We are still chatting about Dana Thomas’ Deluxe – How Luxury Lost Its Luster on the forum. The kick-off thread has some very astute comments and keen insights from our forum members, and the book also led to an interesting discussion about how we define luxury and the items we are willing to splurge on.

While we continue the conversation it’s time to announce the next two Book Club titles so that everyone has enough time to get them and really dig in. We have selected two good ones that will definitely offer plenty food for thought:

• Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton (14 December 2012): A compelling documentary that allows us a look behind the scenes of Marc Jacobs’ own fashion label in the US and the ateliers of French luxury brand Louis Vuitton. With great insights into the creative and artistic process on both sides of the pond, and candid glimpses of the real person behind the successful business emporiums.

• The Truth About Style (11 January 2013): In her new book Stacy London shares her past personal struggles and her philosophy of the healing power of style. Through a series of makeovers with real-life women she demonstrates how personal style can help us become happier, healthier and more confident – perfect proof of her motto: “style can change your look, but it can also change your life”.

To whet your appetites I’d like to share a quote from Stacy London that captures the goal of the style makeovers in her new book beautifully:

“I know what it’s like to lose your sense of style, your sense of femininity, your sense of yourself… These aren’t makeovers but start-overs, they’re do-overs, a reconfiguration and reinterpretation of how we view ourselves. If you can see yourself in a new way, then you can believe yourself in a new way.” 

Quick reminder: On the Book Club page you can find the schedule of previous, current and future Book Club titles.

Cropped pants aren’t my favourite silhouette to start off with, but I firmly believe that they can be worn in flattering ways (here are my guidelines and more visuals of fabulous outfits with cropped pants). I have a pair that I love with all my heart, so I don’t have a poisoned eye for the cropped pants concept in general. 

But I do have a poisoned eye for the cropped pant silhouettes below. They are cropped to the ankle, or a few inches above the ankle, and wider at the hems. Some hems are as wide as bootcuts, whereas others are more tapered. But not nearly tapered enough to look flattering to my eye. I like the roominess on the thigh area, but that wider hem at a cropped length just about throws me over the edge. I find the visual effect of the proportions extremely unflattering and frumpy no matter how you slice and dice it. Not edgy and not attractive. 

I can count on one hand the looks that do not make it through my style filter. Cropped pants with wider hems as seen here is one of those looks. I am a HUGE nay. What’s your verdict?

Ever since reading about it in a magazine (I think it was InStyle, but it may have been Elle) I have been keen to road test this tip. 

So out came the Windex, a standard household glass cleaner, and the roll of paper towel. I sprayed windex directly onto two patent handbags and a few pairs of patent shoes and rubbed them dry with paper towel.

Bingo! It works especially well on black patent leather, making it look extra shiny and polished. My magpie gene is rejoicing.

Petite Scarlet recently catalyzed a wonderful forum discussion when she posed the question, “what is considered a large bust size?”. She asked: 

How do you define this? On the one hand I feel large busted because it can be a fitting problem area, but on the other hand lots of women are much larger busted than I am. Also I don’t see my bustline as a reason not to wear a big scarf a la Angie’s blog post. Where do you draw the line for small/average/large?

FWIW, I usually wear a 32D (ideally it would be a 30DD, but that is too hard to find) am currently in an 34 DD due to pregnancy, but since my girth has increased it still feels more balanced than large to me. I have learned though that my feelings about large and small can be more in my head than what is apparent to other people.

The responses on Scarlet’s thread are fascinating and well worth a read. To summarize, some consider a 36D bra size “busty”. Others feel it isn’t that straightforward because height and bone structure are relevant factors that form part of the visual picture. Some feel that shoulder and chest shape play a role. Some feel that despite your height, you look more busty when you are short waisted. And others think that a D-cup, in all band widths, is a very average bust size. 

I have two main thoughts on this question. First of all, cup sizes are not created equal. A D-cup on a size 30D bra is smaller than a D-cup on a size 38D bra. So using the cup size as a reference point for bust size can be misleading. 

Second, I support the idea that it’s all about how the size of your bust relates to the rest of your body. For example, I have an almost 6 foot tall client who wears a size 36DD. To my eye she looks small busted, and she agrees with me. She is very tall with broad shouders. Her height and extra strong shoulder line make her bust size appear relatively small. On the other hand, I have a client who stands at 5′ 2″ with a short torso and wears a size 32D. Although her bra size is smaller, her shorter proportions increase the size of her bust relative to the rest of her body. She looks like she has a fuller bust than my tall client. 

Although it’s interesting to hear how people’s perceptions on bust size differ, it’s more important to think about but how your bust size affects the way you dress, and how your clothes fit your bustline. In other words, do you want to minimize or maximize your bust size, or leave it be. Scarlet hits the nail on the head when she puts it like this: 

You are only “large-busted” as a shape modifier if you feel like it is something you need to dress around. I personally don’t feel I need to dress around my bust line (i.e. minimize or balance it), although I do need to take the extra effort to find the shirts/dresses that fit.

I’ve noticed that my clients are different in this regard. At one extreme, some large busted clients like to accentuate the size of their chest. At another extreme some small busted clients like to minimize it. And then there’s every bust size dressing preference in-between. 

I’m 5′ 6″ and wear a size 29D or 30D sized bra. I feel neither large nor small busted. I do not dress around my bustline, although wearing a form fitting turtleneck clearly accentuates the size of my bust. I often wear form fitting turtlenecks so I’m fine with looking more full busted on those days. 

Do you feel small, regular or large busted? How does the size of your bust affect the way you dress? Do you prefer to minimize or maximize the size of your chest?