Fashion Fridays: Dress to your Figure

There are styles that I flirt with, even though I know it will never have a happy ending. There are styles I hate, such as androgynous, rocker, and 1920s, and so it doesn't matter much to me that those don't work on my body type. But I've sort of...fallen for "prep" recently. It starts with an item, an idea, and turns into a lust and soon I have a gluttonous amount of themed blogs on my Chrome tabs. My heart says yes, you do want to order just one embroidered pink/green ribbon key fob but my mind mind says, sorry love, you know it is not meant to be. Le sigh.

Prep is a style that is inherently for men. After however long, women caught onto the mens style and eventually stores began tailoring to them. However, the silhouettes are still formulated to look best on a body that lacks the err... defining points of femininity. Blazers? Made for men. Polos? Made for men. Bermuda shorts? Do I even have to say it? Even the shoes that go with the look don't "do" anything for a feminine figure. Smoking slippers, boat shoes, bean boots... Naturally, women have "overcome" this situation by just having the products made in girly colors like pink, green, yellow, etc. Some designers (ahem) Lilly Pulitzer, put all the colors onto one item. Granted, there are dresses, skirts, espadrilles which would in theory look quite smashing on a girl. However, the dresses are often not figure-hugging (which undoubtedly would make any women with a good hip-to-waist ratio look larger) and the skirts are mini, which as we all know look best on long, less-than-curvy legs.

It is all lipstick on a pig. It is also water under the bridge. I don't have the shape and I don't have the coloring; pastel pink and green on a "winter"? Hello?! Even if I did manage to find a preppy navy blue dress and have it tailored to my shape, it would wind up being more "Marilyn" and less "Muffy."

If you can pull this look off, go for it. The items are expensive, but well-made. Preps appreciate items that have obviously grown with someone. There is a certain romance about a well-worn Sperry Topsider. I leave you with a humorous video, which will attempt to re-brighten the mood after that somewhat pessimistic piece.