How To Fill Your Closet With Plus Size Favorites
Posted by Jen Anderson on
We all have clothes in our closet that are perfectly fine. They make us look good and feel comfortable. But then there are the pieces that make us smile every time we see them. Wouldn't it be great if you felt that way about everything in your closet?
Let's figure out what makes a piece of clothing your favorite so we know what to look for.
It's All About You
We all have different tastes, so I can't point to one piece that everyone will love. The other day I saw a tank top that was the ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life. But it exists, so someone out there must absolutely adore it.
We tend to make gut decisions when we're shopping. When we're browsing and don't have to rush, then that method is fine. But if we can define what makes us love a piece of clothing, then we can browse a lot more quickly and efficiently.
I'll use my own faves as an example, but your results will vary.
What Are Your All Time Favorites?
These may be in your closet right now, or they may be long outgrown or out of style. If you had to name your favorite outfit of all time, what would be in the running? The first clothes I went crazy for were Multiples - a 1980s line of one-size-fits-all (for realsies) spandex separates. (If you don't remember them, here's a profile of the designer.) I loved them because they were the latest thing, which was hard to find in plus sizes until fairly recently. I also loved how comfortable they were.
This tells me that I value comfort and versatility. Vikki Vi Classics reminded me of Multiples the first time I saw them. Not that we have a thingy you could wear as a belt, miniskirt, or tank top. But they're comfortable, versatile pieces that you can mix and match to your heart's content.
I also adored a suit jacket I used to wear to job interviews. It was french blue (totally my color), and had silver-colored toggles instead of buttons. I absolutely adored those toggles. So I should look for unusual details and anything french blue. We've discussed how to figure out if you look better in warm or cool colors, but within those categories, you'll have favorites. You don't want a closet full of the same color, but you don't have to restrict yourself to only one garment in your fave shade.
My current faves are quirky - a Betsey Johnson print dress, a faux-suede fringe vest, my Vikki Vi leopard-print T-Shirt style dress. What this tells me is that as I've aged, my taste has become bolder and maybe a weirder. So this tells us that subtlety is not my thing. My signature style is A Bit Much. That sounds vague, but it's very helpful when I'm shopping - I know to keep my eye out for attention-grabbing pieces. Other women may look right past those garments because they wouldn't be caught dead in them - their brains don't even register their existence. (We've discussed defining your personal style before.)
Fine Tune Your Shopping Strategy
By now you should have a list of qualities that make a piece of clothing your favorite. You may even want to keep this list somewhere you can refer to it before shopping. You probably won't find one thing that has everything you love, which is fine. But this list will help you skim through your options quickly. It's about tossing things into the reject pile as much as it's about looking for what you love.