Lee: a petite “Metallic Autumn”

Lee is the fifth client we (personal stylist Margo Passadore and I) took to Nordstrom in downtown Portland for a “Before and After” photo shoot. She is a busy realtor in Clark County, Washington.

Like many professional women, Lee wore a lot of black and white. The colors are ubiquitous in the stores (especially when you shop at the Black and White Market, which she did). To spruce things up, she’d don something in bright red.

Unfortunately, Autumn palettes like hers are warmer, toastier, and not so stark as her go-to favorites. (Metallic Autumn is one of six in the Autumn sub-group, and is the fairest in coloring. Julianne Moore is a good celebrity example of this type.). Cream is Lee’s “white” and deep forest green is her most flattering version of “black.”

In early May, when we were shopping with her, we ran into a couple of issues that we detail below, one of which was unique to the photoshoot situation and the other is a problem everyone runs into at some point.

Before & After with Lee

Before, on left

The high contrast and starkness of black and white are too strong for her.
With the two sizes of stripes this top is too busy for her petite frame.
The stripes and the sleeve length make her upper body look a lot wider than she is.
The length of the top and the length of the slacks are about the same; 50-50 proportions tend to shorten the legs.
Sandals (between the toe style) are too casual for a business casual outfit.

After, on right

The cream colored top and bottom create a long line (column of color) which make her look taller (even with the ankle length pant)
The teal sweater is one of her most flattering colors, contrasting with her auburn hair and bringing out her green eyes.
Because the sleeves end higher than the sweater hem, it avoids a line across the body which would make her hips look wider than her top.
A cardigan worn open with a shaped top makes you look thinner (as long as your belly isn’t your “problem” area)
A straight leg ankle-length is better on a petite than a skinny or tapered leg. Adding a neutral shoe with a heel helps to lengthen the line of the body

Our shopping dilemmas…

Lee has a figure that most people would think is easy to shop for, however every body and seasonal type has “issues” that can make shopping harder.

The first “issue” we had in finding outfits for Lee was ours, not hers; she just happened to be our eighth client and we didn’t want to repeat the pieces in her colors (brick and khaki) that we’d already used on earlier clients.

Furthermore, there really weren’t many autumnal colors and styles to be found in early May, when so much summer stock is light (white!) and bright. When the Fall clothes come out (starting in July) she will have a much bigger selection. Also, Nordstrom tends to focus on fairly traditional styles, and Autumns can do funkier things with patterns and textures (animal and ethnic patterns, leather, fringe, paisleys, etc). We might have done better for Lee at a shop like Free People.

Finally, the number of pieces in the petite department is much smaller. Petites need to be patient and know that they may need to look in both the petite, junior and “grown up” departments, and then go online to see a bigger selection. Finding brands that work for your body type and personal style will also make the search easier.

Takeaways for you

Try to find a store (or clothing brand) that tends to carry styles, colors and sizing that works for you, and start there. Look online as well, where many stores stock additional inventory.
Certain colors come into favor each season (thank you Pantone) and they are everywhere. They are often not the colors that look good on you; those were “so last year,” or so five years ago. What to do? Patience; they will come back eventually, and when they do, jump on them. Consignment shops are also a good place to look for your (outdated but flattering) colors.

If you enjoyed this post, and missed the first six, read them here:

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