← Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
222 | MARCH Q&A: Shopping Advice for Underwear Upgrades, Summer Sandals, the Perfect Print Sizes and More
00:20:15
We’re switching things up here at HER Style Podcast. We’re transitioning from weekly to monthly listener Q&A episodes starting this week! The first Thursday of each month, you can expect one of these exciting bonus episodes where I round up...
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- [00:01]
Heather Riggs
We are switching things up here at Her Style Podcast. We're transitioning from weekly to monthly listener Q and A episodes starting this week. So the first Thursday of each month you can expect one of these exciting bonus episodes where I will round up and answer a handful of your toughest style questions. Since I won't be doing two podcast episodes every single week, my intention is to use this extra time to connect with you more personally inside our free Facebook community through live events like our recent wardrobe Revamp booth, Boot Camp this past January, and some other fun projects I will be revealing very soon. In today's March Q and A episode, we're covering an array of topics from upgrading your undies to choosing the right summer sandals for your skirts, picking comfortable and quality shoes, as well as determining which print sizes are most flattering for you. Grab a pen and get ready to take notes, friends, because this one's going to be full of practical advice for some of your top shopping conundrums. Let's get to it. Welcome to Her Style Podcast where we're all about empowering you to show up and get dressed every day with confidence. I'm your host Heather Riggs, a 15 year and counting certified image consultant and color specialist ready to build a wardrobe and a personal style you love. Let's get started. I am so excited to answer a whole handful of questions from our amazing friends inside Her Style community. Our first question came in from Alison. She sent me an email not too long ago and said, I've been listening to your podcasts for about a year and really enjoy them. One of my wardrobe goals the past couple years has been moving towards natural fibers as much as possible. I would love a podcast reviewing different underwear and bra brands, bra brands that carry organic cotton. She suggested Pact, Quince, Subset Auto Body, Q for Quinn etc. She said, I would also love guidelines on choosing the most flattering underwear styles for your body type. Is there one style that is the best option for avoiding lumps and bumps under clothing? After having two kids and now being in my mid-30s, I feel a little lost on what style to go for when I try new brands of underwear, usually online. I used to always just go to Victoria's Secret in the mall and shop in person. Thanks Alison. Alison, my friend, I hear you on this struggle and I do get this question quite a bit. I know underwear can seem like a little bit of an afterthought when you're planning your wardrobe, but it is such a pivotal component to creating flattering outfits because it's the literal foundation of what you wear. So it's important to find a great fit, something that looks smooth underneath your clothing and that feels good all day long. And I also love that you are working on gradually upgrading your pieces to more natural fibers. Not only because this is a sustainable shift gift, but even more importantly, I'm so proud of you for doing this in a slow, patient and very intentional way and recognizing that this is not all going to come together overnight. Now I've got to say it's going to be hard for me to personally review all the various organic cotton underwear brands out there because I have only tried the collection from Pact. I do love it. I wouldn't say that their underwear is seamless. I did buy several packs on sale. They usually have some pretty good deals on those. So I have the lace waist briefs and I have the classic fit bikini styles and they feel really great. The quality has been excellent. They have some cute simple patterns and pretty colors and I do highly recommend them, but I've never personally tried any of the others. So what I recommend is that you explore each of those brands, compare the selections, what styles and colors they have, check the price points, and of course, most importantly, make sure that you are reading reviews you might want order a couple of pairs from your top two or three and then see what you think. You can always try your underwear on over your bathing suits or your other underwear just to see. And make sure that you're checking return policies of course, so that you could send them back if they don't feel amazing. I also love and I deeply trust the good on you app. I've mentioned that quite a few times on the podcast before. This is great for pointing you to other sustainable brands so that you could even expand on your search and see what's recommended. I do recommend