Petite & top heavy - Caryn Franklin's How to Look Good

IntroductionBallerina neckSquare neckBallerina neckThis is a high wrap that generally has lessdepth than an ordinary v-neckline. Youwill find it in knitwear or tops.Square neckThis can be found in tops, dresses andoccasionally in knitwear.A horizontal line running acrossthe top of the body will accentuatebroadness and width.Avoid if you have square shoulders.If I were spending time with you, I would find out how you feel aboutyour body and how you have chosen to dress. Then I would set aboutchanging some of the visual boundaries you have cemented in place.I’ve often been told ‘I don’t do girly,’ ‘I’m too big to wear that’ or ‘I don’thave the body for that. ’ These and many other rules we make forourselves need to be gently challenged; further in the book you will seemy responses to the things you tell me.Many women I work with also say how frustrating it is that thefashion industry seems to change its ideas and designs so frequently. Sojust when you have found a style or colour that suits you, you can’t besure of finding it the next season when the new ideas arrive. Similarly,fashion magazines often talk in seasons - telling you one thing oneseason only to change their ideas the next. The fact is, fashioninformation changes every season. There is no other industry I canthink of that puts out a different set of rules every six months. Imaginecookery writers telling you a brand new way to make a cake eachseason with completely different ingredients depending on whichingredients were seasonally approved. Or what about a gardeningmagazine that would recommend you change all the plants in yourgarden each season. It’s that spooky!Yet we receive the fashion industry into our lives on that very basis.Of course change is good and making changes that feel right can beliberating. Feeling like you are forced to make changes, however,is not fun.Caryn Franklin’s How to Look Good 6