"I Feel Like a Size 6 Stuck in a Size 12." Common Problem,Good Solutions.

My friends are such good sports. Let's take Jessica here as an example. She just moved to NYC (yea for me) and offered up the idea of doing a blog post on her. "How much fun would it be to go "shopping" and show people how to look fabulous at any size?" Lots of fun.

So we went off to Lord and Taylor yesterday and played a bit of dress up. As the title of this post states, Jessica feels like the fashion world is against her. Why is every awesome piece made for a size 6? Not true Jessica! You too can look amazing! As her friend and fashion teacher, it was time for me to take control.

Jessica came wearing gray pants, a purple sweater, messenger bag and Danskin shoes. The sentence out of her mouth was a long-winded complaint about how annoying her pants were. They were uncomfortable and short. Basically, mama needs some new pants. As for the rest of the look, she already knows how I feel about the shoes.... I tell her all the time:) In all fairness, Jessica has some foot issues and needs to wear VERY comfortable shoes. I let her know that comfort and style can go hand in hand, but that was a large issue for another day/post. We were focusing on clothing here.

First up, a classic and elegant ensemble that has tons of versatility. She can wear this to the office, a dinner date or out for a night of "fancy" cocktails. The simplicity of the look makes it accessible, but the accents on the cardigan and the statement necklace make it fabulous! The sweater dress underneath, by Lily Pulitzer, was an empire waisted sheath. It was a great foundation piece for styling any way I saw fit! The cardigan, by Kate Hill, was a useful piece that can be worn anytime of the day. I simply buttoned two buttons at the empire waist of the dress to accentuate the fact that Jessica has curves. You want to show them off, not cover them with loose clothing! The attention is brought upward though the beading on the cardigan and the statement necklace. For wearability, I would add black tights and a high black boot or black high heel. Curvy and simple.

I love, love, love this outfit. It is cute, it is casual, it is sparkly! It works perfectly on Jessica for a few reasons. The t-shirt underneath has a beaded design directly down the middle. This draws the eye to the center, always a good idea to make anyone look more slender. By pairing it with this gray sweater and wearing it open, the black lines are only accentuating the design of the t-shirt drawing more attention to the middle. Perfect! I added a longer, black tank top underneath to give some length to the shirt. It was just too short and this is a simple way to solve the problem. Adding my favorite color jeans, gray, to this lots 'o gray ensemble was the perfect pick. Jessica needed new jeans and the "Not Your Daughter's Jeans" are the best option for curvy women. I threw on some color with her bracelets to take away from the monochromatic look. They added extra funk and fun.... Lo and behold, daytime chic was born.

Jessica feels hot. This is obvious by the pose change... Plus she told me in the dressing room. Jessica, it is true, you look hot. I love this flashy BCBG top. Every girl wants to sparkle a little no matter what her size! And why should that right be taken away? I hate when I see a room full of doubty clothing just because it is not a size 6. Boo. So I wanted to put Jessica in something that said, "Hey, look at me!" In a good way.... I again used the gray jeans because they looked good and Jessica loved them. I pulled a longer top with movement, yet it still had a shape. You never want to lose your shape when you are a larger size because it makes you look larger! You need to show that there is a body under there. This top was complimentary because it was fitted at the bottom and at the end of the sleeves. The final show stopper was the layered gold necklaces and big gold cocktail ring. As with the gray t-shirt with sparkle detail, I needed to draw the eye to the middle to create a more slender look. Long necklaces do this! They were not overwhelming to the fun shirt, but I wouldn't wear this look before 8pm.

So Jessica, you can look fabulous no matter what your size! Feeling amazing is most of the battle and my dear, you look pretty, damn hot is these outfits. I now send you off to the wolves of New York City, you are ready for your big debut:)