The Smock Dress Moment..

Last week I read a very funny article by fashion writer Maggie Alderson; who has a column in the Good Weekend. She addressed the real truth of a current fashion moment ... the smock top/dress.

I want to thank Ms Alderson, as it's often hard to separate the tricky- but - stylish trend, from one that really should be avoided. Her comment was ... that even if you are slender, younger and incredibly hip, putting on a smock or empire line top/dress is likely to make you look pregnant!

My reaction was - very sadly - that she is mostly right! I think what looks exciting in a showroom or on a catwalk, or on a photo shoot, surrounded by impossibly thin and definitely non-pregnant young women, might not always translate well.

(My husband immediately felt free to enthusiastically agree and said that he'd always thought so, and why hadn't I listened to him? )

So if your wardrobe is full of this cute, but sometimes unflattering trend, here are some ideas for making it work:

• Wear a belt, sash or even a ribbon feature, just under the yoke as this can give the illusion of a high waist (as opposed to an empire line) and will flatten your torso out. (The dresses shown here are the same, but with the photo to the right, a belt has been added. Wow, what an instant slimming effect!)
  

• Layer a a cropped jacket or long-line cardi to give some definition, or try a belted trench shape, or longer belted vest.

With this new realisation, I'm looking forward to finding my waist again!