Leah Feldon - Does This Make Me Look Fat?: The Definitive Rules for Dressing Thin for Every Height, Size, and Shape

I dont think the rules ever change. People want to look taller and thinner. No one says, Ooh! Let me buy that dress because it makes me feel matronly!

M ICHAEL K ORS , designer

One day not too long ago, while I was in the dressing room of one of my favorite stores, trying to figure out just which, of the all the black pants I had in there, was the perfect pair, I heard the woman next door chatting with her saleslady. Since I was rather preoccupied, their conversation was just background buzz until I heard the woman ask loud and clear, Does this make me look fat? Hey, I thought, thats just what I was thinking!

Now, truly, Im not what youd call fat. Neither was the other woman. I sneaked a peek at her when I left, and she looked like a blond Julia Roberts. But you know what? When it comes to self-perception, size doesnt matter. We all feel fat, or think we look fat, at one time or another, no matter what size we are! I must have heard the phrase Does this make look fat? a gazillion times during my twenty-odd years in the fashion businessfrom every size woman imaginable.

If youve picked up this book, youve probably said, Does this make me look fat? too. And you might not even be close to fat! You could be one of those women who people think are totally nuts when they even mention the F-word. Or you could be average. Or you could be a plus size. It really doesnt matterbeing fat or feeling fat, in a crazy way, its all the same. We stare in the mirror and focus on every little bump, bulge, and protuberance until our body looks like a Himalayan landscape to us. We all know this is not particularly healthy, but we do it anyway.

Theres no sense in me trying to talk you out of your neurosis, as Ive been trying to talk myself out of mine for years. Its a fruitless endeavor. (Im fairly sure a twenty-five-year ascetic meditation retreat would set me straight, but who has the time?) So what to do? We switch to plan B and handle the problem in the time-honored American traditionwe cover up whatevers making us crazy. We disguise it. We make it go away. You cant be too neurotic about something that you cant see.

All we have to do is choose the right clothesclothes that camouflage any real or imagined figure flaws rather than highlighting themand learn how to do it with style. Thats what I call Camouflage Chic!

When you think about it, there are really only two kinds of clothes in the worldthose that make you look fat and those that dont. All the rest is just details. There are, of course, degrees within those two categories. In the fat-maker category, there are some clothes that will make you just a teensy-weensy bit heftier and others that will pack on an extra five pounds. And in the nonfat