areas that are too big, but you cannot add it to areas that are too small. 

I know most people hate having something altered because of the time and money, I hear it all the time, but honestly it is not that expensive or timely if you only need minor tweaks.  Reconstructing a jacket can be expensive, darting a blouse or shortening a waist band, not so much.  That is why it is important to take your time and try on different sizes. 

No two designers have the same sizing scale, so just because it is a 6 or a medium does not mean anything.  Try and forget about the size, no one is going to see the tag to know.  All they are going to see is you in the outfit.  And when you look amazing, that is what matters, not the tag.