Dressing for the menopausal midriff

[Cornflakecrack]

It’s always been my ‘problem area’ I have a rectangular brick like body with long limbs but have always had a bloated rounded lower belly with along with no waist at all isnt an easy shape to dress for. Brick shape means a big rib cage also although my boobs are relatively small.

I have rock hard abs underneath it from all the core work I do but it makes no difference I’m always bloated in shape.

Now add on the meno belly extra layer of fat on belly and love handle area and it’s really getting me down clothing wise. Nothing hangs right, I look like a teletubby and it’s just so ageing. It screams middle age (which I am but who needs to be shouting it!).

If I wear ‘floaty’ or shift shapes the fabric will skim across my belly and make me look pregnant

I cant wear fitted dresses as I have nothing to fit to as no waist.

Cropped anything is awful

Long is awful as see floaty above

Mum jeans just look ridiculous

Just about can do a half tuck with a t shirt or shirt but I have to have elasticated waist trousers else they don’t fit (which are thankfully all the rage right now)

Im a Zara/Free people on pay day kind of dresser.

All help grateful received.

I've just bought this, it's got pockets, its got a v neck, it's cotton and it's quite casual, I think it should skim? It's only £28 too.

https://thestyleattic.co.uk/products/sanza-dress-black-1?prproddstrat=usedescription&prrrecid=8dae8568c&prrrecpid=7731304464522&prrrefpid=7731378389130&prr_seq=uniform

I have a similar dress from Uniqlo @Rina66 and it is one of the most flattering things I own.

I used to think that tops finishing at the waist or tucked in looked terrible on apples, but I have changed my mind on that. I think billowy tops look worse on me!

The end result is that I send so much stuff back. Considering buying only in store but there's no stock!

I'm quite straight up and down (dramatic natural Kibbe type if that means anything to anyone 😀). I take a 32F bra but no volume on top and quite bony around the chest and shoulders so I look pretty flatchested with no cleavage unless I engineer it.

If clothes fit neatly around my arms (shoulder, armpit and fairly close on the upper arm) and on my bust, everything else can be wafty or voluminous or whatever. A-lines look good and anything high waisted (which I understand doesn't work for everyone). I haven't got great legs so I prefer dresses/skirts with dramatic length but with good legs you could go shorter.

I also like a deep v or deeply unbuttoned neckline, which looks cool and French without cleavage. You can pop a cami underneath if you want, it's the shape that matters.

The older I get the more I lean toward tailored and masculine-Ish clothes, shirt dresses and baggy jeans with a fitted top. Love all VWRabbit's suggestions, we're clothes twins (and that was my first car 🚗 😀).

Have you thought of longer tops or tunic tops or tops that are from stiffer material and more structured. If you have wider shoulders this might help and you could have something fitted or skinny on the legs? A tunic top that flares out slightly over slim legs maybe?

Following!

@Cornflakecrack the Japanese trousers are from Kiraku clothing. They look a bit shite on the website but they are great in real life haha, I've been blabbering on at anyone who'll listen about them since I got them 😅

I like this but you need boobs for that. 😞

Yep, agree with all of this. Anyone fancy a groupon Turkey trip for tummy tuck and gastric band?? <only half joking> 😂

Sorry meant to tag @JoanThursday not OP, the Japanese trousers are from Kiraku clothing

Shakes fist at @Rina66 for introducing me to The Style Attic

goes bankrupt immediately 😅

All boobs and belly here. Fitted shirts gape across my knockers,loose fitting hangs off the shelf of my boobs adding even more inches to my middle.
In summer at home its knee length shorts,bright shapeless linen type tops. But for work.....just never look smart at all whatever i wear.

My mum has a similar issue with meno belly and I havent she’d by baby weight round my tummy plus I have endo belly. she found some dresses on SHEIN that make her look like she has a waist. They’re rouged by the hips and when she showed them to be I said no that’s going to look terrible but I was wrong! They look great and the rouge is the perfect spot, it has a tie round the middle which gives a wait illusion. I will get her to send a link or will have a search for them and post.

these are the ones mentioned in my previous comments. I hope they work!
https://m.shein.co.uk/SHEIN-VCAY-Allover-Print-Batwing-Sleeve-Belted-Shirt-Dress-p-15467662-cat-1727.html?mallCode=1&src_module=ads&src_identifier=uf%3Dmukgooglebrandshein_msheindress04_srsa_20210124

That is a really good shape for a tummy.

Acid reflux?

Does anyone have that sticky out bit above your waist though? At least a stomach is all one thing, I have a massive sticky out bit that hangs above my waist and sticks out further than my actual belly under my waist so no matter what top it is, I have this bit showing through all the time

I want some cotton dresses but nearly all the ones I see are either too short or too long. Midis are too long on me as I'm not that tall. I'm too old for minis. I wish more places did somewhere in between.

I am short and live in regular midis (I have 16 of the damn things) they are the best thing for skimming over my tummy.

My DD recently bought me Em&Me dungarees. Would never have bought them myself. Bloody brilliant. DH briefly discouraged me by laughing, but DD's gave him a telling off, and now I am wearing them regularly. So comfy.

I am getting them taken up. Weirdly a just above/on the knee dress seems to look best on me, which just don't exist at the mo. Also tight fitting tops are more flattering. I was obviously made for a different era.

I think you are right about a different era. I am sorry I daren't get my legs out these days. During my heyday in the 60s I wore really short shift dresses which showed my legs not tummy. They were really nice in summer. With scholl's sandals of course, the Birkenstocks of the day ;-) Also, remember the Tent Dress? In the late 60s I wore maxi dresses too. Lovely and cool/floaty.

It was so nice not to worry about having a tummy! When I was growing up all the older women wore girdles ugh. I shudder to think of waist trainers!

BTW of course my tummy then was mostly imaginary, now it is more of a feature! Definitely age/menopause/babies, plus IBS which is very bloating. It's not my weight because I weighed 8 stone then, 8 stone now. (5ft 2)

Yes, @TeaAndStrumpets - I guess stomach is collapsed muscle and that’s why you can lose any amount of weight and it’s still there. I always had a very flat stomach, but it has recently literally gone to pot. I can scoop up handfuls!

I was really made for a different era - the Edwardian era! Leg o’ mutton sleeves, full skirts… I’d have been laughing! Otoh the 20s - what a nightmare for those who weren’t straight up and down.

If a waist trainer worked I'd bloody wear it 24hrs a day.
I look in the mirror and want to cry, I was a 6ft size 12, then had 2 DC, one C-section and now I have 3 stomachs, one above C-section line and below is split into two hand sized blobs down the middle. Now I'm a 5ft10: 14-16, sometimes 18 as my waist is brick shaped and enormous and by 6pm my trousers don't fit. I look utterly ridiculous in wide leg stuff, as my only good feature is my legs.
I used to love wearing fitted dresses, now they don't work on me unless I have TWO pairs of holdy-in knickers on.
Seriously thinking of releasing equity from house for a tummy tuck.
Have reduced carbs to almost none which reduces my bloating a bit, but the weight will just not come off.
So unhappy with my appearance 😞

Yes Edwardian era clothing is so dramatic. Also you could push all the flab in an upward direction via corset! And the hats....lovely.