Styling tool series: proportions, balance & shapes | Episode 12 | Sustain This Podcast

In this episode we're discussing how to use textures, proportions and shapes as a way to create balance or even imbalance in a look. We're challenging the stereotypes of what might look most "flattering" and switching focus to dressing in true alignment with yourself; even if that means breaking the rules from time to time.
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SIGNE HANSEN
KZbin: / @useless_dk
Website: www.uselesswar...
IG: / useless_dk
TT: / useless_wardrobe
CHRISTINA MYCHAS
KZbin: / @christinamychas
Website: www.minimalist...
IG: / christina.mychas
TT: / christina.mychas
ALYSSA BELTEMPO
KZbin: / @alyssabeltempo
Website: msbeltempo.com/
IG: / msbeltempo
TT: / msbeltempo
If you loved this episode please share it on your stories and tag us! We love to see which episodes resonate with you and it helps to spread the word more than you know, xo

[@jens6754]

A game changer for me has been to take a picture of myself wearing the outfit. I'm not a fan of selfies, so it's a little weird... but wow it's the best way to truly assess the way proportions and shapes work on my body - not someone else's - and I feel so much more confident in my choices!

[@laurie3753]

You 3 ladies were meant to be doing this podcast! Your topics continue to be thought provoking and engaging, encouraging us to examine our motives and choices. I started following you all in early 2022 and found your authenticity to be what drew me back time and time again. Learning to wear what we feel comfortable in, what truly reflects our personality and creativity versus what we are told is flattering or the best on our body type is freeing! Learning that feeling good in what we wear and how we wear it is the epitome of ultimate freedom of personal expression. And isn’t that what most of us aspire to? Freedom to express our individuality. Have a lovely day lovelies!

[@brendaashton6428]

A game charger for me was when I focused on accentuating what I like best about my body rather than trying to camouflage what I don't like. I love my look now! I completely agree with customizing our look for our mood and attlitude at any given moment. We don't always want to present ourselves in a certain way. Even personality wise we want to shine a light on different character traits and qualities at different times.

[@iamelizarosalind]

I personally feel that dressing to look a way you naturally are not, even if it’s posed as being helpful, essentially tells women the body they are in is not good enough.. I used to dress to look my thinnest, tallest, most flattering by the beauty standards we are told are pretty and perfect today,but now I just dress simply, in clothes that fit me correctly and embrace the natural shape I am, I’m not hiding or emphasising anything. Too much power is given to ‘looking perfect’ and wearing flattering clothes, yeh it’s great to look great, but working on having character and value inside is what will make you most beautiful ❤

[@kateparker3421]

Have followed you guys on KZbin individually for a while now so was really pleased to see this podcast collaboration. I had an idea for a topic to discuss/unpick: Decluttering. I think it was touched on briefly in one of the pods, but FWIW I think it can be really bad from a sustainability pov. Granted, not everyone has unlimited storage space - and too much 'stuff' can feel overwhelming. But the idea that we should chuck/donate things we haven't used for 6 months/a year strikes me as madness. I'm still annoyed with myself for chucking out my old cargo jeans, for instance. I still often wear clothes I bought 30 years ago and am relieved I didn't declutter them as I've rediscovered some gems. I have a big storage box called 'not feeling it' where I store clothes that I'm not into right now. Currently full of skinny jeans, for instance. I also keep things in slightly different sizes as my weight can fluctuate. The whole obsession with decluttering strikes me as something that is very convenient for the fashion industry as it can be promoted as promoting less stress/a more streamlined life etc. but actually also leads to more consumption further down the line....... Wonder what you all think?

[@gabystringer2056]

Spot on -I highly agree with you. So many people are caught in the shopping haul and declutter cycle, rather than carefully considering each step.

[@MorningClarity]

Yes, "you must know the rules to break them successfully". I strive to understand what's "wrong" first, ie "why don't most jeans fit my body?", when I discovered that I had a proportionately long "rise" (waist to crotch) it was liberating! Now I'm trying to analyze why I don't like myself in crewnecks that everyone loves 😂 I think I have a long neck, but I'm short in my upper body...

