Shorts, which are totally fashionable this summer, are a versatile staple that can easily be dressed up or down with a shrewd choice of tops and accessories. Plus, even if they are by nature quite an informal garment, when carefully chosen and paired they can be used also for more formal settings still delivering an impeccable outcome.
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If you want to get flattering results, though, some caution is necessary in order to achieve a getup that’s sophisticated – while at the same time enhancing your figure.
If you wish to make your silhouette look thinner and taller, for instance, it’s better to avoid using contrasting colors for shorts and tops, because this would divide your figure in two, thus making you look shorter.
As you can see in the picture below on the left, this is particularly true when picking out tops that are similar, in tone, to your skin tone, as this makes your bust look longer and your legs comparatively shorter.
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Excerpt from my book 101 Ways to Look Slimmer and Taller (available on Amazon.com)
Conversely, on the right, the choice of colors that have the same hue makes the silhouette look slimmer.
An all-white (or light-colored) outfit flatters the silhouette and gives the appearance of a thinner figure. Thanks to the bronzed skin, the legs and arms look thinner, whereas the contrast with the white garments makes the whole silhouette look even slimmer.
Also, wearing all white is undeniably a timeless classic outfit, always chic and up to date.
In general, the best choice for a slimming, flattering result when pairing your favorite shorts to a top is choosing items of the same color, or in hues that are quite similar.
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Though, if you love playing with contrasts, a pairing that usually delivers a lovely outcome is matching a light-colored top with similarly light-colored shoes and dark-colored shorts (as in the picture below). This pairing, aside from being stylish, usually enhances the silhouette thanks to the matching colors in the upper and lower body.
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You can also obtain impeccable results picking out a piece made from some printed fabric. As opposed to what happens with trousers, that should preferably be solid color if you want to make your legs look slimmer and longer, this is not the case with shorts, as printed or fancy shorts can indeed enhance your figure in a totally safe way.
This is mostly true when talking about checkered prints that, for an optical effect, usually have a slimming outcome on all body types.
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When picking out striped shorts, pay attention that their design is not formfitting – otherwise, instead of lengthening your figure, they would do just the opposite (shorts as those in the picture above, for instance, assure faultless results).
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The perfect pairing, as usual, is with light-colored shoes and tops (or shirts), so as to maximize the lengthening effect.
Now on to the choice of the most suitable styles and designs, nowadays the choice is practically endless, which means that you can always find the pattern most suitable for your figure. Though, as there are also some very trendy designs that can be not exactly flattering, your choice must always be an attentive one – and in the next post, we’ll see how.
