Dressing to disguise a bit of a belly - WearsMyMoney (2024)

Last week Iasked you what your body hang-ups are and whether you’d like some ideas on how to dress around them. The absolutely overwhelming number-one issue was ‘dressing to disguise abit of abelly’. This came from various concerns: ‘meno-waist, aka middle-age spread’, ‘pot-belly problems’and ‘post-birth belly’. Iknow we should all be embracing our body shapes and loving ourselves as we are but, come on, everyone has apart of themselves that they are not happy with and would like to hide. Icould list alot of things I’m not particularly enamoured with about my appearance, but we’d be here all day so let’s focus on the stomach area, as that’s something Itoo have learnt how to deal with over the years and worked out how to dress to hideit.

I used to call it the ‘mum tum’; now Icall it the ‘peri-meno muffin top’. Before Ihit 30 and had children, Iwas abig fan of atummy-baring top. Icould do bodycon until the cows came home. Iwouldn’t say Ihad washboard abs, but Ihad areasonably flat stomach and, frankly, Itook it for granted. Since then, I’ve tried to get rid of it, and Ieven go to the gym now FFS (who even am I?), but it’s clear it’s not going to disappear anytime soon. Middle-age spread is real. So is adeep love of cheese that I’m not prepared to giveup.

I should make clear at this point that I’m not atrained stylist, so these are just things that work for me and they may not work for everyone. I’m not formally trained at anything, although Idid once have half aday’s training session behind the bar at the Hammersmith Odeon before Istartedwork there in the early 90s. Icould probably still pull 12 pints in four minutes AND upsell you aSolero and apacket of Butterkist to go with them. Life skillz.

TAILORED / WIDE LEG TROUSERS

The key is the word ‘tailored’. These trousers should fit you properly, sit on your waist and not pinch. One rule of mine is ‘if in doubt, size up’: clothes too big are ALWAYS better than clothes too small. Remember it’s the fit and not the size on the label that matters. There’s so much disparity in sizes on the high street, so please don’t be disheartened if your usual size doesn’t work. Nothing makes your stomach look worse than half of it spilling over the top of your trousers.

For those whose problem area is their thighs, look for wide-leg trousers as they’ll help balance out your proportions, as opposed to skinny or tapered legs that will accentuate and make you look apple-shaped. Also, shorter ladies – don’t be disheartened if your trousers are too long, as most good dry cleaners will have an alteration service. Mine does hems for about £15. Worth it if you’re going to get the best use out of your strides.

1. Whistles black square necktop

2. Arket oversized wool hopsack blazer

3. Cos high waisted wide leg trousers

4. APC Rosette smooth leatherbelt

5. Veja velcro strap leather trainers (use code KATE15 for 15%off)

PERFECTING THE FRENCHTUCK

One of my top tips for giving the illusion of not having ameno-belly is the ‘French tuck’. You can do this with aT‑shirt or shirt – you just need to tuck it in at the front and pull it over abit. It helps to define the waist area even if you don’t really have much of awaist area.

Make sure you have ashirt or top with enough length to do this. Agood, loose-fitting collared shirt works best. You can leave it loose at the back and just tuck asmall section in at the front. This is also agood one for ladies with bigger boobs: wearing an open shirt unbuttoned at the top over avest or bralet will be more flattering than ahigh-neck blouse or T‑shirt.

1. TU khaki green crinkle overshirt

2. White Stuff Carrie cotton blend shacket

3. Arket straight cut poplin trousers

4. APC cotton shopper totebag

5. Ivy Ellis vintage sport cottonsocks

6. Veja Rio Branco suede and mesh trainers

HIGHER WAISTEDJEANS

This is one Iwould never have tried afew years ago. Higher-waisted jeans can be tricky. They are not for everyone, but find agood pair and they will hold you in like amodern-day corset, and without the need for amanservant to lace up your whalebone. Low-rise jeans just don’t work for the larger stomachs – they are the main offenders when it comes to muffintop.

Talking of muffin top, Ihave to mention the power of good underwear. High-waisted knickers are amust for me. Icannot recommend these Amazon ones enough. Light control, they just smooth you out abit and make clothes look better.

1. &Other Stories relaxed fit tshirt

2. Slip xAlice + Olivia silk hair scrunchies

3. Aligne Giana short sleeve denimshirt

4. Whistles barrel leg high waistjeans

5. Ganni printed recycled leather totebag

6. Ganni leather jewel loafers

SEMI — FITTED DRESSES

You could go for abuffet dress, but Iknow that, if you have boobs, they can hang off your top half and make you look even bigger, so the best dresses to look for are ones that have slightly more fit up top and then flow out loosely just above the stomach. We don’t want anything tight. We don’t want any waist belts either. Ican never really get to grips with abelt around adress. Unless Iwear it right under my boobs, it only serves to emphasise the lack of awaist. Much like Deirdre Barlow and her signature chain-link belts. For abudget version of the Doen dress below, check out this one.

1. Dôen Sol shirred swiss dot organic cotton maxidress

2. Paravel large recycled canvas totebag

3. H&M oversized denim jacket

4. White stuff Eva leather fishermans sandals

SLIM LEG BLACK JEANS OR TROUSERS

Fashions may come and go, but skinny black jeans – or rather slim-leg black jeans as skinny might be atouch too much – will always be something Ipull out as they do just make me feel better. For casual days, black jeans and an oversized comfy jumper. For an easy going-out outfit, black trousers, French-tuck shirt, blazer and loafers. (As seen above, these are my favourite black trousers from YMC. Ialso highly rate these from Finisterre.) If you can, it’s worth spending more on areally good pair of black jeans. The pair Iwear more than any other are from Paige. I’ve had them for four years and Iimagine Iwill still be wearing them for another four years at least. Ican also recommend the Hush Agnes washed-black jeans. Both have agood bit of stretch and don’t lose their shape in the wash. Take your regular size in both ofthese.

1. &Other Stories oversized stripe knit sweater

2. Missoma lightening charm hoop earrings

3. Isabel Marant Yenky totebag

4. Hush Agnes washed blackjeans

5. Nike Blazer jumbo 77 trainers

LOOSE FITTING BLOUSE

What you’re looking for here is ablouse with awidish hem, ideally not too long. If it’s too long it will swamp you and make you feel bigger. Iwould wear with some high-waisted jeans to give alittle shape to the stomach area. As Imentioned before, the higher the jeans, the easier it is to literally tuck your stomach into them. Sezane do some of the best blouses around in my opinion.

1. Warehouse floral lace pintucktop

2. Liberty Petite Valise cross-body bag

3. Warehouse cotton colour-block utility jacket

4. Boden light wash girlfriend jeans

5.Birkenstock mink suede Arizona sandals (use KATE15 for extra 15%off)

It is so tempting to just throw on abaggy sweatshirt over leggings when you’re feeling self-conscious about your shape, but that often has the effect of making you feel worse. Iknow in this world of never-ending turmoil there are always more important things to worry about than what you look like, but clothes have such ahuge impact on the way you feel about yourself. Without wishing to go all Gok Wan on you, if you look good, you feelgood.

K x