Quick Fix - Styling Size 14+
A series of short, to-the-point chats with the industries best. No intro, no small talk, no wasting your time, just the answers you want & need to ensure you feel, be & look your best.
With People & Places Stylist, Sara Hatten-Masterson
EC. I would love to debunk and clear up some of the confusion with regards to styling outfits for women size 14+. Some of the things that I often hear as a Stylist, is that you can't and shouldn't be tucking tops, you can't wear oversized pieces or you shouldn't choose clothes that include too much volume such as pleats). You do and wear all of these things so very well, so let’s chat about it …
SHM. There's two things that really matter when you're thinking about what you can and can't wear -
1. What is your style and what do you feel confident in?
2. Are there parts of your body that you don't feel great about being on show?
For me, I very rarely do a full tuck, I do a French tuck instead. I often wear a shirt tucked at the front but I would never wear a bodysuit with jeans (because I don’t like the look of a bodysuit when I turn sideways). Ladies that are quite flat in the tummy, yet curvy, full in the bust & full in the hips, look great with a full tuck because it allows their shape to be shown, but also because it's more flattering. You want clothes that skim over the body, rather than hide whatever your widest body part is. So, if you're full in the bust and you're wearing something full that doesn't have any shape, then your entire body will look full and wider than it is. Of course, and at the end of the day, it always comes back to - if you feel good in it, then you wear it!
There's so many “rules” but when it comes to fashion, the best fun is often breaking the rules.
EC. When you say ‘French tuck’, you're talking about an effortless half tuck at the front, aren't you?
SHM. Yes, or sometimes if I'm wearing a collared shirt, then I might leave a few bottom buttons undone and tuck one half only. It just plays with the proportions. When everything is tucked, sometimes you feel shorter and when you feel shorter, you feel more full, right?! So by playing around with proportions and dimensions, it makes me feel better about myself. Also, if I'm wearing a jacket, I don't want it to feel like I've just put on 12 pieces of clothing without any thought or consideration. I do want it to feel a little bit structured and put together, so you have to play and tweak a few things to make the outfit work.
EC. It's all about experimenting with the tuck. I know we're talking about a simple tuck here, and I know for some, this may seem really superficial and unimportant, but there are many different ways to tuck a t-shirt, shirt or knit and make it look great on your body shape but also divert attention away from certain areas on your body that you don't feel like having on show. A tuck is the single best way to do that …
SHM. I don't love tucking a t-shirt, but I will often twist the t-shirt at the back so that when I turn sideways, you’ll see the skirt for example and then the line of the t-shirt. It's about playing and experimenting until you like how an outfit looks, then I just replicate that all the time.
When I'm with my clients, I show them this “trickery” because I love fashion and I love getting dressed. I do take the time to play and experiment so I have that sense of what works and what doesn't and then I share that with my clients, which I'm sure you do with your clients too.
EC. It's all smoke and mirrors. It's the tiny little tweaks, that make the biggest difference. What about oversized pieces? You wear a lot of oversized shirts and you wear them untucked, don’t you?
SHM. Yes, I do with a wide trouser/ pant. If you're going loose and oversized, there has to be some structure with your outfit. So typically when I wear an oversized shirt, I like to have a big cuff so that it looks & feels like there's some tailoring or some structure in the outfit and then the rest of the outfit looks easy & effortless. Then normally, I'll wear a wide leg trouser, but I will take the length to the floor, so that what I lose in width, I gain by creating the illusion of long legs and I might even add a platform sneaker to exaggerate this. Again, it’s all about balance. If I leave a collar undone or if I’m wearing a less structured top, I feel a bit messy and it bothers me all day.
EC. You wear pleated skirts beautifully … so many of my clients are scared of pleats. What's the secret?
SHM. There's a couple of secrets -
1. Ensure the pleats aren't too wide. You want a knife pleat, not a box pleat (a pleat that falls away from the body into that soft a-line shape). This means it’ll sit flat over the tummy and then the pleats flare out.
2. I would never wear a big oversized shirt untucked with a pleated skirt. It's just too much width. I would either tuck the front or the shirt, leave the back out or I'd wear a t-shirt then tuck, twist and knot it, but I'd throw a blazer over that too. In Summer, I love a pleated skirt with a t-shirt. If 'm seeing clients or I'm doing a consult, I’ll throw on a blazer as well. Blazers are my answer to everything.
It's all about balancing that volume with pieces that are a bit more structured and feel more polished & put together. Length is important too. Pleated & short can make you look really full around the hips/ bottom whereas if you wear a mid-length skirt, you then have the option to do a flat or a heel, it can be casual or corporate + you don't have to tan (you don't even have to shave if you don't want to!) but by wearing a longer pleat, the vertical lines give the illusion of height and make you feel really good.
EC. What I'm hearing is that you’ve found success dressing your body shape and size by combining structure and fluidity. You wouldn't wear two fluid pieces on the top and bottom nor would you wear two structured pieces on the top and bottom - you break that structure up with something loose and flowy? Is that right?
SHM. Correct! There's lots of oversized suiting around which I love. I love wearing a loose floaty, boho-style dress too but I think the difference in a dress is that you've got that connection from head to toe. You're not visually breaking the body up into different sections by wearing different colours, prints and fabrics.
I would rarely do a black trouser with a white shirt. I would however do a pink trouser with a red shirt so that the colours are closely related. Anything that makes you look shorter, makes you look wider.
The most important thing is what people see when they're communicating with you, which is really from the boobs up. So, I always wear big earrings and have a great collar too. I love the contrast between hard and soft, feminine and masculine. I use those contrasts when building my own wardrobe.
EC. What is your favourite retail brand/ store?
SHM. I love all the retail stores, but at the moment, I am loving Witchery because they've recently extended their sizing down to a 4 and up to a size 20, but in that process they actually completely re-cut their patterns across all sizes and it's made a huge difference to the product and the majority of women that it now fits. It’s been a sell out because you know what we want as women? For you and I to be able to go to the same shop and buy the same thing if we like it. It's not about having a special collection, just for curvy people - I want to wear a great pant, a great blazer, a beautiful dress. I want that perfect t-shirt too. I want to be able to get the same things that everyone else can get with the same ease.
I love independent Australian brands, so if you're in the more curvy market, I love Harlow. If you want something a little bit more frivolous, like a party dress, you can't go past ASOS. A lot of my blazers come from a French brand called ‘The Frankie Shop’.
EC. Would you say then that ASOS is your favourite online brand/ store?
SHM. ASOS for when I just want something that's a bit more trend-based. If I want more of an investment piece, I would shop at The Iconic.
EC. What’s your favourite outfit combination?
SHM. Definitely a trouser - the wider and higher, the better. I love a trouser with an oversized shirt, but I also love it with something a little more silky & soft (or a beautiful cashmere knit!) That’s my favourite with a sneaker - I love everything with a sneaker …
EC. What is your favourite thing about fashion?
SHM. The fact that every season had 8 trends. Now, there are no trends and what I love the most is that you can just wear what you want and I love sharing that excitement with people. It’s the ability for personal expression through the power of colour & the clothes that you choose. You can be whoever you want to be.
EC. And finally, given you’re also a nurse - sequins or scrubs?
SHM. Well, if I could have sequin scrubs that would be really good!
Follow Sara Hatten-Masterson on Instagram - @sarajane_style