Danielle, I need help! I am a 50 year old woman who NEVER wears dresses or skirts because I have such skinny legs especially from the knees down. I am 5′ 8″ and weigh about 145 lbs but carry most of this weight between my bust and waistline. Can you recommend the most flattering styles and shapes that I should wear?

I would say my style is conservative, but I don’t want to look like a grandma! Help me add some youth and fun to my look. Could you also give me help with some affordable accessories to bring personality to my outfits? I have difficulty finding shoes in my size; I wear a 10 narrow which visually makes the long skiny legs look worse. Thanks!

Some inside scoop: Ms. Phyllis sent me a pic (I always ask you guys for pics when you email me style or beauty questions because it helps me to help you better, but I never will post them to the site unless you ask me to) and she claims to be 50 but looks not a day over 30! Work it out, Ms. Phyllis. *finger snap*

The key to camouflaging a part of your body is to draw the eye elsewhere. So for instance, if I have a huge pimple on my forehead, I may wear a bright lip color to keep your eyes off the tiny mountain. So the idea is to draw the eye upwards when you want to take the emphasis off skinny legs. You can achieve this with a printed dress or a dress that has an interesting design or gathering of fabric that draws the eye up. Try these:

Same thing with skirts:

You can add texture and visual “weight” to your legs with tights. Solid black tights paired with a conservative dress or skirt will not only “thicken” up your legs, but adds a bit of youthful yet conservative style to your look.

Look no further than Supermodel Iman as inspiration when it comes to adding youth and fun to your look. Iman kills the style and beauty game even for the younger ladies. She always looks stylish and age-appropriate. Even on casual days like when she was spotted in Soho last summer:

Grab some affordable wardrobe staples like a pair of dark denim jeans, a blazer, a v-neck tee that can be worn a million times and mix them with accessory staples like over-sized shades, a statement bag, and costume jewelry. You’ll have limitless wardrobe options even with very few items to work with. Especially if you mix “work week” pieces with “weekend pieces”. For example, I love the look of a dressy fitted tweed jacket with denim.

A statement bag need not cost more than your monthly mortgage payment. You can go for a bag in a lower price point as long as it has character. Let colors like bright green and purple become neutrals.

As for the shoes, I think you’ll love these:

LOL–Just kidding! Look to Nordstrom and Zappos.com for an array of shoes that come in size 10N (Stuart Weitzman also carries 10N, but his shoes are more investment pieces, but if you buy a pair it will last you forever). Unfortunately as you already, the options in 10N are slim. I found these (below) that can be worn with skirts or dresses and jeans:

Hope this all suits you well, Ms. Phyllis!

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If you have a style or beauty question, contact me. I do a lot more behind the scenes work working feverishly to answer your questions than what you see on the site. So ask away!

Spike Combat Shades by 2BD

Cadet Hat with Feather

Spiked Ring

Jeweled Mini Leather Chain Bag

Bordello Green Glitter Platform Pumps

Cherry Spizike Half-Gloves

While browsing through Essence.com’s fairly new revamped Fashion & Beauty blog, I spotted a really cool item that will give you the Balmain Strong Shoulder look without having to solicit yourself on the streets for money–a shoulder pad bra! This is genius because you can turn almost any blouse into the trend (which is carrying over into spring) for as little as $9.99

Take yourselves over to ShapeFX if you’re an A, B, or C cup. Larger busts, check out:
Jessica London Plus Size Shoulder pad bra from Instant Shaping by Comfort Choice
(even if you aren’t plus size)

I just bought two of them and can’t wait to try them out. I’ll be sure to post an update when I get them.

You know how I feel about some of these designer collaborations, but these pics were too cute to pass up. The Fashion Bomb (where I moonlight as their Beauty Correspondent) via Nitrolicious has the scoop on the upcoming Jean Paul Gaultier for Target collection. Keep posted on the line’s debut by logging onto The Fashion Bomb and Nitrolicious.

In the meantime, tell me what you think of the collection pics!

Across the pond at Elle UK, street fashion savvy fashionistas were spotted wearing tights in bold colors and graphic prints. They can be a trendy way to spruce up your winter wardrobe and are relatively inexpensive.

Some tight tips:
1. Darker colors make objects appear smaller, while lighter colors make objects appear larger. So if you have a pair of thick legs, your best bet would be to go for a darker color like navy blue or burgundy.
2. Be careful with prints. Horizontal prints make objects appear shorter and wider (which isn’t particularly flattering on bigger legs) while vertical prints make objects appear longer and more narrow (which will make very skinny legs look even skinnier).
3. Use a funky pair of tights as an accent and keep everything else pretty understated. Too many punctuation pieces can look overdone and costumey.
4. No white tights unless you’re under the age of 6.

If you’re so inclined to try this look, check out some cute, fashionable pairs: