Do you think it is harder for women over a size 16 to look stylish?

[LaurieFairyCake]

cos I do. I have lots of nice clothes and accessorise well and I get lots of compliments but it seems to take a lot more effort than my slim friends.

I can't decide if I've been conditioned to think this way and that empirically they don't look 'better' or that genuinely slimmer women can get away with being slightly more scruffy.

So is it harder to look chic when carrying a bit more weight?

Not sure... I am a 20 and I have nice clothes, I do my hair and make up but I always look dog rough. I never ever feel that I look nice, more a case of will I or won't I scare small children. Yet I see plenty of bigger women who look stunning. Don't know what it is but I haven't got it.

I bet you don't look 'dog rough'

yes
when you're skinny you can go into any shop and everything looks good
when you've got a pot belly you spend all your time looking for clothes to cover it up

now a load of skinnies will come on and complain that everything makes them look flat chested or something....

Yes. If you are a bit bigger you have to look more groomed to look stylish I think. You need nice hair and some makeup and it to smell nice. Basically to look stylish you emphasise your good points, and it's easier to emphasise nice legs (wear a short skirt) than to have nice hair.

And a quirky or adventurous style tends to suit slimmer people better too.

[Goes off to brush hair and put on makeup and scent]

Yes you have to make lots more effort. When you are slim clothes just hang beautifully and look nicer with less effort.

ooh definitely concur with that - if I wore 'adventurous' clothes I would look like I was going to a Halloween party.

as a size 16 I agree

though it pains me to do so

I disagree in that think style is about how you carry yourself.
I speak as someone who went up to someone who was v curvy and told her she looked fab, and she did.

However, attitude has a lot to do with it, so if you feel crap about yourself, that attitude is harder to find.

I once lost a lot of weight through WeightWatchers and it was amazing the difference it made - I went from size 14 (squeezed in like a sausage) to an 8/10 and everything looked nice. It was a revelation. I could try most things on and find they looked ok, many things looked NICE, whereas at a big 14 I had to really shop around e.g. for a pair of trousers that fitted well, or a top that didn't make my arms look huge and I never felt that I looked nice ever. I could also buy cheaper clothes as the skimpier cuts and cheaper fabrics still looked ok on my thinner self.

Have since gained some of the weight back and am now pregnant but planning for a revival of the glamorous me at a later date...

I see plenty of larger women who, imo, look fabulous - better than some of my skinny friends.

But for me, to creep over a 12-14 spells style suicide. I just don't have 'it' and am dependent on tall slimness to look halfway decent.

Well, I'm a 16. And I'm stylish, I don't make a lot of effort either.

(And I'm probably deluded too)

I think there is a difference between looking nice and looking stylish/chic.

My sis is at least a size 20 and always looks stylish, my size varies but even when a size 12 I don't qualify as stylish/chic.

i am size 16 at the moment and my clothes are nice, i always wear make up, i always get my hair looking nice and use perfume daily but i still look crap am currently on a diet though and have lost 3lb this week!!! yay

it's not about size but about proportions. If youare 5'11" and a size 16 and toned you might look good- if you are a size 16 and are 5'1" you will simply look like a barrel and nothing looks good.

A few years ago I lost a huge amount of weight to get down to a 16. Ironically, one of the goals was to get into Per Una clothes and once I could, yuck! But I felt fabulous and it has transformed my wardrobe and my outlook. I think it is part attitude, and part what I wear, but people are always complimenting me now. The terrible thing is the lack of choice above sizes 18-20. I still cannot wear everything I want, but that is also because of my advanced age!

It's possibly harder to find things that flatter you - but I don't think s;lim is always better.

One of my best friends is size 18 and she always looks amazing.

She wears lots of fitted cardigans, dresses, and has great jewellerey.

I THINK so. I feel good in any old rag when I'm size ten. And I have to work at it when I'm size 12. And teetering on a 14, I'd need the help of a personal shopper I think. I'm only five 1 by the way.

Goodness purple I'm an 18 and only 5 foot and I most certainly don't look like a barrel.

Just not quite chic enough

Depends if you are an apple or a pear I think. Size 16 pears look great, apples not so much so.

I am an apple.

I'm an hourglass - 36J, 29, 44.

am a heifer, and am complimented frequently on looking groomed/glam etc.

accesories, good make up and hair and not walking aroudn trying to hide yourself is important

find a look that suits and flatters, rather than buying high fashion.

find your positives and accentuate them

wrap dresses, wide leg trousers and a bit of a heel are all good.

when you get bigger you need well tailored clothes for them to look good. the cut and fabric is very important.

Hmm, sweeping statement there purplepeony, not everyone is the same shape, even if they are the same size.

I saw a really pretty,stylish 'larger' lady last week.
Hair immaculate,nails done,full make up.
She was wearing a very simple black and grey outfit with chunky silver jewellery.
Looked fab.

Yes. I think it is. As a very large (VERY large!) woman I can tell you that nothing looks on me like it looks on a slim woman. Nothing hangs as well. Nothing looks as nice. That's my own view as I look in the mirror and as I look around. You can still look nice, but if you put someone like me and someone nice and slim, side by side and dressed identically, then the slim woman is going to look better. I truly feel that.