How to Stripe Yourself Skinny

Let it be stricken from the record that stripes are only for the slim waist-ed. They're not.

If you are a fuller figure and you want to make stripes work, have no fear-it's possible.

Vertical Stripes-Even Better!

Remember, clothes are your constant ace in the hole. They're not your enemy, they're your secret weapon when it comes to looking slim. It's all in how you use them for your advantage.

The way to make stripes flattering is by pairing a striped piece with a blazer. This goes for a shirt or a dress-anything that's bringing stripes to your torso-if you're wanting to look slim throw a blazer on over it. This creates the illusion that you have a slim waist because the stripe stops right where the blazer begins making it look the same for your torso.

The picture to the left is the perfect example of this. Skinny vertical stripes under a blazer-you may as well have lost ten pounds! (It's from The Limited, by the way).

Speaking of the size of the stripe, if you're wanting to downplay a larger chest, I would recommend going with smaller stripes. Small stripes do draw less attention to that area and give more of a slimming illusion.

Now I realize it's not necessarily what you would consider "blazer weather" outside. BUT what you can do to make your jacket more heat-appropriate is roll the sleeves a bit, or scrunch them, or both! Jackets are my closet potato chips-I can never have just one :)

Don't fear your closet-put it to work making you look good!