that you keep in mind that even if you want to shop sustainable brands and I love that for you it might be a good idea to venture to your local mall, maybe even to Victoria's Secret. I know gasp the horror. But just to try on some different styles first. If you're in a season of life where your body has changed a little bit and you're trying to figure out what's going to work best for you right now I know each brand and product is going to be different, but you could get a sense of which general styles feel the best for you and then once you've narrowed it down to say maybe you're loving some high waisted briefs or you feel amazing in seamless boy shorts, then you could venture online to find the best brands offering those styles at your desired price point. So it might be helpful to go try some things on in person first just to narrow down what styles you like and then you could expand your search to the right brands online. And I always tell you you've gotta hunt when you're shopping. Don't browse if you've done some literal legwork to on various styles and then you've pinpointed what's going to work best for you at that point it'll be so much easier to hunt for the perfect options online. I think it would be so much easier to pinpoint the best brand or brands once you've narrowed it down to maybe you want organic cotton thongs or sustainable compression underwear. That's going to be so much easier to find what you're actually looking for than it is going to be to just aimlessly browse all the available options on the Internet at large. I know that can be very overwhelming. So try to narrow down your search as best you can and then I think you'll be able to more easily land on exactly what you need. Now I do want to help you with the second part of your question and give you a little head start on your search in general. High waisted styles are going to be a really great option for you. If you're finding that postpartum you have some more fullness in your midsection. High waisted underwear can definitely help to smooth everything over, hold everything in. I would just say be careful if you're on the shorter waisted side and maybe stick to a mid rise underwear style instead. So check what the actual rise is on the high waisted styles that you're considering. But that could be a great option for you just to kind of hold in the tummy area a little bit better. Similarly, control briefs are going to take this a step further and that's going to give you even more support and really help to sculpt and smooth your tummy. It can smooth your waist, your hips and your thigh area depending on what styles you choose. So you might want to look for some control top or compression underwear. This may be harder to find in those organic fabrics. So that's just one caveat I will put out there. But you could always try a few different brands and just find the most comfortable option for you. I don't think that you need to sacrifice comfort or breathability here. Just make sure that you try some different styles and sizes until you find your perfect pair. And lastly, seamless underwear is great sometimes they're more seamless than others. So again you might want to try on some options. Try them under some of your form fitted pants like leggings for example and just see how they look underneath your clothing. Also, I know thongs are not for everyone, but you might want to try them before you completely roll them out. I do not personally wear a thong every day, but I do find that they're the best option for me if I'm wearing let's say white jeans in the summertime or a bodycon dress, those tight leggings as I mentioned, or some other form fitting styles. They are not going to hide signs of lumps and bumps or cellulite underneath your clothing. So beware. You might want to go more with a controlled control panty option for that, but if your main concern is avoiding visible underwear lines, it is a solid option worth considering. So I would recommend starting with high waisted styles, control briefs if you want a little bit more sculpting and smoothing and then also consider thongs if you don't feel completely self conscious in those. They're going to be under your clothing so nobody has to know you're wearing it except you.
- [08:32]
Christine
Hi Heather, here's Christine. I've been following your podcast now for a little while. I live in Germany but I really enjoy all your advice and your tips. But I was wondering. I love wearing midi length skirts, either a little bit fuller or a little bit narrower and I'm looking for the right sandal for the summer. I find a lot of the sandals that I have, the typical Birkenstock or something like that, they look very just very wide and very sloppy on me. Together with a midi length skirt I have to run around a lot so I would not wear a heel on an everyday basis. I think generally I have a natural classic style, so any advice in this field I'd greatly appreciate.
