Work with What You Got

Last summer this was one of my favorite dresses. Because it was a heavier knit, I was able to wear it all year long. I always get compliments when I do; it's a flattering shape.

When Target released more versions of this dress in different colors, I snapped it up. Now I have purple...



and a fabulous, unexpected green (a color I have very little of in my closet; really it's green, not teal).



What I love about this dress is that it does exactly the opposite of most of my other clothes: it doesn't hide my shape, it celebrates it.

I am a pear. I have a big rack, a flat dupa, a high waist, small shoulders, wide hips and thighs, a short torso and long legs. This dress highlights every aspect of that in a positive, flattering way. The dolman dropped shoulders puts extra fabric and width at my small shoulder, making my silhouette more balanced. The fabric on the top and bottom gathers right at the wide belt section, making my waist even more pronounced. The skirt's tulip shape emphasizes the widest part of me, my hips and thighs, making them part of the whole look all the way down instead of an extra body bit marring the sleekness of the silhouette. And the length stops right at the top of my knee, showing off all of my curvy calves (my best body part, imo).

I feel sexy, confident and kickass in this dress.

Is it any wonder I bought three of them? (Man, it comes in yellow. YELLOW!! If only it was in my size, I might have gotten that instead of the purple. Maybe.) Best $27.99 per dress I ever spent. They're only sold online, so if you buy from Target always go through eBates. Target rarely has coupon sales like other clothing stores, but at least with eBates I will get cash back.

Sometimes I forget that even though I am overweight, I don't always have to hide and misdirect attention away from my unflattering bits. Sometimes I can just say, "Yeah, this is me, and I rock."

Do you have any clothes that make you feel that way? What about them works for you?

Friday 5 (with extra bonus)

1. It's true what they say about March -- it roars in like a lion.





Fashion shoots have to set up fancy wind machines; I just went outside!

This is a Martin + Osa scarf worn long against a gold cascading cardigan, almost like part of the cardigan. I tucked it together with a belt and wore an ivory tee under it. The pants are my brown NYDJ skinny ponte pants, and the boots are my green Clark suede booties. Since I went with all earth colors, I swapped out my glasses for my plain brown ones.

2. We are celebrating my birthday weekend in Joliet IL and St. Louis. It's official: I am livin' the dream.

Actually, the hotel/casino we are staying at in St. Louis is just stunning. We're looking forward to a quick getaway there.


The lobby of the Lumiere from 3 years ago when we were there last.

3. We had one of our new team members start this week. He knows absolutely nothing about the company, the business or the software, so we've been training him on all of it. It wasn't until Thursday that I saw him finally pick up a pen and take a note on anything we had been saying. He either has a fantastic memory or doesn't give a sh**. At this point I am not sure which it is. This could be a problem.

4. I am so, so glad everyone liked my new series, They Walk Among Us. Isn't Kate amazing? I forgot to mention she's been a friend of mine for a few years now, and on top of keeping herself looking so great and being a runner and a skilled baker, she has two adorable pitbulls (even I can't resist them, and I am not really a dog person) and a killer shoe collection. I think I would really hate her if I didn't like her so much. :)

5. Do not adjust your screens; the camera was crooked when I took these yesterday. LOL!





Target drapeneck top, beloved purple Bobeau cardigan, black Gap bootcut pants, green suede booties. A typical Dress Like A Normal Person outfit.


Bonus: Sadly, the Vince Camuto colorblock dress is being returned; it was completely unflattering on me. It didn't quite fit right and it was a bit short, but more than that, the stripes at the bottom did not work. It wasn't until I had it on that I remembered that a pattern or wide stripe at the bottom of a dress is not a good look for my pear shape; it draws all the attention to the widest part of my legs and drags the whole look down. Even when I was skinnier, it didn't work. See?



Oh, well, lesson learned (again)!

What are you doing this weekend?

Optical Illusion

I don't have much to say about this one, I just really liked this outfit from Wednesday.



On the days that I've been skipping (see: Tuesday), my outfits have pretty much been like the one above: straight-leg pant, long cardigan, heeled bootie, layering top and either a long pendant necklace or a scarf. It's a look that covers all the parts I want covered, and gives the optical illusion of making me look leaner than I am right now.

In contrast, we have the outfit I wore on Thursday.



I finally managed to wear the button-down under a dress! (Hrm, the collar appears be tucked under more than it should have been.) I've worn this dress before, but most of the pattern was covered up under a cardigan. I am really in love with the pattern -- up close, the top part makes my shoulder line look stronger than it is -- but looking at the whole thing like gives me pause. Maybe that wasn't the right belt?



On the plus side, it had some really nice flow, and I loved the grey tights and black Vince Camuto boots with it. On the minus side, it is not nearly as slimming as Wednesday's grey pants and gold cardigan combo.

I am trying to make my peace with that -- do all outfits need to be optical illusions, or can I live with the fact that sometimes I just look heavy? I don't know the answer. I see other bloggers wearing their curves and shapes with pride, and I am torn between envying them their freedom, and silently re-dressing them so they look slimmer in the camera. ("Oh, that would be perfect if you lost the belt!") It's a vicious circle; as confident as I am about who I am, I feel more comfortable in my clothes when I think I am fooling the world in an optical illusion outfit. Then I feel bad for copping out like that, that I should be proud of myself no matter what size I am. But I'm not, and I don't want to be this size. So I change back into an optical illusion outfit, and I stop beating myself up.

See what I mean by a vicious circle? Oh, the terrible things we do to ourselves with negative self-talk sometimes!

Anyway, I worked another optical illusion to my advantage yesterday. This was dinner:




We ordered salads and pizza, our weekly too-tired-to-cook meal.  (How do I know it's weekly? The delivery guy complimented the way we redecorated the living room. He has been to our house enough times that he noticed the change. Yep!) So I dumped the salad out of the container and put in a nice big bowl, and I put the pizza on a smaller plate. And it worked; I ate the half the amount of pizza I normally would!

It also occurred that I probably need to stop fighting the weekly pizza ritual so much, and find ways to work it into the Foodstyle so it is a regular indulgence instead. Repeating the trick above will be a good start, and replacing the salad with a healthier one will be a second. I don't like their salad anyway. I bet if I mix up a bag of chopped lettuce and veggies the day before, when I have cooking energy, I could dump it into a bowl just like I would if I bought the bag at the store. Hmmm, that would work!

What tricks do you have for including unbreakable habits into your meals? Any optical illusion outfits you like to wear?