Kimberly Bonnell - What to Wear: A Style Handbook

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For Michael and Moses, and with thanks to Pam

This book is your rescue for all the situations in your life that provoke a first, probably panicked response of Yikes, what am I going to wear?

Its for the class reunion where youre seeking unmerciful revenge. A new job in a casual workplace, then the interview for the next job. Pregnancy. A black-tie fund-raiser or business gala. As you surely know, these arent unusual situations but they are unusually important. The choices are so abundanta by-product of casualization and few remaining fashion rulesthat theyre utterly confounding. Confidence vaporizes.

Frankly, I think What to Wear should live right in your closet, on call for instant reference and emergency consultation. Its like a friend whos style-savvy yet not intimidatingly chic, clearheaded and rational yet sympathetic to your phobias and obsessions, experienced enough to know these moments yet not so fixed in her own ideas that she wont listen to yours.

I chose topics for the book based on questions Ive received over and over as an on-line style pro. The advice isnt so much about which hemlines are in or colors are out (though there is help in making sense of that). Instead, its meant to clarify the issues to keep consciously in mind as you choose between the fuchsia daisy-print slipdress and the sleek black sheath.

Finally, What to Wear acknowledges that were talking clothes here, not the meaning of life. But lets face it, there are times when clothes are more than what you put on your backtheyre tools, for revising our past and inventing the future. Theyre your kit, this is your manual.

If the anxiety-making situation youre facing isnt among the ones here, or you simply want one-on-one advice, go to www.ask-kim.com and ask away. I can help.

A Style handbook

Or is it the least?

Damn those pounds or welcome them, but dont try to dress as if theyre not there.

Lets be realistic. You can have the healthiest, most evolved body image in town, fully accept that youre not Elizabeth Hurley, and still want to look five pounds thinner. A boost curvier. A head taller. An inch broader in the shoulders; a belt-notch skimpier in the waist, a size smaller in the hips.

Assuming you tip the scale somewhere between wasted waif and Danger, Wide Load, you can dress your way to your goal. The only person who might psych out your strategy is the one who probably prefers you naked anyway.

Myth #1: Where youre big, dress big.

No, dont. Whether its your hips, bustline, bum or third-trimester belly, if its draped or billowed in yards of fabric it looks bigger.

Flattery formula: If one piece of your outfit is roomy the other shouldnt be. If the tops spacious, the bottom should be lean. If the bottom piece is fullish, make the top closer-fitting.

Ten Absolute Truths for Every Figure

1. Dark colors are slimming.

2. Pleated skirts are fattening.

3. Ankle-strap shoes make your legs look chunkier and you look shorter.

4. So do ankle boots worn with skirts or dresses.

5. Beefy textures beef you up.

6. Shiny finishes are like a topographical map of all your bumps and bulges.

7. Monochromatic outfits are more minimizing than ones that mix colors.

8. A slim knee-length skirt thats a bit pegged looks better than one thats dead-straight. Lycra helps.

9. Legs look longest when hemline, stocking and shoe match or are in the same tones. If you want to vary one element, it should be the skirt or dress.

10. The number-one universally flattering item is a fingertip-length tailored business jacket with subtly padded shoulders, torso-skimming fit and gently tapered waist.

Dont panic. Your swimsuit size, like everyone elses, will be up to three times bigger than your usual clothing size. Who was the sadist who determined that?

ARE YOU A CANTALOUPE?

Huh? Why have women always been shoved down the food chain when advised about what will look good on them? Congratulations, strawberry! Or forced to imagine themselves as human grids with that triangle, circle, square, rectangle thing? Why not just say it the way we all do in fitting rooms, locker rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms across the land.

I HAVE BIG HIPS

Myth #2: Balance wide hips with wide shoulders.

Yeah, then sign up for the NFL draftyoull be ready to play linebacker.

Balance is a good goal, but not if it makes everything look bigger. Tops with some natural-looking padding and subtly defined shape in the torsoa gentle nip at the waist, straight lines and a natural, not deep, armholeextending either all the way past your hips or just to the top of the hipbone are less obvious and more appealing than a gridiron getup.

More hip-shrinkers:

Concealing the curve where your hips begin can make you look slimmer. Do it with narrow-cut tops long enough to pass that curve, worn over a slender skirt or pants.

Lean, fingertip-length tops like long jackets, tunics.

Top-of-hipbone length tops.

No cropped tops.

No tops that hit you at the widest part of your hips.

No boxy tops.

Streamlined bottoms that dont add inches.

Tapered knee-length skirts.

Dead-straight pants.

Flat-front or single-pleat pants, skirts.

Knee-length hemlines.

No billowy pants or skirts.

No drawstring waists.

No allover pleats or gathering.

No bold patterns, thick textures, shiny finishes.

Loose, ankle-cropped pants worn with hip-passing lean tops.

Dresses that streamline you or skim gently past hips.

Easy-fitting sheaths, tanks.

Slip dresses.

Tailored jacket or shirt-dresses.

Iffy: Empire waists. Maybe doable if youre tall and wont look egg-shaped.

Details, colors, patterns that streamline you or highlight your top half.

Monochromatic outfits or lighter shades on top.

Midline vertical details like a shawl collar, single-breasted jackets.

Round-collar single-breasted lean coats.

Minimum inch-high heels.

No pancake flats.

Swimsuits with up-top detail like lighter color, halter or bandeau necklines, extra-wide or extra-fine shoulder straps.