While many body conscious people have come to believe that when worn, horizontal stripes will always make them look fatter, the truth is that it is 'how' you wear such stripes that counts, as in where abouts they fall on your body shape, that can either cause you to look wider where you would rather not, or flatter your figure.

# How to Wear horizontal stripes to widen your shoulders, and slim your waist.

If you have narrow shoulders you would like to appear wider, and a waist that you want to look smaller, you can be clever when it comes to wearing horizontal stripes, and use them to balance your figure in an attractive way. To do so wear stripes in black and white that are medium sized on the shoulder area of your garment, and on the waist area stick to one solid, much thicker stripe in black.

# How to wear horizontal stripes to make your shoulders look wider.

If you wish to make your shoulders appear wider than they are, the opposite advice from the above is true. Instead of wearing thinner stripes on your shoulder area, stick to a solid band of black. Break the black up with a few thin stripe of white under your chest area.

# How to wear horizontal stripes to narrow down your hips.

Wide hips can be made to look smaller when thin stripes are avoided on the bottom half of a shirt, blouse or tee shirt. If you wear thin stripes towards the top of your garment, that gradually get wider as they edge closer to the bottom half, the illusion that your hips are smaller will be created.

# How to wear horizontal stripes to make your bust seem larger.

Small breasts can be made to appear larger if thin stripes are worn at the top of a garment, ending under the bust-line in one thick stripe in a dark color.

# How to create an hourglass figure using horizontal stripes.

To create an hourglass figure follow the advice above, plus wear thin stripes on the hip area of your garment. You can alter this look slightly, but achieve a similar effect, by wearing one thick stripe in a light color on your bust area and hip area, and one thick dark stripe around your middle.

# How to wear horizontal stripes to make your bust appear smaller.

To make your bust-line look smaller wear darker, thicker stripes on your chest area, and thinner, lighter stripes below.

# How to wear horizontal stripes with vertical stripes to get the figure you want.

If you want to make yourself appear slimmer wear vertical stripes in black along the outside edge of your garment, down the sides, in a thick band. Team this with large grey horizontal stripes, mixed with the occasional thin black stripe along the rest of your garment.

Reverse the above advice if you are slimmer than you would like to be, as horizontal stripes worn down the sides of a garment will make you appear larger than you are. If all large stripes are white at the same time, and the thinner ones dark, you will automatically look larger than you are.

As you can see, horizontal stripes are not the fashion enemy that they have sometimes been made out to be. If you wear them wisely you can use them to your advantage.

Learn more about this author, Bridget Webber.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Fashion trends: Horizontal stripes and how to wear them?
We want to hear your view. Write now!