← Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
Her Style Podcast | Shopping, Color Palettes, Fashion, Wardrobe, Outfits, Clothing
249 | Simple Fit Fixes Every Woman Should Know to Make Better-Looking Outfits
00:16:21
Do you have a lot of amazing pieces in your closet, but struggle with putting them together into flattering looks? The fact of the matter is, what you own is only one piece of the puzzle. It’s not just WHAT you wear, but HOW you wear it. ...
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- [00:00]
A
Do you have a lot of amazing pieces in your closet but struggle with putting them together into flattering looks? The fact of the matter is what you own is only one piece of the puzzle. It's not just what you wear, but how you wear it. Today, I'm sharing simple styling tweaks to transform your outfits so you can feel more confident and put together in all of your clothes. These are small, easy adjustments you can make today without buying anything new or taking a trip to the tailor. These solutions will help you fix your fit issues fast and take your outfits to the next level with ease.
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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.
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A
Okay, friend, at the time that I am recording this podcast episode for you, my son is having a sleepover with my parents. And so you know what that means, right? I am off the hook for making dinner. I don't have to cook a meal for anyone or worry about pulling together a full, nutritious plate of food and do my best to ensure that everyone's gonna eat it and be happy. And my husband and I are both.
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Catching up on some work tonight, and.
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A
So we are heating leftovers and keeping it really easy over here. And the reason that I'm telling you this is because just like there's a difference between eating something and preparing a meal, especially if we throw in the added layer of hosting a meal and inviting people into your home, there's also a big difference between getting dressed and styling an outfit. There's just a different level of care and attention that you're gonna put in. And this doesn't mean that you have to spend hours sleeving over a hot stuff stove. You can keep that meal simple and elegant. You can make a tried and true recipe that you know backwards and forwards. It doesn't have to be complicated. But I think we can agree there's a bit more thought put into feeding a family or entertaining a crowd than rushing through a quick grab and go meal. Maybe you have a fabulous closet full of beautiful clothes that you absolutely adore, but when it comes time to put them together and, you know, prepare your outfit or put that food on the table, you just freeze. You don't know if you have all the ingredients that you need, or in the case of your outfit, maybe that's having the right accessories. On hand, maybe you're not confident about what goes together. I don't know about you, but I basically refuse to make a meal without following a recipe. I do not trust myself in the kitchen. And you might even start to worry about or overthink and how it's going to be received. Are you going to look too flashy? Will you look stylish enough? Or, you know, in the case of the meal analogy, is everyone going to eat it or enjoy it? And I hope that you can see the parallel a little bit here and how it's a fairly similar experience. And if you have been throwing things on and rushing out the door, that's not a problem per se. You might be really clear about what works for you, and you hopefully feel okay or even amazing in what you're wearing. But you also might not want to eat fast food every night, right? You might be here because you know there's some room for improvement with your outfits. You wanna put a little bit more thought, intention and care into styling your outfit, just like you do for a lot of those meals that you're preparing for others. So today I'm very excited to hand over some simple tweaks that you can make to go from just quickly getting dressed to thoughtfully styling your outfit with a little bit more attention, not necessarily time, because these are quick, easy hacks, I promise you, but they will make your outfit feel more finished and hopefully improve the fit of your clothes as well in a big way. So I have six different ideas to offer up. You can try one or more of them the next time that you go to put an outfit together. So you're probably going to want to take some notes. The first one is styling your sleeves. This is a surprisingly powerful styling trick. I am talking about rolling, cuffing, or pushing up your sleeves when you're. When you're wearing an oversized shirt, a boxy blazer, or a bulky sweater, it can sometimes really drown out your frame. But if you take just a minute to roll or push up your sleeves, even just a couple of inches, you are going to instantly reveal your wrists, which are one of the most delicate parts of your body. And this small tweak is going to make your overall silhouette appear slimmer and better balanced. If you're on the short side, a bonus is it's also going to make your legs look longer. Like Mag Magic, it works every single time. So again, like I said, you could try this with an oversized button down to give you a more relaxed and effortless look. And for this in particular, I personally Love doing the J. Crew sleeve roll. Google it. I promise it'll come up. It's