[@MorningClarity]

When I've been told something doesn't look good on me I say, "thank you for letting me know". That doesn't mean I won't wear it again, but I will consider what they saw that escaped me. I'm in favor of self awareness. We don't all see ourselves accurately. My sister always says "who cares, wear whatever you like", and I feel like I want to figure it out and wear what is pleasing, both to me, and to the eye. I'm a nerd, this is a puzzle to solve. 😂

[@helindove2237]

I'm still waiting for a TV show (Can you guess my age? 😄) where 3 different stylists dress an unknown person in what they would consider their best outfit for that person. Starting with a blank canvas. So a person with no makeup, hair not done, wearing a white robe and then see which style of the three is closest to that person's actual style without knowing their personality just by looking at the appearance. I thought that might be fun.

[@pdk9903]

Omg, thank you for raising the "flattering" issue!😅 Good to deconstruct the concept and decouple it from just enhancing the stereotypical "body ideal".

[@AlexLouiseWest]

Good comment, thank you.

[@kristinagrom2270]

What really helped me to realise proportions in my looks was to take selfies, I try to snap my outfit in mirror before I go out. And that really helps to analyse then what feels and looks best on me. Because both are important. And also this way I am getting more creative with my wardrobe and keep track of what items I tend to wear more. Thank you for inspiring me to be more mindful consumer ❤️

[@TheDebster44]

Love this! ❤ I have a huge forehead and people always comment how bangs would make it look smaller. But I really love my big forehead! 😂 Not directly clothes related, but also about ‘what is flattering’……

[@mettejackson1856]

Love how you back up what my grandmother taught me (she was young in the 1920's!) : 'It'a a good idea to know the social rules - so you know what reactions to expect when you break them!' - a cool thing to learn as a teenager from your gran 🙂

[@chikaadiele3155]

This was a great podcast! I’ve been elevating my style so it feels nice to hear women talk about personality and joy in their styles in a balance manner and changing your mindset.

[@shelleyschultz8337]

As a petite with long legs and short torso, I’ve been very cognizant of proportions. The high rise and over sized trends of the last few years have been a blessing for my bank account and forced me to be more creative in my closet. Feeling good in my clothes is always priority number one. Great podcast, ladies!

[@carolcox9443]

Great as usual, ladies! Wanted to share-I don’t go to malls much, but I happened to be in a very large one in southern California this past weekend. I saw Zara, so decided to pop in and see what all the hype is about. It was jam-packed with customers, and the check out line was at least 30 people long. Didn’t see this anywhere else. All I could think was that fast fashion is just so pervasive and not going away anytime soon. Ugh.

[@MarcelaProvaznikova]

I listened on Spotify, and now I am watching again and literally going through my wardrobe, trying stuff and smiling at myself. Truly inspiring discussion :) Thanks

[@melindaferreira9879]

Not finished watching but this is fascinating. I'm slowly getting there but I'm 52. I know what I like but there is this playful side of me that sometimes wants to " play dress up" a la B. Jones style.. that rogue part of me that says I don't care if I'm over a certain age I like this. I want this. In my case I thrifted a beautiful tulle skirt and I was told by male figures in my life that " from a man's perspective" it didn't look good.. wasn't flattering.. the thing is I loved it! I paired it w a cashmere v neck sweater and I rocked it. I felt gorgeous, Amazing. Was it a little costumey? Yeah.. maybe but tastefully done and it felt liberating.. I raised a few brows but some people approached me and said women don't dress like this anymore.. I brought joy to people in that moment at the grocery store who took pleasure in what I wore and approached me to tell me so. I think also, maybe I sort of gave some permission to indulge.. like, she's doing it.. I can too. Well, the sad thing is I still had those comments / thoughts cluttering my mind and I caved and ended up donating my beautiful skirt, thinking I'm a 52 year old woman wearing a ballerina tulle puffy skirt.. grow up! I'm still sad and disappointed in myself that I caved into societal pressure.. I think I'm gonna go buy another tulle skirt and have fun rocking it next time I'm running errands on a mundane Monday. Why not?!!

