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It seems simple to classify clothing as either straight- or plus-size. One refers to styles available in sizes below a 16, as plus-size clothing designer and pattern-maker Trudy Hanson explains, and the other covers those above. It's placing actual women under those umbrella terms that just doesn't work for us, and with the plus-purchasing population dominating 67% of the market in 2013, according to Business Insider, there's no way that group can be defined by a single physical descriptor.
So, we’re tossing it aside, in favor of full-figure style tips that take women’s unique sets of curves into account.
The task of dressing for your body type — pear or hourglass, for example — requires a slightly different approach when it comes to styling from the plus-size department. “For us, it is about choice,” Evans’ head of design Rebecca Vann Reicher says. “If you are plus-size you still want to follow trends.” With her help, doing so is as easy as finding flattering silhouettes and styling tricks tailored to your type.
In the spirit of offering as many sartorial choices as possible, we’ve also plotted out three different approaches for every curvy shape. “It's fine and dandy to know and use the classic dressing tricks, which are all really designed to give the wearer a more traditional hourglass silhouette,” Hanson adds, "but the 21st-century girl often wants to dress in a more directional, high-fashion, or personal way." With this in mind, we separated style moves into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels — creating more daring choices along with a few easy and personalized ways to flaunt your shape.
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