a closet clear out makes it easy to dress for your body type
the final stage of my closet clear out
Elbows, knees, and ribs. That was me, and I was teased mercilessly for it. For more than half my life I had the body of an 11-year-old boy. I had zero curves. I was long and leggy and lean. I finally filled out some in my mid-twenties, which I liked. Seven years ago I had a health crisis that triggered a lot of inflammation. My body size fluctuates by 3 sizes, depending on the day, so now I have more curves, and not always in the places one would desire them. A bloated tummy from an angry liver is not a look I love on me.
But in my mind, I still had that boy-ish figure, and had continued to dress for that body type. The truth is, as a grown woman, angry liver or not, I have a pear-shaped figure, meaning the widest part of me is my hips and the tops of my thighs. I have no problem with that, but aesthetically, the eye likes balance in everything, and I can achieve the illusion of balance by the way I dress.
embracing and flattering my body type
Last fall in my pursuit of refining my style, I started investigating what cuts and lengths of clothes would flatter my figure. Before I did all the measuring, I already knew I had a pear-shaped figure. Apparently a lot of women are wrong about their body types. I had my fingers, toes, and all my hairs crossed for an hourglass shape, but less than 8% of women have that body type, and more than 50% of women think they do. What can I say, my hips don’t lie. And they talk. A lot.
Different things can make my body look more balanced and proportional, like the length of my shirt, how I layer my clothes, what accessories I wear, but a big one is the cut of my pants and skirts. When the skinny jeans trend started in the 2000s, I remember thinking, “Those don’t flatter anyone over the age of 12. I will NEVER wear them.”
Of course, because I’m human, I eventually started wearing them, just like everyone else. One of my big motives was to wear them with riding boots. You just can’t fit bootcut jeans into riding boots, and even if you do, the bunching at the knees is unattractive. Now skinny jeans are the norm. Everyone of every age and shape wears them, whether they flatter us or not.
a big change in your closet
My jeans collection was fairly epic. I had collected lots of unique pairs that I love, especially my leather ones, the snake skin ones, and some of the colored denim. What I found out was that my original assessment so many years ago was correct: skinny jeans don’t flatter me. Shiny skinny jeans (I’m looking at YOU leather jeans) are even more unflattering. Shiny thighs do me no favors.
I didn’t want to part with my skinnies. I love them for so many reasons. However, such a dramatic mindset change can be difficult, so I decided to do my own 30-day bootcut challenge to give myself time to adapt and adjust before I decided whether or not to abandon my quest for body balance. In the end, I couldn’t go back to skinny jeans. I look and feel better in bootcut. The truth is, bootcut jeans are universally flattering. There are body types who can rock a skinny jean, but EVERYONE looks great in bootcut. You can’t go wrong with them.
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the last chapter
In the final installment of my winter closet clear out I go through a complete turnover in my jeans, and some of my favorite skirts. It was hard to let some of them go because I love them, and they can’t be replaced. But I decided it was worth it to look and feel my best in my clothes. You can see parts one and two of my closet clear out, and more about my switch to bootcut jeans here and here.
I’m no longer elbows, knees, and ribs, and I never will be again, so I dress and love the body I have NOW in a way that makes me look and feel fantastic. I’m a big believer there is no best body type, despite what the media shows us. All body types are beautiful, and you can accentuate that by choosing items that flatter your body type. I was perfect when I was skin and bones, and I’m perfect now. One is no better than the other, they are just different.
By releasing things that don’t flatter me or make me feel bad, I’m left only with the items I LOVE, the items that make me look and feel my very best. My goal with each purge is to be left with a wardrobe I love, and that loves me back by flattering my body, that tells a true story about who I am, how I expect to be treated, and what you can expect from me. I’m left with clothes that make me feel confident, secure, and put together.
My closet is curated and cohesive, making getting dressed incredibly easy and fast. I can get ready in 20 minutes or less because my wardrobe isn’t full of a mishmash of random things that don’t go together. It all flows together to tell a story about me.
winter closet clear out part 6 - Skirts
winter closet clear out part 7 - jeans
a quick and easy makeup tutorial
If you want to see how I created the quick and easy makeup look I’m wearing, this video give step-by-step instructions:
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