Anna Murphy, fashion director at The Times, wants to encourage women to break out of their clothing comfort zones with her new book, How Not To Wear Black.
She says: “It’s so easy to see fashion as a problem, something to stress about getting right and worry that you might be getting wrong. I think fashion can — and should — be the opposite.
“The book is a practical guide to dressing your best self — to expressing yourself and flattering your body through what you wear.”
Get a head-start by following Anna’s tips in our extracts below.
How to clear out your wardrobe
FIRST, we need to get rid of those “bits and pieces” that are getting in the way. Take everything out and sort into six piles:
Then go through each pile and ask:
- Does it fit me now?
- Might it fit me in the next six months?
- Do I look good when I wear it?
- Do I feel good when I wear it?
- Is it a duplicate of another item?
- Does it have sentimental value?
If the answer is not yes to at least four questions, get rid of it. Hang everything else back on your rails. For six months, every time you take something out of your wardrobe, turn the hanger the other way around. By the end you will have evidence as to what you don’t wear.
The seven shapes
THERE are seven main shapes: The neat hourglass, the full hourglass, the triangle, the inverted triangle, the column, the rectangle and the rounded.
Colour, pattern, and embellishment are going to draw attention to the section of the body where they are worn.
Trick the eye into thinking the big bits are smaller, the small bits bigger, and that the relationship between the two is proportional. Never swamp a part of your body that you feel is too large. When in doubt, skim.
A tapered pencil skirt, for example, can look great on someone with bigger hips, so long as there’s something on the top half that adds balancing emphasis on the shoulders.
The towel test
STAND in front of that long mirror of yours and hold a regular towel by the two top corners of one of the shorter sides, the opposite side lightly touching the floor.
Now lift the towel gradually upwards, looking at your lower legs as they are revealed. There will be two point of elevations at which – hey, presto! – your pins look their prettiest.
Those are the skirt lengths for you. The expensive brands have always been well aware of the power of the long skirt, but the more affordable brands are finally waking up to it too.
Never buy a skirt that is too short, but by all means buy too long, then get it altered.
The flourish equation
MANY of us are afraid of colour and pattern. Don’t be. Pick the right patterned piece and it will help you not just by changing your game, but by changing your shape.
If your top half is larger than your lower, focus the flourishing on skirts and trousers. If it is the other way round, and you are a triangle, then flourish via a jacket, blouse or knit. If you are pretty much in proportion, then take your pick – flourish as you see fit.
Patterns are your friend
- Roll neck jumper, £16, Principles at Debenhams – buy now
- Leopard skirt, £35, M&S – buy now
- Floral shirt, £25.99, Zara – buy now
- Maroon trousers, £38, Next – buy now
If in doubt wear a dress
WHY do some of us still consider a frock to be a special-occasion thing, rather than an everyday thing? If you buy a frock that is right, the job is done, once and for all.You put it on. You look good. Separates are easier to get wrong. Trousers that work well with one top can be unflattering with another. And don’t get me started on skirts. A minefield.
Everyone looks good in a button-through style. A skirt-length that emphasises one of the slimmest parts of your figure – namely your lower calves and ankles – is often the most flattering.
Flattering dresses for any shape
- Orange, £45, Topshop – buy now
- Pink leopard print, £24.99, New Look – buy now
- Black floral, £50, River Island – buy now
If you do wear a LBD
DON’T panic. I am not going to tell you to swear off black. Buy well and the so-called LBD is the ultimate ever-after piece. Always animate your beloved LBD by way of look-at-me jewellery and/or shoes and/or bag and/or make-up, be it a statement lip or smoky eye.
When it comes to make-up, never overdo it with both a strong lip and eye. Do one or the other.
Plus, again, go for glam make-up and relaxed hair, or relaxed make-up and glam hair, not both.
What’s great about the LBD is that it offers a kind of blank canvas, which you can then ornament as you see fit.
How to dress-up a standard LBD
- Zebra print heels, £69, Office – buy now
- Earrings, £17.99, Mango – buy now
- Bag, £49, Accessorize – buy now
- How Not To Wear Black by Anna Murphy, DK, £16.99
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