a thing, and it's super easy to do. So look up the J. Crew like the store sleeve roll and you'll get all the instructions to do it. It's very simple, and it looks really effortless and cool. The next thing you could try it with is, like I said, a structured blazer, which is going to give it a less formal feel. You could also try it with maybe a denim jacket to really soften the look. If you're wearing a cardigan or, you know, another layering piece in the summer, on a cool day in the air conditioning, you might just want to push up your sleeve a little bit. I'm going to give you one quick tip for this, too, because I know it really drives some of my clients crazy, and we want to avoid seeing styling details that are too fussy or high maintenance. So if your sleeves will not stay put, you can also use a clear hair elastic underneath the fold just to secure them in place. Okay. The second styling trick that you can try is switching your shoes. You've probably already experienced the fact that shoes can completely transform the way that your body looks in your outfit. If you're wearing a flowy dress and you feel like it's overpowering you, you might want to try switching out chunky shoes or sneakers for a sleek sandal or a pointed toe flat. A low vamp shoe, meaning it cuts lower on your foot, is going to help elongate your legs and give you a leaner appearance, especially if you're petite. And the same is also true for shoes that match your skin tone or the color of your hosiery. It's going to really help to elongate your lower half. Additionally, this finishing detail can really alter the whole attitude of your look. If you want to feel more powerful in the workplace, maybe swap your go to sleeves slides for a structured pump or a block heel. It's not necessarily about height, although I do feel personally like a little boost in my height is going to give me a big boost in my confidence as well. But it's really more about presence. So structured shoes can help to ground your outfit and communicate confidence. My best advice when it comes to picking your shoes is also to consider your overall stature and the scale of your body and choosing a weight or thickness of your soles and heels to mirror that. But remember, one small switch of your shoes can definitely give your outfit big overall results. Okay. The third fit fix to try is front tucking your top. This is one of my all time favorite styling secrets. I know there's some controversy about whether it's in or out, and I really think you've got to look kind of case by case at each individual outfit and shirt that you're considering tucking in. And also consider your personal style preferences as always. But this is a really simple move that you can try to fix proportional issues and make your outfit look a little bit more styled and put together. So what you're gonna do with the front tuck, which is also referred to sometimes as a French tuck, is you're gonna take the front of your shirt and just tuck it loosely into your pants, your skirt or your shorts right at the center, you're gonna leave the sides and the back untucked so that it gives you a really casual but still flattering finish. And I will tell you this one tucking trick is gonna help to create instant shape. It's gonna define your waist and it's going to bring some structure and style to what might be an otherwise long or loose fitting top. So here's one you might want to use. It is with a long T shirt or a blouse that really hides your whole waistline. I love to do this with a slouchy sweater just to add a little bit of structure and again help define my waist even better. Or you could also do it when you want to balance out wide leg or high waisted pants. Now if you're petite, you could do a full tuck to help really elongate your legs. And if you're short waisted, you're going to want to be careful with this one. You could try it with a mid rise pant. Just make sure that you're not going too high with the tuck and the rise and then losing even more length through your waist. We don't want to counteract that or enhance your imbalances even more. So just keep in mind a couple of instances when this probably won't work as well is if your top is already short or cropped because number one, it's probably not going to stay put. And number two, it is likely already hitting you at a more flattering spot. Or if your top is extra long and it's going to look awkward to tuck it in the front and then have it really long in the sides in the back. So just play around with it. Like I said this one, you kind of have to go case by case, but it's worth trying if you feel like something's a little bit off or you're losing all of that shape at your waist and just see what works best for you. All right. The fourth tip that you can try is strategic layering. Layering is not always about staying warm. It can also be sometimes about creating better vertical lines that are going to help to elongate your frame. So a couple of easy layering tricks are things like adding a vest or a long cardigan or blazer over a fitted base layer to create some nice vertical interest. I love doing this, especially if you're feeling a little uncomfortable about your midsection. You could tuck in a tighter fitting top underneath and then use a loose cardigan or blazer over top to give you a little bit of extra coverage, but still define your waist nicely. You could also try layering an open button down over a tank dress for an effortless weekend look. Or maybe even using a matching set with a longline topper in a