We do just want to preface this and make it clear we don’t believe in fashion ‘rules’ of any kind, ever, especially any that have been created with age guidelines in mind! Seriously, it’s 2022 and women of any age can wear whatever they want - especially if they feel fabulous in it!!
However we are fans of learning how to style our clothing to highlight our assets (which we all have!), and it turns out we can create optical illusions using some simple styling techniques.
We detail below the magical world of the Muller-Lyer illusion, which involves the principles of convergence and divergence (the lines picture shown above) and other wonderful tips and tricks that fool the human eye when it comes to styling :
- By using an upward 'V' shape on your top half you can create an illusion of an elongated body shape. This is known as the Muller-Lyer illusion (which we mentioned earlier) - the lines at the sides seem to lead the eye either inward or outward, which either creates a false impression of length, or to shorten your frame (which we do not want). To create an upward V you can undo blouse buttons, use a necklace or raise the height of your sleeves - try these in the mirror and you’ll be amazed at the differences they make!
- If you’d like to slim down certain areas use darker colours there.
- Use brighter, light colours and patterns if you want to highlight parts of your body. The human eye is drawn to this over darker solid colours.
- Incorporate vertical lines (this includes lines, buttons, zips and other features) to create a slimming and lengthening effect. For example a shirt dress with buttons all the way down, you can always add a belt/tie if you want waist definition.
- Utilise the ‘Golden Ratio’- they had us with the name already!This ratio is well known by artists and designers to be more aesthetically pleasing and can be applied to fashion as well. Basically it’s using something to break up your outfit visually so ⅓ is your top and ⅔ are your bottom half (e.g tucking in, adding belts and using colour). It 100% makes a huge difference!
- Tuck in! Tucking in your top will draw attention to your waistline, which in turn slims the waist and lengthens your legs (hello 'Golden Ratio'!). If fully tucking in makes you feel self-conscious, wear an open outer layer like a linen shirt or a blazer, and you will still achieve the illusion of the 'Golden Ratio'. You can always do the french tuck - half in and leave half out for some cover if it makes you feel better, eh voila... still works!
- High waisted, wide leg trousers or jeans are amazing to help balance out hips or tummies, giving a more slimming streamlined appearance. Think skimming not hugging.
How Do I Use Colour In My Outfits ?
Colour plays a huge part in your overall styling- it could actually be a whole other blog article! To keep it simple we suggest you think about what 'colour season' you might belong to - Winter, Spring, Summer or Autumn. Each of these seasonal groupings have a list of colours that are known to complement personal tones (shown above).
In order to identify which season you are, you need to factor in your skin tone, hair and eye colour which all have an affect on what colours compliment your personal colouring but of course there are always going to be subtle nuances.
A great quick test to find out your skin tone - in natural light have a look at the underside of your wrist, if you have a pink or a rosy undertone with blue tinted veins you show a cool skin tone, but if you have a golden or apricot undertone with green tinted veins you have a warm skin tone. There are loads of online resources to help you in identifying your 'colour season' - a quick google produces some great flow charts to help make it easy for you in identifying what season you are.
Stylists now say you can wear nearly any colour, BUT you must wear the right hue of the colour for your colour family, and placements of your colour pieces are important too. For example if you just love to wear black, consider using neck scarfs, jewellery or lippy to bring back your colour family, brighten your face and give your outfit that 'pop' again.
Knowing your skin tone also helps when it comes to picking out jewellery and makeup - particularly foundation, which can be either cold, neutral or warm based.
The most important thing though is wearing what makes you feel good. Clothes that fit your lifestyle but also boost your self esteem.
These are just some tips to try, but we do hope you have fun experimenting with them!