a) You're petite. Look for vertical lines, well cut pieces, pencil skirts, etc. that will make you taller and slimmer looking
b) WWIWW? (What Would Italian Women Wear?)
The results? $300 spent and don't regret it. I got:
SHOES:
-Adorable rounded toe kind of pin-up style black and red-brown shoes with a T Strap and lower heel, great for work. $20
-Grey, flat slouch ankle boots. Looove these! I wear them when I'm going to be on my feet a lot but want to look nice. Wore them to the Highland Games and was comfortable and stylish. $30
-Black knee high boots with gold buckles and slightly pointed toe. I am wearing these right now and I've gotten lots of compliments here at work. $50
(the boots I wore today)TOPS:
-Grey capped sleeve sweater with matching belt at the waist and fold over collar. It's form fitting and falls below the waist line for a really slimming effect. Great for work. I am wearing this right now. I love it! $23
-Black form-fitting tank top with this nifty slimming under layer, wide straps and a sweatheart-like collar and horizontal pleat-like detail. I love that I can wear a bra with it, still show a little shoulder AND get some extra 'support' when wearing a strapless bra. $18
-Black loose top with a knit design around the neckline. Looks great with a belt $10
-Black knit short sleeved open front sweater that magically slims me whenever I wear it. Falls straight to just below the hipline $20
BOTTOMS:
-FAB gray pencil skirt with high waist. LOOOOVE this skirt! Very modern pin up. $20
-Another grey skirt, but this one has adorable pleats in the back. Will need to alter to make it closer to a pencil skirt, right now it's more A-line and falls to the knee. Bringing it in a bit will look much nicer on me. $20
-Grey straight, loose pants. Too long, but the fit was great. After the pants are altered they will look really nice $25
ETC:
-2 Scarves. One in dark brown and another in dark pinks 2/$5
-Black trench coat with grey plaid-like design. I bought this in almost perfect size, but sadly the shoulders are too tight so will have to return for the next size up. $40 (update: Target did exchange the coat for me despite having taken the tags off, WOOT!)
Total: $300
Looking fabulous? Priceless (yeah, I had to do it)
So this got me thinking again about Italian fashion and what the women wore while I was in Italy. If I just dress like them all the time I will look smashing! It's not terribly hard. A few key things about the style:
1) Boots are a must have! They dress up jeans like magic and give the right outfit a little something.
2) Keep the bottom hemline to below the hip line. Almost long enough to be a really short dress.
3) Wear a belt. At the waist if you're looking to slim down or look taller. At the hip if you are tall and slim already.
4) STOCKINGS! If you're going to wear a skirt, toss on some opaque stockings. It makes the outfit classier, particularly if the skirt is short. You can also use leggings. Check out this awesome Italian stocking website to see what I mean: Calzedonia
5) Well cut jacket or sweater when outdoors. Gives the look the final effect.
6) As a general rule, if you're going to wear a shorter skirt wear a lower or no heel. If you're wearing a longer skirt, anything brushing the knee or longer, wear heels. High heels with a short skirt looks cheap, and long skirts with no heels makes you look shorter.
And another thing. As a petite, I refuse to wear super pointed toe shoes. I REFUSE! They are supposed to make the wearer appear taller, but I really do not see the effect. There is someone at work that is petite and she wears pointed toe shoes and doesn't look any taller to me. She looks just as nice in a rounded or open toe shoe. So there. I've also heard petites should not wear shoes with special details that will bring the eye down towards the feet. If I want to wear sparkly shoes or the ones that blink when I walk I am going to, dammit, and I won't look any shorter! Take that fashion gurus!
And now I am off to find blinky shoes...
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