Five ways to hide hips

Written By Wendy Mak First up, I want to say your hips probably don't need hiding. In fact they are probably beautiful, but as a personal stylist, how to camouflage (or at least not draw attention to) the hip/thigh area is the 2nd most requested help I get asked for.

(The 1st is - you guessed it - that tummy / muffin top area which we've covered recently in this post).

Like tummies, most people think that the right way to minimise attention to and hide your hips is by swathing it in oodles of fabric, or by having long tops to cover the bum/thigh area.

In fact, this leaves you potentially looking larger than necessary as the extra fabric adds bulk, and no one can see your shape in long, bulky tops. (For those that need a catch-up, check out my post on volume & proportion to learn why seeing your shape is important).

So here's my top 5 picks to help hide hips.

1. Trousers - keep 'em lean, simple and straight

You want these in a soft but heavy fabric, like microfibre or a heavy crepe. Nothing too stiff (you'll look wide) and nothing too delicate or flimsy (they'll show every lump & bump including last night's chocolate pudding - thin fabric is very unforgiving).

Ideally they should drop straight down literally from the widest point of your hips. You don't want them tapering into a slim leg or widening out into a wide leg. Just a straight, flowing drop from the hips.

Keep them clean with no embellishments and ideally no pockets.

These Anthea Crawford trousers below have a front zip but the perfect pair would have a side zip (they're hard to find, so if you do find them, grab them!!!). Other than that, they are well worth the investment because they are a classic cut and flatter most shapes.

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Microfibre trousers from Anthea Crawford

2. A structured skirt

I know you hear me say that a structured fabric is your best friend, and it really is! The heavier the fabric the more it will help to hold everything in. And trust me, you love that. We all do!

The beauty about this skirt below is not only is it a good firm fabric, so will skim over the hips, the piping detail running downwards helps to elongate and lengthen your look.

A line skirt blue fashion stylist Sydney hide hips

Skirt from David Lawrence

3. The shift dress

Ah the old faithful shift - it's hard to go wrong in this!!

This little number is brilliant for a couple of reasons: the darker gray panels help to distract the eye and slim you around the top-most part of your hips (which is usually the main problem area for most women), AND the little button tab detail helps to draw attention to your waist (or help create the illusion of one).

The classic shift cut means it should always be fitted enough to show your shape but never too tight.

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Dress from Next Direct

4. Darker side panels

There's quite a few of these panelled style dresses (where a darker colour runs down each side of the dress). It's a clever and well known trick to help visually bring focus to the slimmer, patterned centre.

(Our regular readers will remember how effective this is as a technique on Tanya, our curve-tastic size 16 model and the Target dress she wore in this post). 

This dress uses the same principle. Again this is from Next Direct - I'm having a total love affair with them at the moment, but when you consider the dress below costs just A$49, I'm sure you can understand why!!

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Dress from Next Direct

5. Bring attention to your top half

An oldie but a goodie, all personal stylists worth their salt use this trick all the time.

Whether you use a coloured top (like in the dress below), or a banging statement necklace, or even a big coloured scarf, the key is to keep the details and colours in the bottom half very simple. Jazz up your top half however you wish, to draw the eye upwards and away from the bottom half.

Hide hips dress personal stylist Brisbane

Dress from Next Direct

Over the coming weeks I'll be doing more posts similar to this, so do drop me a comment below if there are areas you struggle with and would like to suggest as a topic.

And remember, your hips in whatever size or shape, are beautiful!

Until next time, stay stylish & successful!

Wendy