Now you have a few pieces for the bottom half, let’s start looking at some tops. I personally find one of the most essential pieces to be a white button up shirt with a collar. Made from crisp cotton fabric or a cotton blend. There are lots of fitted styles available, or you if you may prefer, something with a little more room.
Sleeve length – hmm, short sleeve for summer and long for winter; an interesting thing you can do with the cuff on the sleeve is to unbutton and fold it back onto the sleeve. Standing the collar up also makes the look a little more interesting.
Vary it for different looks.
With the short sleeve, when trying on, look at where the end of the sleeve sits. Make sure it is a flattering part of your arm, not the widest!
Another point is; can you move your arms freely or does the shirt hold you like a brace?
Do the buttons do up securely with no gaping, especially around the breasts?! No matter how pretty your bra is, you don’t want to play peek-a-boo!
Oh, and while talking about bras under white shirts, PLEASE!! Make sure it’s skin colour.
Tucked in or out??
Depends on your shape, I have an hourglass figure (big boobs, small waist, big hips) and I find tucked in makes my hips look even bigger, so I prefer to wear my tops out. Tucked in, if I’m wearing a vest or jacket.
Experiment, looking at all views in the mirror. Ask a trusted friend for an honest opinion, if you are not sure.
What colouring are you? We used to have our colours done depending on if your skin tone is warm (orange base) or cool (blue base).
No I’m not saying you look orange or blue but really look at your skin in a good light to see which way you swing. A good way to test this is to put warm colours against your skin (eg: mustard, orange, cream, brown) and see if it’s complimentary. For cool colours put black, white or clear red.
All colours vary and there are many shades of each individual colour. Even blacks can be different when put next to each other. Anyhow – choose your most flattering colour palette and add some beautiful tops to your wardrobe in plain or beautiful prints (eg: spots, stripes, flowers, tribal).
P.S. Oh, and don’t forget you can soak your white garments in Napisan or some other similar product; usually easy to reach on the shelf, so no excuses to talk to that handsome stranger! (damn)
