In Other Words

Elly, what you said: "As an hourglass I find that I am constantly needing to tweak proportions to keep my body looking like my body instead of letting it become unbalanced by clothing or greatly enlarged by clothing."

I hear you!! I think we either need to bite the bullet and get things altered, or accept some of the extra width clothing is going to add to us. If you can get in the habit of altering, especially if you can take garments in right away, those spontaneous purchases will then get worn because they fit correctly. This is my current biggest problem; I don't do this at all, and I very very much need to. So I've gotten very comfortable with waist surrender, and adding extra width... but as my style improves I am becoming less and less patient with this so I'm sure I'll suck it up and go to the tailor soon. If you don't have a nearby alterations location, perhaps it would be worth learning to make some of the common alterations you'd need yourself? (back darts, waist nipping, etc.)

For your work wardrobe, if you have pieces that are close-but-not-perfect and nothing to replace them with (e.g. tops for those two skirts), you may just have to wear them until you can find proper replacements. Can't have you going to work topless

Elly and Aida, I'm right there with you about tweaking proportions. I pretty much don't buy anything that surrenders the waist, unless it's a top that I can wear under a skirt and belt if it's over pants. And both of my A-line skirts are flowy so that they don't throw off proportions with my shoulders. On a related note, I try to only buy tops that I can wear tucked into skirts AND over pants AND that is fitted at the waist, but it's really difficult.

Aida-- thanks, good to know someone else feels my pain.

I actually am a decent seamstress. I don't make my own clothing for daily wear, but I am pretty confident around a sewing machine. I do do some of my own alterations. I can put a dart or two in a button-down no problem. However, I often run into items that are very hard to alter down enough. Taking something in 8 inches in the waist can become complicated and I don't attempt alterations that most tailors refuse-- like resetting pre-cut sleeves that are two low or big-- that is a nightmare. I also sometimes get tired or nervous about having to tear apart high end lined garments. I don't want to mess them up, but tailors charge a lot when they are practically having to recut a garment because the jacket or pants have to be taken up SO much in the waist.

Elly, you might be better to stick with bias cut or stretch fabrics that will give and drape? Would that fit with your style? On Imogens Inside Out Style blog she has some tips for dressing what she describes as 'a figure 8' that you mind find useful, too:
http://www.insideoutstyleblog......shape.html

I love the idea of a 'calm' wardrobe, and the outfit descriptions. I am going to make sure I have all of these covered.

Hi Elly! a couple of thoughts - re: dressing an hourglass....i find that softer, thinner, stretchier, drapier fabrics are much more 'forgiving' when it comes to 'extra bulk' around the waist. With these types of fabrics you don't have to take in as much as you would a stiffer, thicker, more stable fabric if you are tailoring at the waist, for example. I've found this to be the case for stretch wovens as well as knits (so you can get that more tailored look you like).

re: clothes for a new job. Every manager i've known (worked with or for, or to whom i'm related) understands that a person takes a while to 'get dressed' nicely for a new position. They also understand this will take even longer if you are new to the field or haven't worked for a while. The important thing is for you to show you are making an effort to be appropriately clothed for your position.

As Aida points out, you may have to wear less than perfect items until you can get a hold of the items you really want. In my experience most managers will notice that you are not dressing according to the dress code while they will not care that your hem is at a dowdy length, you are wearing a less than flattering color, blouse is kind of baggy at the waist, etc.

Depending on the state of your closet, budget, and shopping options one approach would be to buy some 'stopgap' work appropriate pieces at cheap prices (sales, T.J.Maxx, etc.). You can wear these at work while you acquire what you really want. It's not ideal, but then dressing for work often isn't : )

HTH!! happy afternoon, steph

What a brilliant read! I'm glad to hear that there is no right or wrong way to do this. I have always just tried to fill a few wardrobe holes each season, but everything I have is just "good enough". My strategy worked for a long time as a budget conscious SAHM, but my kids are in high school now, and I'm having more oportunities to travel and do things that require clothing and outfits I can count on. Sometimes I just want to chuck everything and start over. The alternative seems to be to build on the mediocre Items I have, and I might want to go in a different (color) direction entirely.