[@FraukePalleske]

In my opinion there is no age limit to wear certain clothes. We've all got just this one life to live, so everybody should just feel to wear what they want and feel great in it. I'm 61 and I guess I'd definitely love a tulle skirt!

[@pdk9903]

Omg I have to comment again 😂 - I love Alyssa's point about personality and I'd add energy to that. Personally I feel like I'm in drag in certain types of clothes, even if they'd suit my body type. And I'm certain it shows!

[@jens6754]

Yep! Color is like that for me. The colors that "flatter my skin tone" aren't colors I necessarily like. When I wear them I feel off.

[@pdk9903]

@@jens6754 I hear you! There's some colors that just personally give me the creeps. Same goes for some materials. I guess my sensitivity dictates my choices to an extent, but it also ensures I'm also always comfortable in what I wear. 😊

[@AlexLouiseWest]

Thank you. Great podcast. I’m petite and linear, and I don’t care about adding height or trying to create curves which I don’t have. It’s not who I am. Everyone who knows me well is going to see me at the beach in a bikini anyway, so there’s no point pretending.

[@angelamelum4304]

I love that you all acknowledge the body shape benefits, but remind us we can ignore them. For the most part I am not focused on how long my legs, torso, etc. looks. I’m usually trying to be comfortable.

[@storysand]

Some days i follow the rules for my proportions and some days I’m like i just want to wear everything oversize. Regarding breaking the look, it reminded of the “wrong shoes” theory from Allison Bornstein, I love to wear a feminine dress and then add the wrong shoe with a big chunky sandal.

[@Fabrictragic]

I do so look forward to Wednesdays, so I can devour the next episode of your podcast. Discovering the concept of body shape/ proportions guides has been so helpful for me I’ve since learned that I can now search for jeans or pants that are drafted for my body shape (or make my own). They actually fit! That to me has been priceless and has increased my love of dressing myself dramatically. To me tailoring can also be interpreted simply as making something fit a body better (rather than necessarily being overly fitted or stuffy). One example is jeans on my hourglass body (waist size 1-2 sizes smaller than hips/bum). I’ve had waistbands altered (‘tailored’) to fit me so they don’t fall down and are actually comfortable. That to me fits with the sustainable wardrobe ethos too - if the fit is off how many wears will that garment see before it’s discarded? There’s a huge difference between something fitting properly and being comfortable therefore being worn, and that is a really practical application of understanding body shape and proportions! Thankyou ladies for being a highlight of my week xx

[@juleannedawson9287]

Great podcasts, ladies. The topics give a lot of context to think about. Love listening to you! Thank you. ❤

[@angelaberke5476]

Yeah... we all are different, and that's the beauty of it! I sometimes watch those "before and after" stylings and more iften than not think to myself that I liked before more, in many cases it's not so showy and/or proper or whatever, but certainly more authentic to that person. Also, what's with that obsession with "show your waist"? Every stylist or influencer just go on and on about it! First of all, yes, nice slim waist is cute and fine, but how many people really have that, especially when getting older? Second of all, my waist is mine and it's not my duty to show it anybody if I don't want to.

[@leslie4551]

from a short girl, thank you!

[@lizziebkennedy7505]

Occasional? I’m so shocked by personal comments I see and also, the commenters often totally contradict each other. Just points up how subjective it all is, so have fun and do YOU! ❤

[@kristiluce2838]

I have always had a bigger round behind and as a pear turning appleish shaped person I am told to wear dark colors on the bottom and lighter colors on top. Well, I disagree completely. I love having lighter colors on the bottom.

[@julieloewy1815]

I want my clothes to make me feel empowered and still comfortable.

[@sanetzwiegers564]

🫶