- [09:24]
Heather Riggs
Thank you Christine. This is such a fun question because I too am thinking ahead to my spring and summer wardrobe and I also want to thank you for listening all the way from Germany. I absolutely love being able to connect with you all over the world. It's been the best part of taking her style online. And before I offer up my recommendations, there are a couple of things that I want you to keep in mind when you're choosing the best shoes in general for you. First, you want to think about your overall scale. You mentioned your personal style and that your typical Birkenstocks feel a bit heavy with your midi length skirts, which makes sense. But if you are either on the taller side and or you have a larger bone structure, you might feel more grounded and well balanced with a chunkier heel or sole. On the other hand, if you're very petite, if you have a dainty bone structure, then you might feel better in some really lightweight shoes that just complement your overall frame. Of course, we also want to think about how the individual pieces in your outfit work together as well, but I do think that this little extra tidbit is important to pay attention to when you're combining your shoes and your outfits in a flattering way for your overall body type. Now, as for more streamlined and classic sandal, I would definitely suggest that you consider trying on either a simple ankle strap or slingback sandal. An ankle strap is going to break up your leg visually and think about anytime something cuts across your leg horizontally, it's going to break the visual line in your leg. So this is going to be ideal for you if your lower half is on the longer side. Otherwise, I would stick to a simple sling back so that you get a nice continuation from the hemline of your skirt all the way through your foot without any interruption. Flats are fantastic as well, so don't force yourself into heels when you're searching online. I would try to filter by heel height and make sure that you're choosing options under one inch so that you can feel your most comfortable. You could also opt for a pretty woven or metallic slide which is going to be really easy to slip on and off. It's going to be a little bit more casual looking than a slingback, I would imagine, depending on the fabric. And I love the cute slides with the toe rings that are really popular right now as well. Just make sure that they don't dig into your toes. Obviously, comfort is key if you're on your feet a lot, and I think any of these options would be really practical and would look great with your midi length skirts. And just keep in mind that if you choose a sandal in a color that is close to your skin tone color, it's also going to help to work to elongate the appearance of your lower half. Often I see women struggle with midi skirts because they can hit at an awkward length and the color of your shoes can make a really big difference here in giving you some extra length. While we're on the subject of shoes, our next question comes from our friend Miriam who wrote to me and said, so my question is about shoes. Is there an indicator that they are of good quality and also comfortable? I want to buy a pair of leather Loafers and. And even when I'm at a shoe store and I feel that they're comfortable, they turn out to be the opposite. Once I wear them for a couple of hours, how can I be sure that the shoes are comfortable and of good quality? And, Miriam, I completely understand this struggle. I think there's a couple things that you can do when you're in the store to check for quality and comfort. The first thing that you can do if you're shopping for leather shoes is you can bend the shoes a little bit to check the flexibility and also to make sure that they bounce, bounce back. This is a good sign. And just like we've talked about, when it comes to quality clothing, you do want to make sure that you're checking seams, making sure things are nice and even, that there's no fraying, that there's no visible glue, because glued soles are an indicator of poor construction quality. So you do want to look for things that are sewn in would be ideal. And then you can also check the materials on the shoe to verify that they're made from real, genuine leather, which should soften and stretch a little bit over time. And your shoes will be more comfortable if they do have some cushioning and good arch support. So consider that when you're trying things on as well. Now, when you're shopping in stores and online, make sure that you're confirming return policies. So if you find that things are not completely comfortable, if you're not loving them once you get them home, you can take them back and exchange them for something else or ideally get your full refund. So you could even shop elsewhere if you need to. What I suggest is that when you buy a pair of shoes, I think it's really smart if you can bring them home and wear them around your house for a day or two. And I say wear them around the house because as soon as you take them out into the wild, they're going to get some scuff marks on the bottom. You may not be able to return them. I don't typically wear shoes in my house, but when you're bringing them home fresh from the store, you can assume that they're pretty clean on the bottom. You're not trucking things in from outside. So I would absolutely wear new shoes around the house for a day or two just to see if they're actually comfortable. And if you've found that after just a few hours, some of your shoes are not comfortable, I think this a pretty quick discovery process for you. You can wear Leather shoes with socks as well to help stretch them out a little bit and break them in. Make sure that they're going to be comfortable for you with whatever footwear you want to wear, if it's socks or bare feet or no show socks, just so that you can really get a full sense of how they're going to work for you. And then of course, my biggest tip of all is to always read brand and product reviews. Even when you're shopping in stores, if you have your phone with you, go to that retailer website or just look up that designer or brand and that style of shoe, you can look right on the box and see what it's called and check to see if people have reviewed about the quality and the comfort of that shoe. Those are the two things that people are going to be quick to praise or complain online. So even if you're shopping in stores, take the extra two minutes before you go to the register and check the product reviews online and see what other people's experiences have been with that specific shoe.
