Of course, I am the supersize woman who wears bright colors, short skirts and dresses, has fuschia hair and just loves wild clothes. My very favorite shirt right now is a tank sleeved, white background with a wild, huge flower pattern on it. I adore it and always get compliments on it.

Other than that, I try to get stuff that isn’t too loose, but not skin tight. Like everyone else has said, fit above all else. I’m not a huge stripe fan,but it’s more personal preference than fashion don’t. I also don’t wear much black anymore. I had a friend point out that I look much better in dark brown than black and when I checked in the mirror, by golly he was right.

Other than that, I don’t have too many rules. Go with what you like and what’s comfortable, be open to good constructive criticism from folks who’s style you like. When in doubt, just try it on. You never know, often the things that look worst on the hanger look best on the body. That’s how I roll.

I avoid whites/cream colors because 1) they aren’t that flattering and 2) I grew up as a child addicted to markers and paint, so I would inevitably ruin any white clothing I owned.

I’m playing around more with less “hide my body” clothes. I grew up being told that I should go for empire waists to hide my belly while flattering the bodice. While I do stick to this rule in some of my shirts, I am doing more experimenting with high-waisted skirts, slimmer shirts, etc. to try and wear clothes slim to my belly without accentuating it.

And I think there is no such thing as fashion do/don’ts for the whole plus community. While we get almost entirely ignored by the rest of the fashion world, we can’t be lumped together- what looks awesome on one plus lady could look horrible on another. We are all varying shapes and sizes and each have different appearances we wish to portray. Still, its fun to share tips and get ideas.

I don’t wear short skirts because of my thunder thighs and I don’t wear saggy jeans. I also avoid blazers because of my wide shoulders—I look like Frankenstein’s monster. I also don’t do sleeveless or tanks, cap sleeves is as short as I go in summer. But my big fashion no-no is wearing pajamas as actual clothes. You’ll never see me wearing Spongebob pajama bottoms outside of the house (and I don’t even own a pair).

I do wear lots of twinsets and cardigans in fall and winter. I do short-sleeve shrugs over sleeveless, tanks and camis. I’m a huge fan of dark denim, which you can dress up or dress down.

Don’ts:

pleated pants– so unflattering
highwaisted pants– they make my but look hyoooge. Also just not comfortable.
ruffles/ fussy details/ sequins/ beading etc
tops with a band at the bottom
bright colors– they don’t flatter my coloring
busy patterns
tapered jeans. ICK!!
skinny heels– they look silly on me. I need more substantial heels to balance my legs.

Does:
boot cut jeans: they balance my curves
wide legged pants
skinny jeans in dark colors with cute flats or tucked into my tall boots
tall boots
A-line or pencil skirts with tall boots
empire waists– they flatter my boobs.
deep V and scoop necks– also flatter my boobs
clothes fit. Hem the pants so they don’t drag, but not too short. Take the waist in if it gaps in back

A theory I’ve come across to explain this, that isn’t discussed in the article, is that horizontal stripes invite the eye to count and measure them up and down, not horizontally. There is nothing to judge width by in a horizontal stripe as the stripe is uniform across the body. On the other hand vertical stripes enable the eye to measure and count across and this makes the body look wider.

Personally I happily wear both horizontal and vertical stripes simply because I like the look of them, not to create some desperate visual illusion. Honestly, people are hardly going to mistake me for Miranda Kerr just because I’m wearing stripy tights.