Tricky Tops, Half-Tucks and Other T-Words

After last week's confusion about wilderness women in floaty skirts and boots (the focus on boots) I finally remembered that I actually do have some long skirts that might wish to go out and about in warm weather. After digging around a bit, I found a pair of semi-sheer skirts just asking to be reconsidered for summer. ( Yes, my clothes are as chatty as my shoes.) They were purchased a couple of winters ago to wear with soft sweaters, tights and boots, and I had quite a lot of fun wearing them that way.


But I'd tried them the following summer with lighter tops, and I'd just not been able to make the proportions work. Even shorter tops often look long on me ( I'm both very short and short-waisted) and in average length tops, I tend to look like I'm wearing a tunic-length top anyway, no matter what proportions the designer originally intended. The long skirt with a long top just swallowed me whole. Tucking shirts in the traditional way put the waist up around my armpits and made my whole torso and waist look thicker because of the tucked fabric. Adding a narrow belt to the long tunic just looked like a sack of potatoes tied up with twine.


The advent of that fairly recent and very casual styling tool, the half-tuck, has helped me solve this proportion issue. Since I no longer have a waist-line that cuts straight across, it just narrows the look at the waist. (Yeaaaayyyy to THAT!) The other fairly new styling tool that helps is a wider, slightly tougher-looking belt. It results in a less precious look than the very narrow belts that were everywhere in recent seasons. Just a tiny bit of edge. I should note: I do remember that wider belts have been around forever. So have the skinny ones. What's new about them is that we're wearing them just a little differently.

These tricks are trends, of course, but that's become such a dirty word that I rarely use it. Whether you call them trends, or styling tools, or current ideas, sometimes good ideas that solve problems become widely adopted. Another way to look at a trend is a good idea that a whole lot of women are trying, for better or for worse. Clearly, not all trends are great ones, but I'm for anything that makes my old wardrobe work better and longer for me.


And, I'm happy to know that old dogs can sometimes adopt and adapt new tricks to good effect.

I'm pleased to wear pleats today with Perfectly Pleated Patti's Party, Visible Monday .