- [15:19]
Melanie
Hi Heather, I have a question about florals. I am a 5 foot 5 ish and kind of boxy frame. So my shoulders and my hips are about the same width. I have a little bit of an indention for my waist, but pretty much kind of a boxy shape from the front. You know, it doesn't look too bad. You can see my width, if you will, from the side. And when my question has to do with florals and lots of print on something, I'm looking at a midi dress that I love. It's boho style, which I love. But there are prints that are like really small florals and then there's really big florals there, one or the other that is better for a frame like mine. Or, you know, do the size of the prints make a difference on different sizes and shapes of people? Thank you so much.
- [16:18]
Heather Riggs
Melanie, thank you so much for your question. This is a fun one and you definitely got it in just in time to be featured in this first ever Q and A roundup episode for the month. And I love that you are being choosier and more strategic about the prints that you wear. Once you know your style, foundations and what flatters you best, it makes it so much easier to discern between all of the different options out there. And you are spot on that you do want to consider your personal features when you're choosing the most flattering prints for you, but it's not exactly the way that you think. It makes sense that you would think the shape and scale of your body is going to determine the shape and scale of your prints, but the best way to navigate this is actually by echoing the lines in your face. I have an entire lesson on this inside Her Style Collective. We will figure out your best prints together, but generally speaking, if you have larger facial features, then you can more easily pull off a larger scale print. If you have small, delicate features, I'm talking about your eyes, your nose and your mouth primarily, then you're probably going to feel your best in smaller scale prints, no matter your body size. I want you to scroll down. Next, you're going to look for episode number 123, three of her style podcast. It's called Picking the Perfect Fabrics and Prints for you, and this episode is going to give you even more clarity on this topic. There are some other styling factors that you're going to want to keep in mind when it comes to your body shape and your scale. We already talked about how this can impact the heel widths of your shoes, but as far as picking your best prints goes, the biggest determinant is going to come from your beautiful face. And that's pretty cool, right? Above all, I always want you to opt for the pieces that make you feel your most confident and excited to get dressed. All right friend, that concludes our first ever monthly Q and A Roundup episode. I want to say a special thank you to Allison, Christine, Miriam and Melannie for sending your questions in this month. I really hope that you love today's very first monthly Q and A Roundup episode. Of course there's going to be even more content coming out for you, like lots of tips and advice and conversations happening in our free community which you can join today@herstylellc.com community. And if you would like to submit a question for our next Q and A episode in April, go ahead and send it over. You can head to herstylellc.com podcast to leave a quick voice memo or you're welcome to email supportherstylellc.com Send in your questions and I can't wait to hear what you want me to cover next next. If you don't want to wait until the next month for some Q and A advice from me. If you want to learn all my best tips and tricks and have all of your questions answered by me personally throughout the week, then come on in and join us inside her style collective. This is my 90 day group coaching program where I walk you through my simple six step process to buy less, shop smarter and build a wardrobe. You love. I know this is why you're here and we can accomplish this together. So doors are open. Just head to herstylellc.com collective for all the details and to get started today. I cannot wait to see you inside. Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you want to stop copying everyone else's style and start dialing in your own swoon worthy signature look, head over to take my free 5 minute personal style quiz which you can find at the link in the show Notes. If you've enjoyed our time together, please be sure to rate, review and subscribe to her style podcast so you never miss an episode. Finally, I invite you to make this a two way conversation and send me a DM over on Instagram eatherigstyle to let me know how I can best support you on your style journey. I'm always here for you in style and service. Until next next time.