Walk on Wide Side

I hope you have enjoyed my experiment with breaking my personal style rules this week.

Certain lines and silhouettes look better on each body type. That doesn't mean you have to wear the same thing every day, but it is nice to know why some combinations look great on your body and others, not so much.

I rarely wear wide-leg pants because they turn me into a huge rectangle. I need the slimmer silhouette of straight leg, more narrow fitting pants, but I couldn't resist this unique style by Clara Sunwoo. These pants are made from the same very comfortable soft, flattering knit as the tunics you see me wear so often in warm weather.

This is the look I wore to brunch on Sunday at the Grove Park Inn. I attempted to make my top half look as neat and compact as possible to balance with the fullness of this fuller flowing pant style.

Photo from the Clara Sunwoo website.

There is a little tie wrap detail across the front so that you don't even realize they are pants until I walk or see me from the back. NOTE: If you order these pants, please size down. They do run large. I am wearing an extra small.

I wore them with my shortest tightest fitting white jacket over a slim fitting Chico's white tank top fully tucked in to balance the fullness. The white biker style jacket is from White House Black Market.

A key styling trick to remember is to balance the proportions of the top with the bottom. Two long flowing items worn together are rarely flattering on me. I find the looks that combine a narrow item with a wider item to be the most successful.

I want to share a safety note about wide-leg pants and long skirts. Stiletto heels are NOT a good idea with these items! The heels might get tangled in the fabric as you attempt to gracefully glide down the stairs. (Hmmm, could this be the voice of experience?) It is much safer and more balanced to wear these longer, fuller shapes with flats, platforms, or block heel shoes. 

This is the perfect pant silhouette for the pear-shaped body because it flows across your bottom half while bringing attention to your slimmer upper body.

Those cute little black and white flats I didn't know for sure that I would ever wear got a lot of "airtime" this week. They are by Circa Joan & David from Saks Off 5th. The gunmetal box clutch is old from T.J.Maxx.