This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
Now quite a few of our lovely readers have asked if we can show the clothes on a different shaped woman. Usually Grace and I model the clothes to show how they look on ‘normal’ women but, to be fair, we are both over 5’6″ and fairly straight up and down, albeit not as slim as we would like!
So we asked one of our readers if she would agree to be our ‘different-shaped model’ and she accepted. Annie is 5′ (and a bit), an hour glass shape i.e. large bust with matching hips and a small neat waist. She dresses very well, making the best use of colours that suit her and always wears her co-ordinated coloured glasses. She was super patient throughout the morning as we tried endless outfits on her. Interestingly she ended up buying an outfit that she would not have even tried on if we had not asked her to. I think all of us get stuck in a zone with our styling, so a session with someone objective can be really enlightening.
First up we tried the Winser classic trouser in size 14 which has a straight leg and suits most shapes. Annie also put on a cashmere roll-neck in Blush Pink but it accentuated her bust, clung to all the wrong parts of her body and did not show off her waist.
She then tried the cashmere V-neck in Hollywood Red; this was too long so appeared to shorten her legs BUT the colour was fab. So finally we tried a Merino V-Neck in Vintage Rose and we went down a size to 12. Since it was a shorter length it was perfect for her figure however the colour did nothing for Annie’s skin-tone.
We then tried Annie in the new Miracle Emma Capri pant which has raised piping down the middle of the leg, both front and back, and is a slimming feature. We combined this with the merino wool roll-neck in black and ivory and again we went down a size in both the sweater and the trousers to a size 12. The wide elasticated waistband of the trouser is both comfortable and acts as a slimming aid. As with many older women black is no longer flattering but since it is the ivory of the sweater that is close to her face, the whole outfit worked very well.
We then came onto the dresses and Annie was keen to try on one of the Miracle dresses. We chose the new short sleeved style in Moonlight, a favourite colour of Annie’s. Disappointingly there was just too much fabric around her bust and it made her look shapeless.
Then Grace persuaded Annie to try the Lauren dress in Pearl size 14 and we hit the jackpot. We coupled it with the tweed coat, which she instantly fell in love with. The dress is made in satin backed crepe, a fabric much used by Winser London, which is very practical as it does not crease. The line of the dress is fitted at the bust but then skimming the body until the mid-thigh, finishing with an A-line flick which suited Annie perfectly. She went on to try the dress in Midnight navy with a silk cashmere cardigan in Hollywood Red to give the dress a more casual look. The cardigan ends at Annie’s waist but does not cling so it implies her neat waist without showing it.
Annie ended up buying the Lauren dress and the tweed coat and was thrilled with her purchases. She said, “I would never have tried on that dress as I thought you needed to be tall and slim to carry it off and how wrong I was. The coat will be such a great addition to my wardrobe as I can wear it over the Lauren dress and, more casually, with trousers and a tee-shirt or polo-neck. I found the morning very enlightening as I let everyone else style me. I went away with so many ideas of how to flatter my slightly fuller figure.”
Thanks to the wonderful staff at the Winser London shop in Marlow for their endless patience and really helpful advice.