A Stylist Shows the Fashion Mistakes Most Women Make With Their Looks

Many women don’t believe in the power of accessories and oftentimes end up ignoring them. However, sometimes one small detail can enhance your best features and make them look much more attractive. In her blog, stylist Irina Ponyakina has visually demonstrated it on herself and proven that there is no such thing as a trifle in fashion.

Together with Irina, we at Bright Side have figured out the most common fashion mistakes, pumped up our skills to combine things, and taken into account the tips that any modern woman will find useful.

Mistake #1. Too many horizontal lines

They split the body into compound parts instead of creating one unified look. In the left photo, it’s an untucked turtleneck, pencil skirt, and ankle boots. The lines cut the look and break the proportions. Moreover, the untucked turtleneck makes the legs look shorter thus breaking the body proportions in general. It’s not for nothing why stylists recommend tucking in tops (blouses, T-shirts, sweaters). Here is what I’ve changed about the look:

• Replaced the skirt. The model I used in the look in the left photo is no longer in style. The skirt’s length is not good — ideally, it should be either above the knee, or like in my case, below the knee. It would be good if the skirt has an asymmetric bottom — it will help us remove one vertical line.
• Tucked the turtleneck into the skirt and added a belt to the look. It restored proportions and made the legs look longer.
• Changed the shoes. Pumps that correspond to the color of the skin visually lengthen the legs.

Mistake #2. Clothes that are too tight

It’s, again, about horizontal lines — the turtleneck, ankle boots, and jeans scrunched around the ankles. All these lines make the body look fatter. Moreover, a frequent mistake that girls with broad hips make is when they wear clothes that are too tight, thus making their hips visually wider.

Let’s correct the mistakes:

• If you have a curvy body shape, but you don’t want to focus on it, then the upper layer like the blazer in my case, might be a good solution.
• It’s necessary to tuck the turtleneck into the jeans.
• And we also need to change the shoes — ankle boots are no longer in style, while jeans scrunched around ankles are extremely outdated and have never made anyone look attractive.

Mistake #3. Voluminous clothes without an accent on the waist

The little details in our look really do play a role in the outcome. Though none of the clothes in my look are outdated, the photo on the left would make any girl look like a square. I didn’t change a single clothing item but pay attention to how different these looks appear. All I did was:

• Tuck the top into the skirt and hence enhanced the waist and the body proportions, as well as made my legs look longer.
• Exposed the wrists thus making the overall look more feminine and light.

Mistake #4. Breaking the body’s proportions

The first image looks really boring and out of proportion, which makes the body seem almost longer than the legs. Here is how I corrected it:

• Changed the shoes for high-heeled ones, to make my legs look longer. By the way, if you opt for shoes in the same color as your pants or tights, your legs will seem longer — it’s true!!!
• Unbuttoned several buttons on the shirt to make my neck look longer and make my look more flirty and feminine.
• Rolled up the sleeves of my shirt to show my thin wrists. It gave a lightness to my look and made me look slimmer.
• Added accessories to make the overall look more interesting. That could be a bright red bag or a black hat, if you want to stay away from bright details. Both tips work well.
• Corrected proportions. You can either enhance the waist with the help of a belt and keep the shirt buttoned up. Or you can unbutton the shirt thus creating a vertical line in your look if you don’t like belts and don’t want to create a focus on your waist. This trick will help you look slimmer. In this case, it’s better to go for a shirt that matches the shade of the trousers.

Mistake #5. Flimsy jersey

• Many women are not ready to say goodbye to flimsy cardigans. The good thing is that they can be worn but only as an inner layer. The same rule applies to turtlenecks.
• For the top layer, I opted for a trendy eco-leather shirt. Most often I wear things like this unbuttoned — it creates an extra vertical line in my look and elongates the body.
• You are probably aware that long cardigans and very short ones are quite trendy nowadays. In the photo, you can see well how bad a hip-length cardigan or a cardigan that’s a little bit lower than the hips looks. It makes the woman look shorter, her hips become wider, and her legs become shorter too.
• Regarding skirts: many girls refuse to tuck sweaters, turtlenecks, or cardigans into them. I am confused every time I see this. My example shows the difference very well. The skirt elongates legs and makes the silhouette more balanced. Even if you have a protruding belly, a wide belt will hide it perfectly.
• Light-colored shoes will make the overall look lighter.

Mistake #6. Closed look

You can see how the same dress, which thanks to small and seemingly insignificant details, looks so different.

• Never button up all buttons on the dress (of course, if they are even there). Slightly opening up the neck is a good option because this trick will make the neck look longer and the overall look — more relaxed.
• I like belts a lot, but I don’t like the belts that come together with dresses when you buy them. The reason is quite simple — a belt makes the look more interesting and finished, while the option with a belt matching the color of your dress is oftentimes lackluster and not interesting.
• In order to make the look more airy and light, you can slightly roll up the sleeves and expose the wrists.
• As for the shoes, my advice stays the same — light shoes are more preferable than dark ones.

It’s all about the accessories.

• In this picture, I have unbuttoned several buttons of my eco-leather shirtdress and enhanced my waist with the help of a black belt, having also made my legs look longer. This effect is not there when I use the belt that goes together with the shirtdress.

• The blue dress in the picture above looks loose. It’s actually not bad alone, but it’s better to enhance the waist with the help of a belt. It made my look more collected and enhanced all my strong features despite the fact that the dress is closed. In the right picture, I created a vertical line with the help of an unbuttoned shirt.

• The look on the left is good for pregnant women. The look with the belt looks more balanced.

• The look with the black belt is very beautiful. However, the red belt matching the color of the lipstick makes it more memorable.

• All looks have the right to exist. But the second and third look in the pics above draw more attention. The belt on the dress creates a focus on the waist, while the accessories (the hat and the red bag) add interesting accents.

• Here is a very nice pajama-style suit. However, we don’t want it to look like pajamas. This can be easily solved with the help of a belt.

• Here is another example with a dress: the jacket helped me create a vertical line and the belt helped enhance my body shape.

• And again — a belt on the dress made the overall look more balanced.

• The belt created a focus on my waist and made me look slimmer. The blazer created a vertical line.

• This dress resembles a nightgown. However, the belt and the jacket made it look festive.

• This violet outfit is very nice, but it’s the belts that help the look seem more put together.

• A simple black dress looks boring. The peplum and bright accessories make the look very interesting.

• Here is a good visual example of how much better a correctly chosen belt looks. The belt that came as a set does its work poorly. Pay attention to unbuttoned buttons. I also created a look where the shirt-style dress plays the role of a duster — a light summer trench.

Which of these tips are you going to use in your looks?