Dressed to Impress The wish: You walk into a party, and the room lights up. Everyone is smiling in your direction. You look fabulously youthful, vibrant, stylish. People are happy just to be with you. The fear: You walk into a party and people cover their eyes and mouths to hide their embarrassed looks and snickers. You look outlandish or silly in clothing that's too young or too wild for you. The reality: You walk into a party and nobody notices. You look the same as you always have because you're afraid to wear a style that's new or different. Nothing can take years off your look faster than the right clothes, but changing the way you dress is risky business. We're all a little afraid of making fashion mistakes. So we end up dressing as we always dressed and dating ourselves a little bit at a time. The great news is that there's really no need to be so timid. In fact, with a little bit of knowledge and a few tricks up your sleeve, you can "loosen up your look' (that's image consultant lingo for dressing in a more youthful way) and turn your wish into reality, while leaving . your fear behind you. Avoid Wearing the Right Things the Wrong Way So many department stores and so little time. Where do you begin? Tips from image consultant Pat Newquist, owner of Wardrobe Image in Tempe, Arizona, will help you hunt for the silhouettes, garments, and accessories that instantly update a wardrobe. Evolve gradually. Like a big game hunter, use a cautious approach. Newquist often tells clients of her 16 year old company, "If you don't know how to wear it, you'll look too young." At first, stick to classics and add only a few trendy items. Proceed one step at a time. That way, even if you make a mistake, it will be a small one. Spot the trends. A great way to dress for a youthful look is to pay attention to what's hot, says Newquist. But it takes a bit of work to identify worthwhile trends. The best place to start is in the fashion magazines. What are the models wearing? Notice details of color and cut. What styles do you think might look good on you? Also pay close attention to ads and watch what the stars are wearing on the fashion, music, and movie awards shows. These people are in the business of keeping an upto date, attractive image. Study brands. Look for labels that create a womanly interpretation of junior trends. For example, a few years ago, the younger crowd was wearing fitted, waist length leather jackets. Designer Dana Buchman offered her customers leather jackets that still looked fitted but weren't quite as tight and had lower hemlines than clothes made for young women. Shopping Savvy Developing a flattering, age defying collection of clothing starts with careful shopping. Newquist gives her clients specific guidelines to follow when they're ready to hit the stores. Dress up. "When you plan to try on clothes, get dressed up really nice," says Newquist. Wear good looking undergarments and slip on brand new panty hose so that you're more comfortable with the image staring back at you. Window shop. Spend a weekend browsing through clothing stores. Don't take any money, just try things on. It's important to go alone so that you're free of influence from others. Be playful: Try on whatever catches your fancy. Fit loose. "It's better to wear your clothes loose rather than snug," says Newquist. "They'll make you look 10 to 20 pounds thinner. You should be able to insert two fingers into a waistband. Pants and skirts are too small through the hips if you can't pinch out 2 inches of fabric." The Wrinkle Check Your face stares back at you from the mirror, and for the umpteenth time this week, you see that new wrinkle at the corner of your mouth. Scrutinizing your face while applying makeup is a rite of passage that we all go through. But there's a whole other set of wrinkles, not on our face, that age us and are visible from many feet away from the mirror. The next time that you dress, look for diagonal, horizontal, and vertical wrinkles. These, says international fit and sewing expert Sandra Betzina, point to fit problems. Host of the television show Sew Perfect on the cable channel Home and Garden Television and author of the Power Sewing book series, Betzina gives thousands of women advice and guidance on garment fit. Forward pitched, sloping, or uneven shoulders. Diagonal wrinkles travel across the shoulders and neck. Try shoulder pads, says Jan Larkey, an image consultant in Pittsburgh and author of Flatter Your Figure. Place the blunt end of the pad just beyond your sleeve seam to hide rounded shoulders. If one shoulder is higher than the other, use a thinner pad on that side of the garment. Larkey pushes her own pads to¬ ward the back to compensate for a curved spine. Full high hips. There are small horizontal wrinkles immediately under the front and back waistband. Wear garments that hang from the widest part of your lower body, particularly if your hip fullness starts almost immediately below the waist. Full upper arms. Diagonal wrinkles cross the upper arm near the shoulders and grow steeper along the lower arm. Some well known designers insert a vertical seam along the top of the sleeve. It can be let out for nicer fit. Low or Pat bottom. "Frowning" horizontal wrinkles form under the back crotch, and the pants' waist pulls down at the center back. Invest in body shaping undergarments that lift a low bottom or pad a flat derriere. Narrow upper chest. The shoulder seams drop off the shoulder, and there are horizontal wrinkles across the upper chest. This figure problem is very difficult to fit in ready to wear garments. The best solution is to hire a dressmaker. Protruding tummy. Side seams pull forward, skirts hike up at center front, and pants are tight through the crotch. Waist darts emphasize your roundness. Instead, choose garments that hang straight from the fullest part of the tummy. Look for hidden tummy panels that control the potbelly. Rounded or full upper back. The neckline pulls down in back and up in front. If the garment was made with a center back seam, a dressmaker can let it out for you. Anti Aging Anti Aging Generation| Anti Aging Health Strategy| Anti Aging for Women| Take a Bite Out of Aging| Check the Index| Aim Low| Fat Factor| The Zobra Diet| Bulf Of Long Life| What about Meat?| Get the Protein, Forgo the Fat| The Taxic Avengers| Great Ways to Ambush Radicals| Going Vegetarian Sparked Her Youth| Is That a Toxin in My "Soup"?| Put Your Diet into Rehab| Little Bean, Big Benefits| Sneaking Soy into Your Diet| The Anti Aging Supplements| Alpha Lipoic Acid| Vitamins Minerals| Bioflavonoids| Coenzyme-Q10| Flaxseed Oil| Ginkgo| Are Harmone Supplements Safe?| Melotonin| Phoaphatidylserine| Pycnogenol| Vitamin C| Vitamin E| Aerobics| Disease-Proof Your Body| Liven Up Your Lifestyles| 12 Tips For a Better Workout| Weather Your Workout| Water| Erasing the Lines of Time| Skin Enemy Number One: The Sun| Sunscreen to the Rescue| A Sunscreen Primer| Sun Tips for Sun Junkies| Clean Up Your Act| Perfect Cleanser| Navigating Moisturizer Maze| The Care and Feeding of Youthful Skin| Special Problems of Aging Skin Cosmetic Nutrients Cosmetic Nutrients| Get Glowing with Glycolic Acid| User's guide of Glycolic Acids| Retin-A and Renova| Using Retin-A and Renova| Vitamin C: Future Youth?| Don't Get Lost at "C"| Getting the Most from C Makeups Makeup That Enhances| Foundation| Concealer| Blush| Powder| Eye Makeup| Lipstick| Winning the Battle of the Mane| Color to the Youthful| Dressed to Impress| Acting Your Age| 10 Attributes of a Youthful Mind Right Weight Getting Your Right Weight| Weighing In| Say Goodbye to Dieting| Putting Exercise into Everyday Events| Defying Disease| Disease Proof Your Lifestyle| Arthritis| Cancer| Diabetes| Heart Disease and Stroke| Osteoporosis|Keeping Your Senses Sharp|Can You Speak Little Louder?|Preventing Hearing Loss|Target Hearing Loss Early|The Eyes Have It|Buying Sunglasses|Eyes Need Exercise|The Life of Visionary Memory Memory Like an Elephant| Keeping the Brain Up and Running|Improving Your Everyday Memory| Get Organized| Living a Memory Enhancing Lifestyle Sleep Sweet Sleep and Relaxation| Turning Out the Lights, Naturally| Easing Toward Dreamland|When All Else Fails