What Not to Wear: The Ultimate Style Rules and Guide to Good Dressing

Choosing Underwear

• Be mindful of what you plan to wear when choosing your bra. Under no circumstances does a black bra or a coloured bra look good under a pale shirt. When choosing underwear, it is safest to stick to these three colours: nude/skin colour, black and white.
• Do you wear bras that are too big for you? You must ensure that you wear the right bra and cup size because under a fitted top, it will be visible if your cup size is too big because the bra cup will be very clear to see.
• Do you wear bras that are too tight or too small? The issue with this is that you will get back “overspill” which means your skin and/or curves will hang over the straps of your bra. This is very visible through t-shirts also and just like in any case when you are “spilling out” of your clothing, it is very unflattering too!
• Make sure that your chosen underwear does not exceed the rise of your trousers/bottoms. Your trousers/skirt should not be lower than the rise of your underwear.

What Not to Wear: Respecting Etiquette

• In some cases such as in your working environment, you may not be allowed to wear low cut tops which expose too much of your cleavage or your skin in general. In this case you will need to either wear something else or cover up your cleavage and bear skin. You can do this by wearing a crop top under your shirt, wearing a vest top underneath, or using a brooch to pin the shirt together at a slightly higher point so that it’s not as low cut or revealing.

How Not to Make Sizing Mistakes

• “Your clothes should be tight enough to show you’re a woman but loose enough to show you’re a lady” – Marilyn Monroe. This is one of the most correct statements about style and fit. It doesn’t manner how slim or toned you are, extremely tight fitting clothing is not flattering. Extremely tight clothing doesn’t look very good on anybody. Your clothing should “skim” your body rather than showing every bump, muscle, roll and wrinkle!
• To elaborate on the above point, you should not try to squeeze yourself into a size that looks too small on you! Even if you have worn size X all of your life and then go into a store and find that size X is too small and you may need a size or two bigger, do not try to squeeze into your usual size X just because that is the size you wear normally. It doesn’t matter how small the size is that you’re wearing, if it looks bad and too tight then it’s not going to look good at all. Wear the size that looks the best on you, even if that is a size or two bigger than you normally wear. Remember – others around you don’t see the size on your labels, they only see how you look in that particular garment/outfit!
• One of the most unflattering ways of dressing is wearing clothing that does not fit properly, no matter whether it is too tight or too big. If you want to go for a look that involves wearing oversized clothing then choose clothing that is in your size but has been made to look oversized is the best idea. Unless you are tall and can carry off wearing clothing that’s a couple of sizes too big, as a petite woman you can still carry off the look but it is best to stick to oversized versions of sizes that suit your petite frame. Look for “oversized” or “boyfriend” styles stated on clothing labels in stores.
• On the other hand, wearing clothing that is too small and that you “spill out of” is perhaps worse than wearing clothing that is too big. If you struggle to move in your clothing or have to go to great lengths to make them look as though they fit and are not too tight then you probably need a size bigger. Having to leave a button undone or having to spend more than 2 minutes getting a pair of trousers on is a telltale sign that they are perhaps too tight!
• Both of the above style errors devalue the look of an outfit, making it appear far less expensive than what it actually cost. Clothing that is too big or small resembles that of hand-me-downs, something that younger siblings have to experience. Among children it is cute to see them wearing their older sibling’s former clothing but in adults it’s not a good look. Even if you are on a budget when shopping, it is still possible to find clothing that fits well by observing your natural body shape and sticking only to garments and fits that suit your shape!