Classic Cuts and Body Shapes

When talking about how to dress and style yourself, that old conversation usually pops up about defining your body shape. Every time anyone brings up this topic I automatically think of a fantastic tweet by cartoonist Gemma Correll which pokes fun at baiting articles and magazines that hope to reveal some amazing life hack about your body that will be a balm to all your styling insecurities. It totally took the air out of labelling your body as anything more than something rad that deserves a hug. The tweet contained the below cartoon.

Image from Gemma Correll’s twitter.

This cartoon fills me with glee every time I see it. I have personally felt like ‘broken slinky’ and ‘existential nothingness’ before, and I recall dressing as ‘whatever this is?’ last New Year in a designer dress for a sixties party. Knowing your shape isn’t a life hack that’s going to help you dress yourself to look like you have a ‘whatever-society-currently-thinks-is-ideal’ body. It’s most often used as a methodical way of approaching personal style e.g. ‘I want to look like I have longer legs, so I’m going to wear this’ or ‘I love every inch of my toosh, so I’m going to get all high waisted and tight fitting and Beyonce in your face’. It also has a handy use for shopping online, or in store.

@lianasmooz of Finding Femme with mini Diana lomography camera, navy beret, navy suede Modcloth heels and Megan dress by @karinadresses.

Making furry friends #lifegoals

When I shop in store, I know what I like and I also know what usually doesn’t work on me. There’s no point handing over money for clothes that don’t fit. I also despise trying on clothes. Me and changing rooms are not friends. I know what to look for before I decide to go into the fitting rooms. I have solid legs from the knees up. I go in at the middle. I have a petite bust and round upper arms. Because of the contrast between my bust, waist and hips, I don’t go for straight slip dresses because if they fit me in the shoulders/bust, they won’t fit me in the hips. I have to be wary of tops with short sleeves because they tend to cut off the circulation in my upper arms, and tend to get stuck when I’m trying them on. This results in me, entangled in a top/dress flapping around a fitting room like I’ve come down with a zombie virus and a dislocated shoulder (if you wondered how one might achieve the body shape of broken slinky mentioned in the cartoon above, now you know). The majority of my shopping I do online so I have to play close attention to what is going to fit me and what won’t. This is especially the case when you have to think about the cost of returning an item by international post.

Anyhoo, this brand (Karina Dresses) has a handy body shape guide with their sizing guide. This tells you which dresses will fit a particular body shape. They have several dress styles and you pick from the ones you like, and then you pick a dress from totally unique vintage fabric in that style. All the dresses are hand made in the USA. According to their ‘best fit‘ shape I’m a triangle (which is the same as a pyramid, so yeah, I’m going to cash in and say I’m capturing some hot Cleopatra vibes). This was ace because I really liked their Megan dress. It’s got a combination of delicious things I like: little feminine sleeves, nipped in waist, loose skirt, extra comfy bust. If you like that too, then you should also check out the Trudy style. If you don’t know where to start, look at the best fit page and it will help you find the dresses that will be comfortable and elegant on you. If you’re busty, you will love this cut! I love the full skirt so I put a petticoat on underneath to make the skirt sit out and to keep me warm.

Beret: MYER –

Dress c/o Karina Dresses –

Shoes: Modcloth –

Crocheted brooch and camera from my buddy Cath –

Photos: Stu

When this dress arrived and I saw the huge flower on the front, I asked my buddy Cath to crochet me a poppy brooch to wear with it. She made me two! We’re both students at the moment, I’m studying literature and history, and she’s studying economics (check out her blog here). She procrastibakes and crochets, so often asks for little projects to distract herself, and she brings me cookies at work. When I dropped in to see her last week for tea and cat hugs (her cat Kim is the most adorable cat out) she got out this camera which I’m having so much fun with. Can’t wait to get the film developed to see how I have gone. It’s been a long time since I’ve used a film camera.