HIPS DON’T LIE – DRESSING FOR CURVES

I’ve been admiring leather(ish) leggings in magazines and on bloggers for a few months now, so I decided to give them a try myself. But, these hip-hugging pants are not a plug-and-play item for a gal with curves. Read on to see how I learned to style them – only after a false start that was quite unflattering. Caution – hips and thighs ahead!

I found these Adriano Goldschmied waxed black skinny jeans on Black Friday at the Barneys New York Warehouse outlet. Obviously they are not leather or PVC, but they certainly achieve the likeness and the look I was going for. I really love them.

What I didn’t take into account is that the uber-shiny and slick texture of the pants reflects light and draws your attention to my lower half – my least favorite half – the land of hips and thighs. I’ve been struggling with a little winter weight gain, and now that I’m fully in my 30s, it all goes to this area. Not cool, genetics – but I’ll deal with those woes at the gym. Not here. Here, I’m going to own it.

The funny thing is – I didn’t even realize this was a factor to consider with these pants until I shot the first look below. When I look at this outfit, in theory it makes all the sense in the world and is on point from a style/trend perspective. In practice, I think it completely missed the mark. Here are the reasons why I call it a false start:

• The horizontal stripes add width visually.  I often wear this top, but I will usually tuck it into a high-waisted skirt to avoid adding width below my narrower waist.
• The hemline of the striped top falls right at my widest part, bringing your eye directly to the problem areas.
• There is tugging and creasing at the zipper/crotch area – not unusual for skinny jeans but given the whole light-reflecting thing, your eye falls immediately to these horizontal creases and stays there. Remember, horizontal = width.

So, what’s a gal to do? Well, I pulled a couple tops with longer hem lines to cover my trouble areas for starters. Then I sought to draw your attention the best areas and to add visual height. Remember, vertical = length. So, here’s where I landed:

• First, a V-neck tunic-length t-shirt. Not only does the hem fall at a more narrow part of my legs, but the V-neck opens up the top part of my body. It draws your eye upward and adds length from the point up to my neck. Sure, the V-neck is extremely casual, but putting the shiny vest back over it brought it back to sassy and made the shoes and pants make sense. 
• Second, a long plaid wrap and a wide belt. The wrap covers the trouble area completely, and it’s asymmetry draws your eye in a diagonal and downward line. You glaze over my hips and land at a narrower area of my legs. The belt cinches the top – which can be bulky – and adds a focal point for your eye right at the narrowest part of the top of my body.  uch better.

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A FALSE START – ALL EYES ON MY WIDEST PARTS

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TRYING AGAIN WITH A V-NECK TUNIC-LENGTH T-SHIRT TO COVER THE WIDEST AREA

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ADDING A LONG WRAP FOR FULL COVERAGE AND A WIDE BELT TO DRAW ATTENTION TO MY NARROW PART

WHAT I WORE:

• Black Waxed Jeans: (Adriano Goldschmied, purchased at Barneys New York Warehouse)
• Black V-Neck T-Shirt: (American Apparel, Men’s size M to get the tunic length)
• Black Faux Fur Vest: (Skaist Taylor for Neiman Marcus for Target)
• Black Ankle-Strapped Pumps: (Charles Jourdan, purchased at Nordstrom Rack)
• Plaid Shirt-Sleeved Wrap: (French Connection)

HOW TO WEAR IT YOURSELF: