Dressing Your Best Week: Ahoy, Toned Abs and Arms!

 Draft:

Earlier Drafts:

Oh, have we met, linen skirt?

We're in cahoots, nudie shoesies.  

Composition:

Breton Stripe tee (H&M)
linen skirt (H&M)
braided leather belt (Target)
red patterned scarf (snagged during La Merce in Barcelona)
nude suede heels (Seychelles)

Usage:
This week Liz, Katie, and I are excited to participate in Academichic's Dress Your Best Week!  We're cooking up outfits which flatter our best attributes, and we encourage you to join our feel-good fashion fest.  Last week, in preparation, Academichic readers contributed lists of five favorite features*.  Here's my list:

1. complexion
2. toned shoulders and arms
3. small ankles
4. clavicle bones
5. flat stomach

There they are, the motivators of my private fist-pumping.  Behold.  Admittedly, it feels awkward to boast about my body, but I'm encouraged by the exercise.  If I so readily own my flaws, why not own my features as well?

Today I'm also thrilled to hop aboard the Breton Stripes boat hosted by What I Wore.  For a complete roll call of Jessica Schroeder's nautically-bedecked readers, stop by her notable blog!

Luckily, the two sartorial themes - Dressing my best and dressing Breton - have converged on the very day I had hoped to celebrate my arms and my stomach.  Over the weekend, I struggled to compose ensembles which highlighted these attributes.  After scouring my closet, I realized many of my tops, like this one, include detailing which detracts from my middle.  I have to confess: I typically use fabric to beef up my figure, to give the illusion of a curvier body.  I don't often wear body-hugging silhouettes precisely because I think my frame is too boyish.  To compound my Dress Your Best predicament, I felt stumped by the question of dressing 'tastefully' (the cultural definition of which likely merits a separate post).  I asked myself, how can I feature my abs in a sophisticated way?

Then I remembered one of Liz's posts challenged the perception that narrower equals more flattering.  She contended that a woman should embrace low-slung belts and horizontal stripes specifically because those garments highlight her hips and abs and breasts.  I'm not curvy, I thought, but wearing horizontal stripes might serve my purpose, too.  Casting a visual line across my body - rather than down my body - might draw attention to the stomach and arms I love so much.  And choosing a tee of the cap-sleeved variety would further showcase my arms.  (Is it just me, or do women cover their arms all too often?)

I won't lie.  While sporting this outfit, I felt proud of my body.  Why don't I wear horizontal stripes more often?  Perhaps, as Katie suggests, the "no horizontal stripes" rule is another one I should revisit.  I might benefit from assessing whether or not it works for my own figure, rather than presuming its universal application.


Prompts:

• What's your take on the "no horizontal stripes" rule?  Always a no-go?  Depends on the person?
• Do you think this outfit accomplishes my goal?  Would you have styled it differently?
• What do you like about your own body?  Hop aboard the Dress Your Best Week train!

*For a directory of Dress Your Best Week participants and links to their personal lists, visit Academichic's run-down here.