Hi Karinswe,
I've just followed your threads on this very nice skirt - good choice.
WHY TUCKING WORKS.The question of tucking hinges on your overall proportions. Your legs are slightly short in comparison to your torso length.(same as me.) So, when you wear your top untucked, your entire torso looks long, which in turn makes your legs look shorter. Tucking your tops in automatically gives the impression that your legs are long, by making your legs appear to start at a higher point, i.e.your waist, instead of your hips.
NB. Beware a plain white top, even if tucked in, it can just chop your total silhouette in half, unless you accessorise it (necklace /brooch/scarf). In your photo example, there's no white on your lower half ,nor any navy/black on your upper half, so the two halves of your figure are unlinked. When you add the grey cardigan, you have linked the two halves to your grey sneakers, plus you have created slimming vertical lines which narrow down the white area. So that's a good move.
Janetinvirginia has brought up the golden rule about matching tops to skirts. Bouffy skirts need fiitted tops. Loose tops look good only over narrow (pencil) skirts. As she says, this skirt, being gathered, looks its best with non-baggy tops.
NB. A woven shirt tied in a knot in the front, as suggested in a previous thread, when worn this way becomes a "fitted top" . I do this quite a bit with my voluminous skirts. Worth trying.
To answer your question in an earlier thread about choosing between different printed t-shirts: in your photos the second white printedT-shirt works better than the first because:
>it is more fitted, therefore giving you a narrower waistline.
> the black pattern consists of vertical blocks with a good margin, which takes the eye upwards, making you look taller and slimmer. T-shirts with a carefully CENTRED design are often very flattering.
The first printed t-shirt is:
>too loose at the waist-gives a thickening impression.
> the blocks of colour are unbalanced, off-centre and blob-like in shape. The eye is drawn to the sides of your torso, emphasising your width at the expense of your height. RANDOM colour blobs are hardly ever flattering, it all depends where they sit on one's figure.
To BELT or not to belt:
When you wear a top in a colour similar to but not quite the same as, a bottom - as in these photos with the navy top - adding a belt helps by defining and separating the two colour zones. So, you can skip a belt if you like when you wear the skirt with a lighter coloured top- as janetinvirginia says- but with this skirt, navy/charcoal/black tops would look better with a belt. The blue top outfit could look good as it stands with a black belt (to match the leggings) with some contrasting detail in the front (grey to match the shoes would be nice!) or a big buckle that will draw the eye away from the sides and to the centre of your waist (nearly all my belts are this style - it takes inches off!).
The problem with the white belt in the photo example is that the white is concentrated in one spot. On its own, with no other white in the outfit, it dominates , being the first thing the eye sees; and it takes attention away from your face. If you want to wear this belt, think about adding some touches of white elsewhere in the outfit, e.g at shoe level, and also up top.The white would also be less overpowering if you add in one or more different colours e.g. in a bag, jacket, headband etc.
Good luck, hope you have a fun time thinking up more creations.
