How to Wear Prints With Confidence When You're Plus Size
Plus sized women tend to be afraid to wear prints. Actually, most women have this fear. All because of some extremely questionable style advice we've heard over the years.
You know the sort of style tips I'm talking about - all aimed at making you look as small as possible. These tips don't even work. Trust me on this - I've tried them all. They never made me look slender, but they did make me look sad and frumpy.
Meanwhile, wearing prints has never made me look larger than I am but prints do make me look vivacious. Even horizontal stripes.
What's the goal?
When we put together an outfit, there is always a guiding philosophy even if we're not consciously aware of it. If we're not dressing to look thinner than we are, then what's our goal?
Different occasions call for different outfit goals, but every outfit you wear should show off your personality. Are you smart? Quirky? Creative? Elegant? Let your outfits (and your prints) reflect this.
Dressing to look intelligent and confident is an excellent approach to dressing for work (and everywhere else). And that's the thing about wearing prints. Since so many women are hesitant to wear prints, when you wear print clothing it shows that you're unafraid of them and you know how to wear them well.
In other words, wearing prints is a power move.
The specific prints you decide to wear is driven by your personality and individual sense of style. Trust your gut.
Start Subtle With a Print Sleeveless Shell
If you're new to wearing prints, then I suggest starting with a Sleeveless Shell covered by a solid colored jacket or cardigan. That minimizes the amount of print that's visible so you won't feel quite so exposed.
Then Try a Print Jacket
This is a flipped version of the previous look. The solid color shell breaks up the jacket's print. From a distance, the print is more visually dominant, but up close the solid shell draws more attention because it's directly below your lovely face.
In fact, you may be more comfortable starting with this look. Remember - people will be looking at your face most of the time.
Progress to a Print Top
By this point, wearing a print tee or tunic with solid pants (or skirt) won't feel like such a big deal.
How About Print Pants?
I know - absolutely terrifying. But only if you're still following the old, useless style rules. Print pants with a solid top do not make your lower half look larger than it is. And the solid color up top really grounds the look. This may actually be the biggest power style move since it feels unthinkable.
Then Go Really Wild With a Print Dress
An outfit with no solid colors may feel like giving up your security blanket. But it's very easy to get used to. You got this.
Prints Photograph Better Than Solids
I used to hate how I looked in photos. Wearing an oversized top in a solid color made me appear a lot wider than I really am. My torso was one unbroken field of color. This isn't an issue when I wear prints. That's right - the solids I wore in the hopes of making myself look smaller did the exact opposite. If that doesn't convince you to give wearing prints a try, I don't know what will.