Long Skirts Work Best Without Layering

Dear Fashion Police: Are there any guidelines for wearing long skirts or dresses? I look fondly at those great outfits in the Coldwater Creek catalog, wondering if I should spend a few hundred dollars to look absolutely ridiculous. I have seen women in long skirts who look great, and there are others who look downright dumpy. There have got to be dos and don’ts that make this style work or not work. This style was restricted to evening wear as I was growing up, so I am also curious about when and where to wear long skirts.

--NOT SURE IF

I’M BIG ON LONG

Dear Not Sure: The long and short of it is you can wear long skirts and dresses and not look silly or dumpy. The key is proportion. Many women make the mistake of layering too much. They’ll wear a full skirt with a roomy tunic top and a jacket. The overall effect is a lot of bulk.

Some think that by adding all these layers they’re cleverly hiding a few unwanted pounds (especially this time of year). In fact, they’re just making themselves look even bigger.

First, it’s important to consider your figure type. Women with heavier hips and thighs generally look better in full skirts, while women who carry their weight up top do well with narrow skirts.

Now, think opposites: If you’re wearing a full skirt, pair it with a tailored blouse or trim pullover top or sweater. And tuck them in. A belt is optional, depending on the waistband. Cropped jackets and sweaters can be worn on top.

With narrow skirts it’s certainly OK to wear the above, but they’re also fine with a long tunic (not a voluminous one), or a long cardigan or jacket topping a thin-weight blouse.

To avoid that dowdy look with long dresses, choose ones that are shaped with a tapered natural, dropped or empire waist, or that just skim the body. Wide, voluminous dresses with no contours can look boxy and unflattering.

As for when and where to wear them, it’s almost limitless. Long skirts can be worn to casual daytime functions, the office and dining out--just keep the style appropriate to the place and occasion.

*

Dear Fashion Police: As long as I’ve been wearing bras, the bra straps fall down my arms. It doesn’t matter what type of bra I buy, it always happens. I’m tired of reaching into my clothes to pull them up, and it must look really tacky. I would think the wide, stretchy bra straps wouldn’t do this, but they do. Please help!

--FALLING DOWN

Dear Falling: It may help to know that we occasionally have to pull up our bra straps too. To avoid those nasty stares from people, we point and yell: “Look, an alien spaceship!” first to create a distraction.

If you’d rather not do that, we found some nonslip bra strap supports through the at-home shopping channel QVC.

Actually, we located them on their Web site, http//:www.qvc.com. We haven’t road-tested them, but they’re described as “a plastic pad that a bra strap slips through. Shells sit on shoulders and eliminate back pain caused by bra straps digging into the shoulders. Special design also prevents strap slippage. They also have foam inserts that pop out. Both shells and foam inserts are machine washable. Fits any size bra, easily removable, lightweight and won’t damage bra straps.”

The pads are $17 and come in wide (medium) or narrow (small). Each pack contains two sets of shells and eight foam inserts. The item number is L1074.

You can order online or call QVC at (800) 345-1515.

Anyone else out there with brilliant solutions to this universal problem may send us your ideas. Thank you in advance.

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