monochromatic color just to give a nice lengthening effect throughout your whole your whole body. Layering is also really going to help you break up an outfit that feels too basic or shapeless. When you add that second or even third piece, you're going to instantly build more style into your look and it can give you more control over the silhouette and the proportions that you're creating. This trick is especially helpful if you want to downplay areas you're less confident about. Like I mentioned, if you want to hide your tummy area a little bit. But it can also really help you see still look intentional and put together. Okay, now the fifth thing that I'm going to share with you is belting it. Even if it's not meant to be belted. I would say belts are one of the most underrated resources in your style toolbox. Even if a piece doesn't come with a belt or seem like it should be belted, you can experiment and add one and see if it helps to bring some definition and a more finished look to your outfit. I really like to try belts with flowy maxi dresses to create a more defined waist and add a little bit better shape to your outfit. Or an oversized button down, especially if you wear it as a tunic or kind of a dress. That can be a really cool look. Or if you want to try belting a long blazer or a jacket that you're wearing open. You could also go for a wide belt if you want to make a bolder statement, or maybe a slim belt if you just want to make a subtle tweak to your outfit. Of course, think about your personal style and your overall scale. Again, we always want to Repeat our inherent features and use things that work with our body instead of against it. This can also help you to create the illusion of a defined hourglass silhouette. But just be careful about the placement of the belt. Make sure that you're considering your proportions. Don't have it sit right underneath your bust line. We don't want to create a shelf there. So just make sure that you're looking at a full length mirror to make sure that the placement and the size of the belt and the fabrication is really working well to enhance your outfit and not deter it. So don't be afraid to experiment. Sometimes the best looks come from playing with proportions and trying new combinations. All right, my final tip for you today, number six is to try a different bra. Here's one thing that nobody sees, but everyone notices. It's your bra. And a poorly fitting bra can completely throw off the fit of your entire outfit. If you think about tops that gape or slouchy shoulders and undefined waistlines, I will say a supportive, well fitting bra that lifts your bust and creates a little bit more space between your chest and your waist is going to instantly slim your silhouette. So you can try testing the same outfit with this. Maybe a molded cup versus a soft bralette and you will probably notice a huge difference in your posture, your proportions and how polished your outfit looks overall. If it's been a while since you were professionally fitted, it might be time. Our bodies change and fluctuate more often than we think and your undergarments should follow suit. So if you haven't been fitted for the proper bra size, you're probably going to want to go if it's been six months, a year or more, definitely make sure that you check and ensure that you are wearing the correct bra size. But also it might just be the type of bra that you're wearing with your outfit. Sometimes. If you want to create a better no show line through a T shirt, it's just a matter of switching out the bras in your collection. So you don't necessarily have to buy something new, but maybe play around with the options that you already have to see what works best underneath your outfit. Okay, I know that was a lot of styling tips packed into just a few minutes and I want to quickly recap for you so you can fix your fit and enhance your overall outfit by first styling your sleeves, switching your shoes, maybe trying a front tuck, or you could experiment with other tucking styles as well. I have a whole episode about that which I'll link up in the show notes for you. You could also opt for strategic layering, adding a belt or upgrading or swapping out the bra that you're wearing. Sometimes these small little tweaks like rolling your sleeves or switching out your shoes can make the biggest difference in how confident and comfortable you feel. So I want to challenge you to try at least one of these tips the next time you get dressed. Maybe take a before and after photo, even if you don't share it with anyone, but just so you can really step back and notice the difference between getting dressed and styling your outfit. With some of these easy fixes, I want you to think about how you feel before and after. And of course, if you want to, you are more than welcome to pop into our free Facebook community and share your favorite fit fix. Whether you want to post pictures or just let me know what stood out to you the most in this episode, I would love to celebrate and cheer you on. You can join us inside that group@herstylellc.com community all right, thank you so much for listening today friend. I'm going to meet you right back here for our next episode in just a few days.
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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.
- [15:59]
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A two way conversation and send me.
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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 time.