The first rule of style is fit: you cannot be stylish is if your clothes don’t fit, whatever your size. And more important than that, regardless of your size or shape you deserve to wear clothes that are comfortable. I’m not a person who subscribes to the whole “you’re fat, oh my god, cover it up” view. It’s not your duty to cover up. It’s your duty to be happy and treat yourself as the worthy, wonderful person you are.
Anyway rant over, lets take a look at the importance of fabric.
CHOOSE THE BEST FABRICS YOU CAN AFFORD
The general rule of thumb about fabric is to choose the best you can afford. There are a couple of reasons for this, but first, lets answer the burning question, which fabrics are the more expensive ones?
The more expensive fabrics are fabrics made from natural fibres. It makes sense; they’re more expensive because they have to be grown rather than manufactured, hence limited supply.
Natural fibres are wool, cotton, linen, silk, cashmere, camel hair or any other fabric that comes from natural sources. The fibres are then woven or knit together, often with other fibres some natural, some not, to create fabric.
BENEFITS OF NATURAL FABRICS
- Natural fabrics, or natural based fabrics just plain wear better and last longer because the actual fibres themselves are stronger than manufactured fibres. That also means they tend ‘hang’ better on our frames.
- They’re warmer, and conversely cooler than manufactured fabrics.
- Richer fabrics tend to be cut better than cheaper ones. It makes sense. If you’re a clothing manufacturer and you’re just spent a bomb on buying some very pricey wool gabardine you’re not going to then cut it into crappy little tops that you flog off down the local markets. You’re going to try and recoup your money by manufacturing a better garment.
The best fabrics to look for are: wool crepe, wool micro fibre blends, cotton or wool gabardine, cotton blended with silk, flat knits, two ply silks and some synthetics.
Rayon is a good choice as it’s manufactured from bark. Viscose is better than acrylic and acrylic is better than polyester. Which is not to say don’t buy polyester, just look for blends and see if there’s a better option.
Cotton is always a difficult choice because it’s cheap. Some cottons are better than other and your best bet is to go by touch. A touch of spandex mixed with cotton is great, but try not to go for more than 5% otherwise its getting into the realm of swimwear.
So there you have it. In your quest for style pay attention to the fabric of the clothes you’re wearing. It doesn’t mean eliminate all but the most costly fabrics from your wardrobe just pay a little more for those foundation items, like a fantastic pair of pants in a wool crepe or wool micro fibre blend.
