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Three fashion traps and how to avoid them

No one wants to make a fashion faux pas, but even the most fashion conscious women become guilty of the worst style sins.

Here are the three biggest fashion blunders and how to avoid making them!

1. Are fashion magazines your bible?

One of the most common style traps is believing that everything you see and read and hear in the fashion magazines and fashion shows is the style gospel. You spend hours flicking through every fashion magazine out there and spend hours trying to emulate the models in the magazines. You think to yourself, I'm doing everything the fashion experts say, how could I go wrong?

Well, the bad news is, you can go wrong and you probably already have. If you rely on the fashion magazines and shows too much you risk becoming a victim of the trends you hope will make you look beautiful. Why? Because you simply cannot, ever, look as good as the models in the magazines.

What you should do:

Read fashion magazines and watch fashion shows as a guide only. Then develop your own style.

2. Do your clothes really fit you?

This sounds so obvious and yet so many times we buy clothes that do not fit right. Sometimes we buy a size too small because it's on sale or because we think we'll lose the extra pounds. We never lose the pounds, but we end up wearing the dress. How silly is that! A size too small or too big can and will accentuate body parts that would be best not to. A badly sized item of clothing will look odd.

But a good fit is more than just size. Sometimes sleeve length or pant leg may not suit your body shape. A sleeve may be too long or a hem too short and these few centimetres are all it takes for an outfit to look bad.

What you should do:

Purchase clothing that really fits well. Seek out a tailor or seamstress to advise and alter the garment to perfectly fit your body shape.

3. Is your wardrobe full of odds and ends?

We often end up buying various odds and ends – a skirt here, a top there – hoping to match it with another item we have back at home. We do this especially when we are on a budget hoping that by buying cheap and discounted items we can economically build up a complete budget without breaking the bank. But this is so wrong. In the end, we end up with lots of bits and pieces that don't ever match up perfectly with other items and when it comes to dressing up we look at our wardrobes and see nothing at all to wear.

What you should do:

Your wardrobe needs to be meticulously planned to work for you. Don't buy things because they are cheap or because you think you can match them. Better to buy a complete look that you can wear right away.

Read more:
How Fashionable Are You?

Five Reasons Why You Should Always Read Fashion Magazines

Fashion Tips for Petite Women